415th Night Fighter Squadron
| 415th Special Operations Squadron | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1943–Present |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Branch |
 United States Air Force
|
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Special Operations Training |
| Part of | 58th Operations Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Kirtland AFB, New Mexico |
| Engagements |
 World War II (EAME Theater)  1991 Gulf War (Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation of Kuwait) |
| Decorations |
 Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (2x) |
| Insignia | |
| 415th Tactical Fighter Squadron emblem |  |
The 415th Special Operations Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 58th Operations Group, assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
The 415th Night Fighter Squadron was formed in February 1943 and it carried out patrols in the Mediterranean and then North-west Europe during World War II. It was inactivated in 1947 with its personnel and aircraft transferred to another squadron.
Re-activated in 2011, the squadron replaced the 58th Special Operations Wing Detachment 1. Its mission is to train special operations personnel operating both the HC-130J Combat King II and the MC-130J Commando II.
During World War II, the 415th Night Fighter Squadron was activated on 10 February 1943. At that time, the squadron was assigned to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics for training in the P-70 fighter, a converted A-20 Havoc light bomber. That training included daylight and night air interception, ground-controlled interception, navigation, and instrument flying.
On 3 March 1943, an air echelon from the unit left Florida. Twenty days later, the echelon sailed on the vessel Empress of Scotland and arrived in England on the 31st. There, the pilots, engineers, and radar operators trained separately until May 1943, when all elements of the air echelon moved to RAF Ayr, Scotland, for training as a complete unit. The ground element moved from Florida on 22 April 1943 to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, and left there a week later on the U.S. Army Transport Shawnee for North Africa. They arrived at Oran, Algeria on 11 May 1943 to begin working and training at the nearby Oran Es Sénia Airport. In June 1943, the ground element moved to Tunisia, where it worked with a Royal Air Force night fighter squadron. The air echelon joined the ground troops in early July at Monastir, Tunisia.
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