315th Fighter Squadron

324th Fighter Group P-40 Warhawks

The 315th Fighter Squadron was constituted in 1942 and activated on 6 July at Mitchel Field, New York[3] as one of the three original squadrons of the 324th Fighter Group.[4] The squadron moved immediately to Philadelphia Municipal Airport, where it trained with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters until October.[3]

The squadron moved to Grenier Field when its parent group moved to the Middle East between October and December 1942[4] for operations with Ninth Air Force, the 315th joined the group in Egypt January 1943.[3] The unit trained for several weeks with P-40 aircraft. While group headquarters remained in Egypt, the squadron began operating with other organizations against the enemy in Tunisia. Reunited in June 1943, the squadron and group engaged primarily in escort and patrol missions between Tunisia and Sicily until July 1943. It received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for action against the enemy from March 1943 to the Allied invasion of Sicily.[3][4]

The unit trained from July to October 1943 for operations with the Twelfth Air Force. It resumed combat on 30 October 1943 and directed most of its attacks against roads, bridges, motor transport, supply areas, rolling stock, gun positions, troop concentrations, and rail facilities in Italy until August 1944. During the assault on Anzio in January 1944, it patrolled the beaches and protected convoys. It aided the Allied offensive in Italy during May 1944, receiving another DUC during the Battle of Monte Cassino for action from 12 to 14 May when the group bombed an enemy position on Monastery Hill, attacked troops massing on the hill for counterattack, and hit a nearby stronghold to force the surrender of an enemy garrison.[4]

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt as flown by the unit

The 315th continued to give close support to ground forces until the fall of Rome in June 1944. The group converted to Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in July and supported the assault on southern France in August by dive-bombing gun positions, bridges, and radar facilities, and by patrolling the combat zone. The unit attacked such targets as motor transport, rolling stock, rail lines, troops, bridges, gun emplacements, and supply depots after the invasion, giving tactical support to Allied forces advancing through France. The unit aided the reduction of the Colmar Pocket in January and February 1945, and supported Seventh Army's drive through the Siegfried defenses in March. It received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for supporting French forces during the campaigns for Italy and France in 1944 and 1945.[3][4]

The 315th Fighter Squadron returned to the United States between October and November 1945 and was inactivated 7 November 1945 with its parent group at Camp Shanks, New York.[4]

In July 2005, the Air Force established a small group of regular maintenance personnel with the Vermont Air National Guard at Burlington International Airport under a program originally known as the Community Basing initiative. These personnel were assigned to Detachment 134 of the 495th Fighter Group at Shaw Air Force Base. In January 2016 the detachment was expanded into the reactivated 315th Squadron. Although assigned to the 495th Group, the squadron is an active associate of the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard, operating and maintaining the same aircraft.[1][5]

• 324th Fighter Group, 6 July 1942 – 7 November 1945[3]
• 495th Fighter Group, 9 January 2016 – present[1]

• Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1942–1944
• Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944–1945[3]
• General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, 2016–2019
• Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Future Replacement for F-16

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Watkins, Robert A. (2009). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Volume IV, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-3401-6.