The unit was first activated in September 1942 as the343d Fighter Group, a headquarters for three fighter squadrons in Alaska that had been assigned toXI Fighter Command and flew a mix ofCurtiss P-40 Warhawks andLockheed P-38 Lightnings. It added a fourth squadron the following month and participated in theAleutian Islands Campaign through the fall of 1943. After combat ceased in Alaska, thegroup continued to fly patrols and participate in theair defense of Alaska until the end of the war. The 343d inactivated in August 1946, when its personnel and equipment were transferred to the57th Fighter Group.
In 1977, the21st Composite Wing added the group, renamed the343d Tactical Fighter Group, as the headquarters for its fighter squadrons atElmendorf Air Force Base, while the wing's air defense units throughout Alaska were assigned to the531st Aircraft Control and Warning Group. In 1981, the wing's air defense units were transferred toAlaskan Air Command and the 343d was inactivated when the 21st reorganized as a standard fighter wing.
In October 1942, a third P-40 squadron, the344th Fighter Squadron,[5] was activated at Elmendorf Field and assigned to the group. The two squadrons stationed on the mainland soon moved to the Aleutians, the 18th Squadron joined the 54th at Adak in November and the 344th deployed toFort Randall Army Air Field in December.[3][5] Although all its squadrons were operating in the Aleutians, groupheadquarters returned to Elmendorf in December 1942. This relocation was brief, however, and headquarters returned to the Aleutians the following March.[1]
The 343d later trained, carried mail, and served as part of the defense force for Alaska.[1] In 1943, the 11th and 18th Fighter Squadrons began flying P-38s in addition to their P-40s,[2][3] as did the 344th in 1944.[5] It was not until 1945 that all four squadrons lost their last P-40s and the group became an all-Lightning unit. In 1945, the group and three of its squadrons were united atShemya Army Air Base, at the end of the Aleutian chain.[1][2][3][5] Early in 1945 the 54th Squadron began to fly special high-altitude missions designed to intercept Japanesefire balloons drifting toward the United States on thejet stream. These weapons were launched from the Japanese home islands into the upper atmosphere to carry incendiary charges which would be released onto the United States andCanada. The balloons' flight path crossed the Aleutians, where American planes had the first chance to shoot them down. The airfield atAlexai Point was directly in the flight path of the balloons, which passed overhead at between 30,000 to 37,000 feet (9,100–11,000 m).[6]
The 18th Fighter Squadron returned to the Alaskan mainland, where it converted toNorth American P-51 Mustangs in 1946.[3] The group's 54th Squadron returned to the United States in March 1946 for inactivation, while the group and its remaining squadrons were inactivated later that year, in August.[1][2][3][5] The group's mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the57th Fighter Group, which was simultaneously activated at Shemya.[7]
The group was redesignated the343d Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated atDuluth International Airport[1] in August 1955, replacing the515th Air Defense Group[12] and assuming the 515th's personnel and equipment as part ofAir Defense Command (ADC)'s Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.[13] The 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, flyingNorthrop F-89 Scorpions, was reassigned from the 515th as the group's operational squadron.[1] The group was also the host organization for activeUnited States Air Force units at Duluth and was assigned several support organizations to fulfill this mission.[14][15][16]
Two 11th FIS F-106s preparing to land at Duluth Airport, about 1967
In June 1956, the 11th Squadron upgraded from Scorpions toConvair F-102 Delta Daggers.[17] Flying its new "Deuces" in 1957, group aircraft placed first and second in theBendix Trophy competition.[18] In July 1960 the group converted to theConvair F-106 Delta Dart.[17] Prior to February 1962, ADC required two aircraft of each of its squadrons to be on five-minutealert. This requirement was expanded and in addition one third of the groups'sinterceptor aircraft were placed on fifteen-minute alert.[19]
On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of theCuban Missile Crisis, whenPresident Kennedy announced the presence of Sovietintermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba,Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal ofinterceptors within the United States. Although the group's planned dispersal base wasRCAF Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, dispersed aircraft were not sent to Canadian airfields. Instead, the group sent one third of its aircraft toVolk Field, Wisconsin. All group aircraft, including those at home and those at Volk Field were armed and placed on fifteen-minute alert status. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned units to their normal alert status, except for those under the control of its 32d Region, which controlled air defense in the Southeastern United States.[20][21]
The 11th Squadron was discontinued in the fall of 1968[17] and replaced by the87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was activated and took over the 11th's personnel and Delta Darts.[22] The group performed the air defense mission for the upper Great Lakes region of the north central United States[23] until 1970, when it was inactivated.[24] The 87th Squadron was reassigned directly to the23d Air Division[22] and the group's support functions, personnel, and equipment at Duluth were transferred to the newly organized 4787th Air Base Group.[25]
43d Tactical Fighter Squadron F-4Es at Mount McKinley
The group was redesignated as the343d Tactical Fighter Group and activated atElmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska in November 1977 to serve as the headquarters for the two fighter squadrons of the21st Composite Wing.[26] These were the43d Tactical Fighter Squadron, which had been flyingMcDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs at Elmendorf since 1970 and the recently activated 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron, also flying the F-4E.[27][28] The 21st Tactical Fighter Wing's other operational group was the531st Aircraft Control and Warning Group, which controlled air defense units and stations throughout Alaska.[29] The following year aircraft maintenance was transferred from the wing and three maintenance squadrons were added to the group's strength.[26] The group was inactivated in January 1980. Its operational squadrons were reassigned directly to the 21st Wing, which converted from a composite wing to a standard fighter wing and became the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing. The personnel and equipment of the group's maintenance squadrons were transferred to squadrons assigned directly to the wing.[26][29][30]
