319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
| 319th Fighter Interceptor Training Squadron | |
|---|---|
319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-106 58-0788 at Malmstrom AFB in
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| Active | 1942–1945; 1947-1969; 1971-1972; 1975-1977 |
| Country |
 United States
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| Branch |
 United States Air Force
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| Role | Fighter Interceptor Training |
| Motto(s) | We Get Ours at Night |
| Engagements |
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| Decorations |
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| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron emblem (approved 28 May 1957) |  |
The 319th Fighter Interceptor Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Aerospace Defense Command's Interceptor Weapons School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 30 November 1977.
It was established in mid-1942 as a fighter squadron, and trained under I Fighter Command primarily in the northeast with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. It was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in Algeria, and took part in the North African Campaign supporting the United States Fifth Army's advance with tactical air support. It attacked enemy armored columns, troop concentrations, road transport, bridges and other targets of opportunity. It also flew combat missions over Sicily from airfields in Tunisia, supporting the Allied ground forces in the liberation of the island. The squadron was moved to Italy in late 1943 and continued tactical operations as part of Twelfth Air Force. It supported the Fifth Army as it advanced into central and northern Italy during the Italian Campaign. It was re-equipped with North American P-51D Mustangs in 1944. It continued combat operations until the German capitulation, and demobilized in northern Italy during the summer of 1945. It was inactivated in October.
It was reactivated in 1947 at Rio Hato Air Base, Panama as part of the air defense forces of the Panama Canal. It was equipped with Northrop P-61 Black Widows at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, then deployed to Panama in September. It later moved to France Field in the Canal Zone and became part of Caribbean Air Command. It was equipped from inactivating 414th and 415th Night Fighter Squadrons. Its war-weary Black Widows were retired in 1948 and replaced with very long range North American F-82 Twin Mustangs. However this type of air defense was deemed unnecessary in the Canal Zone and the squadron was returned to the United States and assigned to McChord Air Force Base, Washington in 1949, for air defense of the Pacific Northwest. It was moved to Moses Lake Air Force Base in September to provide air defense over the Hanford Reservation in Eastern Washington. It was re-equipped with the new Lockheed F-94 Starfire.
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Wikipedia