332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
| 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron | |
|---|---|
332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-102A Delta Dagger
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| Active | 1942–1965 |
| Country |
 United States
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| Branch |
 United States Air Force
|
| Type | Fighter-Interceptor |
| Engagements |
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| Decorations |
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| Insignia | |
| Patch with 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron emblem (approved 29 February 1956) |  |
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The 332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 4683rd Air Defense Wing at Thule Air Base, Greenland, where it was inactivated on 31 May 1965.
The squadron was first organized during World War II as the 332d Fighter Squadron. It trained fighter pilots until March 1944 when it was disbanded in a reorganization of the Army Air Forces' training and support units. The squadron was again organized in 1953 as an air defense organization. It moved to Greenland in 1960.
The squadron was first activated at Hamilton Field, California in July 1942 as one of the three original squadrons of the 329th Fighter Group. Four days after its activation, the squadron moved to Paine Field, Washington and equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. The squadron initially acted as an Operational Training Unit (OTU). The OTU program involved establishing an oversized parent unit which would provide cadres to organize "satellite groups." The 332d also served as a Replacement Training Unit, training Lightning pilots in the final phases of fighter pilot training before shipping overseas.
In September 1942 the 329th Group headquarters moved to Grand Central Air Terminal, California, while the 332d moved to Santa Ana Army Air Base. Most of the group eventually found itself at Ontario Army Air Field, California. The squadrons moved there in 1943, and were joined the other squadrons later that year, while group headquarters moved in February 1944. The squadron was disbanded in 1944 as part of an Army Air Forces (AAF) reorganization in which units not programmed to deploy overseas were replaced by AAF Base Units in order to free up manpower for overseas assignment because standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each AAF base was organized into a separate numbered unit.
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