549th Night Fighter Squadron
| 549th Combat Training Squadron | |
|---|---|
A close air support instructor, 549th Combat Training Squadron observes aircraft movement and communications between joint terminal attack controllers and pilots during Green Flag West 10-9 exercises
|
|
| Active | 1944–1947; 1969-1988; 1991 – present |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Branch |
 United States Air Force
|
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Combat Training |
| Part of | 57th Operations Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada |
| Engagements |
|
| Decorations |
|
| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the 549th Combat Training Squadron |  |
The 549th Combat Training Squadron is a non-flying United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 57th Operations Group, and is stationed at Nellis AFB, Nevada. It conducts air support and air interdiction sorties in "Green Flag (West)" exercises to train USAF fighter pilots and the aerospace power component to the US Army's brigade combat training.
The unit was originally formed as the 549th Night Fighter Squadron in 1944. After training, it was deployed to Seventh Air Force and ordered to the Mariana Islands in the Central Pacific. Its mission was the air defense of Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress airfields on Iwo Jima. It also provided night escort for the B-29s in case of Japanese interceptor attacks. It later served on Okinawa where it was inactivated in December 1945.
The squadron was re-activated during the Vietnam War as a training unit of the 1st Special Operations Wing, training USAF and South Vietnamese forward air controllers (FAC) to direct tactical fighter-bombers in attacks on communist forces. After the end of American involvement in Southeast Asia, it continued the FAC training mission until 1988.
The 549th Combat Training Squadron hosts Green Flag-West exercises, a realistic air-surface integration combat training exercise involving the air forces of the United States and its allies, is primarily conducted in conjunction with US Army Combat Training Center exercises at Ft Irwin, CA. It is a Close Air Support and Joint exercise administered by the US Air Force Air Warfare Center and Nellis AFB through the 549th Combat Training Squadron.
The squadron was established on 1 April 1944 as the 549th Night Fighter Squadron at Hammer Field, California. It was part of the final group of dedicated night fighter interceptor squadrons formed by the Army Air Forces, being programmed to deploy to the Central Pacific. The squadron trained at various airfields in the San Joaquin Valley with the P-70 Havoc and YP-61 Black Widow night fighter and was ready to deploy into combat by late October.
The Squadron moved by train to Seattle, Washington where it boarded a troop ship bound for Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands. Arriving after a two-week crossing, it remained at Hickam Field, until its aircraft and equipment arrived in Hawaii. At Hickam, it was assigned to Seventh Air Force, and its P-61s were sent though the Hawaiian Air Depot to modify the aircraft for operations in the Pacific Theater. After being part of the defense forces of Hawaii for several weeks, it was deployed to East Field, Saipan in late February 1945 to provide night interceptor coverage of the new bases on Saipan and Guam for the Twentieth Air Force, which was going to use the airfields to carry out very long range strategic bombing of the Japanese Home Islands with the new B-29 Superfortress.
...
Wikipedia