25th TASS O-2A at Eielson AFB18th Tactical Fighter Squadron A-10 at Eielson
The 343d becameEielson Air Force Base's host unit on 1 October 1981 as the343d Composite Wing, when it replaced the5010th Combat Support Group and absorbed the 5010th's personnel and equipment.[31][32] The25th Air Support Operations Squadron, flying theCessna O-2 Skymaster, was transferred from the 5010th as the wing's initial operational squadron.[33] In January 1982, the wing received its second operational squadron when the 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron moved from Elmendorf to Eielson with its Thunderbolt IIs and was again assigned to the 343d.[28] That fall, thewing's maintenance organization was converted to the Production Oriented Maintenance Organization, and three new maintenance squadrons were activated to replace the existing single maintenance squadron.[31] As Eielson's host organization, one of the wing's major collateral missions was to provide support toStrategic Air Command's6th Strategic Wing, which conductedaerial refueling andreconnaissance missions from the base until becoming non-operational in June 1992.[34]
OV-10 Bronco firing White phosphorus
On 8 June 1984, the343d Composite Wing was redesignated the343d Tactical Fighter Wing.[35] In July 1986, the 25th's O-2s were retired and replaced byNorth American Rockwell OV-10A Broncos.[33] A little more than three years later, on 15 September 1989, the squadron inactivated.[33]
UH-1N as flown by the 3d Fighter Training Squadron
On 1 July 1991, the wing was redesignated as the343d Wing and converted to the USAF Objective Wing organization.[36] The 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron was assigned to the newly activated 343d Operations Group, while the maintenance squadrons that had been assigned directly to the wing became part of the 343d Logistics Group. Also that year, the 343d gained a second flying unit, the3d Fighter Training Squadron, which moved fromClark Air Base following the eruption ofMount Pinatubo, which forced the closure of Clark.[37] Despite the "Fighter" in its name, the 3d flewBell UH-1N Twin Hueys. The squadron was responsible for range support and administration ofExercise Cope Thunder, which had also moved from Clark, its home since 1976, to Alaska. The Alaskan Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation Range achieved Initial Operational Capability at the Stony Military Operating Area, which permitted the move. During 1991, the 18th Squadron handed off its Thunderbolts to the 11th Tactical Air Support Squadron of the 11th Air Control Wing[note 6] and transitioned to Block 40General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons.[36]
On 20 August 1993, the wing inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the354th Fighter Wing, which moved to Eielson without personnel or equipment fromMyrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina.[38]
343d Operations Group, 1 July 1991 – 20 August 1993[43]
Squadrons
11th Fighter Squadron (later 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 11th Tactical Air Support Squadron): 11 September 1942 – 15 August 1946, 18 August 1955 – 30 September 1968,[1][17]
18th Fighter Squadron (later 18th Tactical Fighter Squadron): 11 September 1942 – 15 August 1946, 15 November 1977 – 1 January 1980, 1 January 1982 – 1 July 1991[28]
25th Tactical Air Support Squadron: 1 October 1981 – 15 September 1989[33]
43d Tactical Fighter Squadron: 15 November 1977 – 1 January 1980[27]
54th Fighter Squadron: 11 September 1942 – 21 March 1946[44]
87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 30 September 1968 – 28 August 1970[22]
344th Fighter Squadron: 10 October 1942 – 15 August 1946[5]
^Aircraft is Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning serial 42-13545 on approach to Amchitka AAF, taken in 1943
^Six of these victories were scored before the 11th Squadron was assigned to the group. Newton & Senning, p. 533.
^Two of these victories were scored before the 54th Squadron was assigned to the group. Newton & Senning, p. 536.
^Total excludes 8 victories by the 11th and 54th Squadrons credited before they were assigned to the group.
^Aircraft is Convair F-102A-80-CO Delta Dagger serial 56-1485. Taken at Duluth Airport in 1959.
^The 11th Tactical Air Support Squadron was the 343d's former 11th Fighter Squadron, while the 11th Air Control Wing was its former fellow group in the 21st Composite Wing, the 531st Aircraft Control and Warning Group.
Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1956., p. 6
Ray, Thomas W. "Nuclear Armament: Its Acquisition, Control and Application to Manned Interceptors 1951–1963", ADC Historical Study No. 20, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO (Secret- Restricted Data, redacted version declassified 20 June 1996)
NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO , 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)
"United States Air Force". Aero Web: Aviation History. Archived fromthe original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved12 August 2015. (Chronology includes 1957 Bendix Trophy information)
"P-40K WarhawkAleutian Tiger". Dakota Territory Air Museum. 8 June 2011. Retrieved14 August 2015. (Information on museum P-40 in markings of the 11th Fighter Squadron)
"Captain George Laven Jr. P-38 Ace". Stardust Studios. Retrieved14 August 2015. (Artwork "Aleutian Encounter" of one of P-38 ace's victory in the Aleutians with narrative)
Kim, Artur (19 July 2015)."1942 Tigers in the Valley". Pinturas Aviación II Guerra Mundial. Retrieved14 August 2015. (Artwork "Tigers in the Valley" by Jack Fellows, 11th Fighter Squadron P-40s with accompanying description)
"Some P-40's for your enjoyment..." Ubisoft Forums. Retrieved14 August 2015. (Fourth image is P-40 of Capt George L. Hicks, III of the 18th Fighter Squadron)
"Wings Pallette Curtiss P-40". Avia Camouflage Profiles. Retrieved14 August 2015. (Several profiles of 11th Fighter Squadron P-40s and information on group commander, John S. Chennault, son ofClaire Chennault)
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United States Air Force
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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