4709th Air Defense Wing
4709th Air Defense Wing 
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| Active | 1952–1956 |
| Country |
 United States
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| Branch |
 United States Air Force
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| Type | Fighter Interceptor and Radar |
| Role | Air Defense |
| Size | Wing |
| Part of | Air Defense Command |
The 4709th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, where it was discontinued in 1956. It was established in 1952 at McGuire as the 4709th Defense Wing in a general reorganization of Air Defense Command (ADC), which replaced wings responsible for a base with wings responsible for a geographical area. It assumed control of several fighter Interceptor squadrons that had been assigned to the 52d Fighter-Interceptor Wing, some of which were Air National Guard squadrons mobilized for the Korean War. It also assumed host responsibility for McGuire through its subordinate 568th Air Base Group.
In early 1953 it also was assigned two radar squadrons guarding the approaches to New York City and its dispersed fighter squadrons combined with colocated air base squadrons into air defense groups. When Mcguire became a Military Air Transport Service (MATS) base in 1954, the 4709th became a tenant at McGuire. The wing was redesignated as an air defense wing he same year. Starting in 1956, in preparation for the implementation of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) automated air defense system, the 4621st Air Defense Wing was activated at McGuire and attached to the 4709th. Its radar units were transferred to the 4621st and the wing was discontinued in 1956.
The wing was organized as the 4709th Defense Wing at the beginning of February 1952 at McGuire AFB, New Jersey as part of a major reorganization of ADC responding to ADC's difficulty under the existing wing base organizational structure in deploying fighter squadrons to best advantage. It assumed operational control and the air defense mission of fighter squadrons formerly assigned to the inactivating 52d Fighter-Interceptor Wing (FIW). The 2d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS) and the 5th FIS, flying F-94 Starfire interceptor aircraft, were located at McGuire. The federalized 105th FIS was located at Berry Field, Nashville, Tennessee and was flying World War II era F-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. The wing also was assigned another federalized Air National Guard (ANG) squadron, the 118th FIS at Suffolk County AFB, New York, also flying Thunderbolts, which was reassigned from the inactivating 103d FIW. The support elements of the 52d FIW's 52d Air Base Group (ABG) and 52d Maintenance & Supply Group were replaced at McGuire by the wing's 568th ABG and air base squadrons were activated at each of the dispersed bases assigned to the wing to support the fighter squadrons at those stations. The wing's mission was to train and maintain tactical units in a state of readiness to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft attempting to penetrate the air defense system in the Northeastern United States.
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Wikipedia