548th Combat Training Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 548th Combat Training Squadron is a United States Air Force
squadron assigned to the 57th Operations Group
at Fort Polk
, Louisiana
.
, Louisiana.
The 548th CTS accomplishes air liaison duties for the JRTC commander, exercises operational control of deployed fighter units to Barksdale, provides deployed unit maintenance and munitions support, schedules and controls exercise airspace, controls close air support missions, builds exercise scenarios, provides observers and controllers to evaluate tactical air control operations and replicates Air Force command and control from division through Joint Task Force level.
The 548th CTS serves as host to active Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Marine and Navy units in stressful, realistic combined arms training for both Army and Air Force contingency forces under conditions of low- to mid-intensity conflicts. Squadron members assist in the planning of Air Force operational support and participation in each exercise.
The Air Force supports deployments of personnel and equipment with strategic airlift and sustainment of forces in their operational area by theater airlift. Tactical aircraft provide the close air support to the Army contingent on the ground. Important to maintaining the ability to fight and win is tough, demanding force-on-force training. The events occurring in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan is representative of the kind of realistic training experience our combat units receive, and it’s what the 548th CTS and the JRTC are all about.
, the 548th Night Fighter Squadron served with Seventh Air Force
in the Pacific Theater
The 548th was the first night-fighter squadron to arrive on Iwo Jima (on D+8), where it flew combat for several months. It eventually moved to the island of Ie Shima just 3 miles off the coast of Okinawa, where it finished out the war doing night penetration raids and weather observations to support the B-29 fleet bombing the Japanese home islands.
The 548th was reactivated (same insignia: the cat's name is "Skopie" as in "radar-scope") in 1969 as the 548th Combat Training Squadron (548th CTS), Provided special operations training to USAF and Vietnamese aircrews, October 1969 – July 1973. Controlled multi-service close air support and forward air control aircraft and tactical air control assets in realistic combat exercises with the US Army Joint Readiness Training Center, July 1994 – September 1997
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...
squadron assigned to the 57th Operations Group
57th Wing
The 57th Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations.-Mission:The 57...
at Fort Polk
Fort Polk
Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, approximately 7 miles east of Leesville, Louisiana and 20 miles north of DeRidder, Louisiana....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
.
Overview
The 548th Combat Training Squadron provides Air Combat Command-directed support to the U.S. Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center located at Fort PolkFort Polk
Fort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, approximately 7 miles east of Leesville, Louisiana and 20 miles north of DeRidder, Louisiana....
, Louisiana.
The 548th CTS accomplishes air liaison duties for the JRTC commander, exercises operational control of deployed fighter units to Barksdale, provides deployed unit maintenance and munitions support, schedules and controls exercise airspace, controls close air support missions, builds exercise scenarios, provides observers and controllers to evaluate tactical air control operations and replicates Air Force command and control from division through Joint Task Force level.
The 548th CTS serves as host to active Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, Marine and Navy units in stressful, realistic combined arms training for both Army and Air Force contingency forces under conditions of low- to mid-intensity conflicts. Squadron members assist in the planning of Air Force operational support and participation in each exercise.
The Air Force supports deployments of personnel and equipment with strategic airlift and sustainment of forces in their operational area by theater airlift. Tactical aircraft provide the close air support to the Army contingent on the ground. Important to maintaining the ability to fight and win is tough, demanding force-on-force training. The events occurring in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan is representative of the kind of realistic training experience our combat units receive, and it’s what the 548th CTS and the JRTC are all about.
History
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the 548th Night Fighter Squadron served with Seventh Air Force
Seventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
in the Pacific Theater
The 548th was the first night-fighter squadron to arrive on Iwo Jima (on D+8), where it flew combat for several months. It eventually moved to the island of Ie Shima just 3 miles off the coast of Okinawa, where it finished out the war doing night penetration raids and weather observations to support the B-29 fleet bombing the Japanese home islands.
The 548th was reactivated (same insignia: the cat's name is "Skopie" as in "radar-scope") in 1969 as the 548th Combat Training Squadron (548th CTS), Provided special operations training to USAF and Vietnamese aircrews, October 1969 – July 1973. Controlled multi-service close air support and forward air control aircraft and tactical air control assets in realistic combat exercises with the US Army Joint Readiness Training Center, July 1994 – September 1997
Lineage
- Constituted as: 548th Night Fighter Squadron on March 23, 1944
- Activated on April 10, 1944
- Inactivated on December 19, 1945
- Activated and Redesignated: 548th Combat Training Squadron on October 15, 1969
- Inactivated on July 31, 1973
- Reactivated on July 1, 1994
- Inactivated on September 30, 1997
- Reactivated on October 4, 2007
Assignments
- Fourth Air ForceFourth Air ForceThe Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....
, 10 April 1944 - 7th Fighter Wing, 16 September 1944
- Seventh Air ForceSeventh Air ForceThe Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
, 20 October 1944 - VII Fighter Command, 28 October 1944
- AAF, Pacific Ocean Area
- Attached to 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...
, 8 June 1945- Seventh Air ForceSeventh Air ForceThe Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
, 14 July-19 December 1945 - 4410 Combat Crew Training Wing (later, 4410 Special Operations Training Group), 15 October 1969-31 July 1973
- 608 Air Operations Group, 1 July 1994
- USAF Air Ground Operations School, 3 February 1998
- 57th Operations Group57th WingThe 57th Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations.-Mission:The 57...
, 4 October 2007–present
- Seventh Air Force
Stations
- Salinas AABSalinas Municipal AirportSalinas Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles southeast of the central business district of Salinas, a city in Monterey County, California, United States.-Facilities and aircraft:...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, April 10, 1944 - Delano AAF, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, June 26 – September 2, 1944 - Hickam Field, Territory of HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, September 16, 1944 - Kipapa Gulch Airfield, Territory of HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, October 17, 1944
- Detached: Isley Airfield, SaipanSaipanSaipan 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...
, Mariana IslandsMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, December 15, 1944- East FieldEast Field (Saipan)East Field is a former World War II airfield on Saipan in the Mariana Islands.-History:Saipan had been occupied by the Japanese since World War I, and by mid-1944, the Americans had advanced inside the Japanese ring of defense in the Pacific Theater...
, SaipanSaipanSaipan 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...
, Mariana IslandsMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, January 26, 1945
- East Field
- Detached: (Ground Echelon), 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...
, Bonin Islands (JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
), February 28, 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...
, Bonin Islands (JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
), March 5, 1945 - Ie Shima, June 12, 1945
- Fort LewisFort LewisJoint Base Lewis-McChord is a United States military facility located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord....
, Washington, December 17–19, 1945 - England AFB, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, October 15, 1969 – July 31, 1973 - Barksdale AFB, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, July 1, 1994 – December 1, 2010 - Fort PolkFort PolkFort Polk is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, approximately 7 miles east of Leesville, Louisiana and 20 miles north of DeRidder, Louisiana....
, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, December 1, 2010 – present
- North Field
Aircraft
- P-70 Havoc, 1944
- P-61 Black WidowP-61 Black WidowThe Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically for night interception of aircraft, and was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar. It was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom design developed during World War II...
, 1944–1945 - C/AC/EC-47, 1969–1973
- Controlled USAF, Navy and Marine aircraft, 1994–1997