414th Fighter Group
Encyclopedia
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit. It is assigned to Air Force Reserve Command
Air Force Reserve Command
The Air Force Reserve Command is a major command of the U.S. Air Force with its headquarters at Robins AFB, Georgia.It stood up as a major command of the Air Force on 17 February 1997....
, being activated at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located to the southeast of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for Navy test pilot Seymour Johnson, a native of Goldsboro...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
2010.
Overview
The group was reactivated as an Air Force Reserve Command associate unit in July 2010. The role of the new group is to help Seymour Johnson AFB, NC produce more qualified F-15E aircrew and provide skilled maintainers to assist in the maintenance of the F-15E aircraft.History
Constituted as 414th Fighter Group on 5 October 1944 and activated on 15 October. Equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts. Most of the pilots had been flying Curtiss P-40s at Harris Neck Army AirfieldHarris Neck Army Airfield
Harris Neck Army Airfield is an abandoned military airfield located in what is now the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, McIntosh County, Georgia. It is located north of the intersection of Route 131 & Harris Neck Airport Road, about southwest of Savannah, Georgia.-History:Harris Neck is a...
, Georgia. The Group consisted of three squadrons, the 413th, 437th and 456th.
In November 1944 the Group relocated to Selfridge Airfield, Mt. Clemens, Michigan where they transitioned into long-range P-47N Thunderbolts. On 19 March 1945, the Group relocated to Blumenthal Field, Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, North Carolina, in preparation for their departure to the Pacific war zone.
An advance echelon went on ahead by ship, in May 1945 and two shipments went on converted aircraft carriers carrying the P-47Ns (109 of them). The first carrier was the USS Cape Esperance
USS Cape Esperance (CVE-88)
USS Cape Esperance was an Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy.She was launched on 3 March 1944 by Kaiser Co., Inc., Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. W. M...
, with personnel and 49 planes aboard, which shipped over in early June. The 414th Group was assigned to the Twentieth Air Force
Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...
VII Fighter Command, 301st Fighter Wing
301st Fighter Wing (World War II)
The 301st Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Far East Air Forces, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 20 January 1949.-Lineage:...
.
The second aircraft carrier, the C.V.E. Casablanca
USS Casablanca (CVE-55)
The USS Casablanca was a United States Navy escort aircraft carrier, lead ship of her class, named after the city of Casablanca, Morocco.Casablanca has borne three names and three type designators...
, with 49 planes on the flight deck and 11 on the hangar deck, and personnel, departed 7 July 1945 and arrived at Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
22 July 1945. The earlier carrier group (BX Shipment), based temporarily on Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, went on two missions to Truk, one of the Carolines, on 13 and 22 July. They had had reports that the Japanese were hiding planes but there were none seen: one man was lost on one of the missions.
Those already on Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
began operations in late July with an attack against a radar station on Chichi Jima. Operations during August were directed primarily against enemy airfields in Japan but the group also strafed hangars, barracks, ordinance dumps, trains, marshalling yards and shipping. One such raid, on 1 August, was to Okazaki
Okazaki
-People named Okazaki:*Chieko N. Okazaki , former counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints*Dai Okazaki , a Japanese comedic performer and former manga artist...
but due to a heavy overcast the ground was not visible so a secondary target, Nagoya East, was approached. It was barren of both planes and personnel; some of the buildings were strafed. The line of retirement took the group over the primary target, Okazaki, and there were no aircraft visible there either.
Specially-assigned B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
navigation "pathfinders" led the Thunderbolts to and from Japan; even so, not every fighter could rendezvous on time for the return journey. It was a daunting prospect for the pilot who had to find his own way back 600 miles to a small island in a vast ocean. On return from another of the Group's first operations over Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
on 8 August, in support of B-29s bombing Yawata, the fuel supplies of several Thunderbolts were exhausted, due to siphoning, and pilots had to bail out in the vicinity of US warships patrolling the mission flight lanes. Lt. Robert Dunnavant, piloting a 437th Fighter Squadron P-47N, spent the astonishing period of 8 hours and 45 minutes in the air. His aircraft's fuel tanks were so depleted when he eventually reached Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
, that he dared not try to reach his base at North Field
North Field (Iwo Jima)
North Field or Iwo Jima Air Base is a World War II airfield on Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands, located in the Central Pacific. The Bonin Islands are part of Japan...
, landing instead at a small US Navy airstrip he located on the coast.
On 12 August 1945, the second carrier group took off from Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
for Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
with B-29s as navigational planes, but they ran into severe weather and had to abort to Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
and Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. One pilot, Roy Abbott, spun out of the weather and crashed to the ocean in flames. Another, George W. Caka, continued on through the weather on his own and wound up over the 3rd Fleet, 300 miles N.E. of Iwo. He bailed out and was picked up out of the ocean unconscious; he too died, and was buried at sea. On 16 August, the second carrier group again departed from Guam, where they had re-gathered, and flew the 720 miles to Iwo. Further missions to the Empire were planned but were called off shortly before their departure times.
