418th Night Fighter Squadron
| 418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron | |
|---|---|
German Air Force Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter 63-8469, being operated by the 418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, 1972
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| Active | 1943-1947; 1957-1958; 1969-1976 |
| Country |
 United States
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| Branch |
 United States Air Force
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| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Fighter Training |
| Garrison/HQ | Luke Air Force Base, Arizona |
| Engagements |
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| Decorations |
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| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the 418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron |  |
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The 418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing, being inactivated at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona on 1 October 1976.
The unit was originally formed as the 418th Night Fighter Squadron in 1943. After training, it was deployed to Fifth Air Force and ordered to New Guinea to provide air defense interceptor protection against Japanese night air raids on USAAF airfields. It later served in the Philippines Campaign where in addition to night interceptor missions it also flew day and night interdiction missions against enemy troop movements, bridges and other targets of opportunity. It later served in Occupied Japan and Okinawa where it was inactivated in 1947.
During the Cold War, the squadron was briefly activated in the Philippines in 1958, then became an F-104 Starfighter training unit for the West German Air Force at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona in the early 1970s.
The squadron was activated on 1 April 1943 at the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, Orlando AAF, Florida. After several months of training with Douglas P-70 Havoc night fighters, the unit was deployed to the Pacific Theater, moving first to Camp Patrick Henry, near Newport News Virginia where they boarded the USS General John Pope, sailing through the Panama Canal to Milne Bay, New Guinea.
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Wikipedia