One final mission was flown over Japan, on 30 August 1945, three days before the 2 September V-J day. The planes, B-29s and P-47s arrived at the same time the first wave was going into the mainland and the treaty was being finalized by MacArthur on the Missouri. As a show of force, a low, aggressive flyby over Tokyo and the surrounding area was undertaken. In total, the Group went on five missions to "the Empire" from Iwo (including this last one) and two to Chichi Jima.
The Group was reassigned to 13th Air Force at Clark Field
Clark Air Base
Clark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in mid-December 1945. The relocation from Iwo was made with a brief stopover in Okinawa. The Group flew P-47Ns and P-51s in early 1946, and then a few P-80 Shooting Stars. In mid 1946 the Group relocated to Florida Blanca, in the Philippines (South of Clark Field) and was inactivated, and then redesignated the 18th Fighter Group under the command of Col. Bushey. There were 10 jets and 15 P-51s per squadron. The P-47s were flown back to Clark Field and demolished.
Reactivated in 1955 as an Air Defense Command fighter group, assigned to the Western Air Defense Force
Western Air Defense Force
The Western Air Defense Force is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960.- History :...
, flying F-94 Starfire interceptors. Over the years upgraded to F-89 Scorpions; F-101B Voodoos, and finally the F-106 Delta Darts. Inactivated in 1969 when ADC closed Oxnard AFB and sharply reduced its interceptor force.
Once again reactivated in 2010 as an Active Assioiate Unit Air Combat Command
Air Combat Command
Air Combat Command is a major command of the United States Air Force. ACC is one of ten major commands , reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force ....
fighter group, once again at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC. This time to train aircrew and assist in maintaining the F-15E.
Lineage
- Constituted as 414th Fighter Group on 5 October 1944
- Activated on 15 October 1944
- Inactivated on 30 September 1946
- Established as 414th Fighter Group (Air Defense) on 10 June 1955
- Reactivated on 18 August 1955 with personnel and equipment of 533d Air Defense Group533d Air Defense GroupThe 533d Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 27th Air Division, being stationed at Oxnard Air Force Base, California...
- Inactivated on 31 December 1969
- Activated on 1 April 2010
Assignments
- III Fighter CommandIII Fighter CommandThe III Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at MacDill Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 8 April 1946.-Lineage:...
, 15 October 1944 - 301st Fighter Wing301st Fighter WingThe 301st Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve fighter wing, based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Carswell Field, Texas. It is equipped with the F-16C+ Fighting Falcon...
, 28 October 1944 - VII Fighter Command, 17 April 1944
- XIII Fighter CommandXIII Fighter CommandThe XIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, based at Manila, Luzon, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 March 1946....
, 23 December 1945 – 30 September 1946 - 27th Air Division, 15 February 1953
- Western Air Defense ForceWestern Air Defense ForceThe Western Air Defense Force is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960.- History :...
, 18 August 1955 - Los Angeles Air Defense Sector, 1 October 1959
- 27th Air Division, 1 April 1966
- 26th Air Division, 19 November – 31 December 1969
- Tenth Air ForceTenth Air ForceThe Tenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve Command . It is headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas....
, 1 June 2010–present
Operational units
- 66th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 December 1957 – 8 January 1958
- 307th Fighter Squadron307th Fighter SquadronThe 307th Fighter Squadron is part of the 414th Fighter Group and stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.-Mission:...
, June 2010 – present - 354th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955
- 413th Fighter Squadron 15 October 1944 – 30 September 1946
- 437th Fighter Squadron 15 October 1944 – 30 September 1946; 18 August 1955-30 June 1968; 1 June 1968 – 30 September 1969
- 456th Fighter Squadron 15 October 1944 – 25 August 1946
- 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 September 1968 – 1 November 1969
Stations
- Seymour Johnson Field, NC 15 October 1944
- Selfridge Field, MI 15 November 1944
- Bluethenthal FieldWilmington International Airport-Other operations:As of August 2011, Wilmington International Airport has 134 aircraft that are based at the Airport. There are 100 single engine aircraft, 27 multi-engine aircraft, 7 jet engine aircraft, and 3 helicopters...
, NC 19 March – 11 May 1945 - North FieldNorth Field (Iwo Jima)North Field or Iwo Jima Air Base is a World War II airfield on Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands, located in the Central Pacific. The Bonin Islands are part of Japan...
, Iwo JimaIwo JimaIwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
7 July 1945
- Clark FieldClark Air BaseClark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
, LuzonLuzonLuzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, Philippines 23 December 1945 – 30 September 1946 - Oxnard AFB, California, 18 August 1955 – 31 December 1969
- Seymour Johnson AFB, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, June 2010–present
Aircraft flown
- P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
- F-94C Starfire, 1952–1956
- F-89D/H/J ScorpionF-89 ScorpionThe Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an early American jet-powered fighter designed from the outset as an all-weather interceptor. Though its straight wings limited its performance, it was among the first USAF jet fighters with guided missiles, and notably the first combat aircraft armed with air-to-air...
, 1956–1960 - F-101B Voodoo, 1960–1968
- F-106 Delta DartF-106 Delta DartThe Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date...
, 1968–1969 - F-15E Strike EagleF-15E Strike EagleThe McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle is an all-weather multirole fighter, derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic warfare aircraft. United States Air Force F-15E Strike...
, 2010–present