326th Aeronautical Systems Wing

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

The 326th Fighter Group was activated at Mitchel Field, New York in August 1942 and moved the next month to Bradley Field, Connecticut.[1] It was initially assigned the 320th,[2] 321st,[3] and 322d Fighter Squadrons[4] and equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. The 326th performed the air defense mission for First Air Force in the northeast during 1942 and 1943 while also conducting operational training.[1] As an operational training unit, it was an oversized parent unit which provided cadres to "satellite groups."[5]

It later became a replacement training unit, remaining an oversized unit,[5] but preparing individual pilots for combat duty in the Thunderbolt.[1] In the replacement role it added the 442d Fighter Squadron in February 1943. In the fall of 1943, the 320th Squadron returned to Mitchel, while the 442d Squadron moved to Bedford Army Air Field, Massachusetts.[2][6]

In October 1943, the group provided the cadre to form the 402d Fighter Group.[7] The 326th then moved to Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, along with the two squadrons stationed with group headquarters at Westover Field, Massachusetts.[1][3][4] Its two squadrons at other stations, the 320th and the 442d, remained behind and were reassigned to the 402d Group.[2][6] These two squadrons were replaced in North Carolina by the 538th[8] and 539th Fighter Squadrons.[9]

After arriving in North Carolina, the group resumed a split operation when the 538th and 529th Squadrons moved to Bluethenthal Field, North Carolina after they were organized .[8][9] The Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each of its bases was organized into a separate numbered unit.[10] As a result, in 1944 the group was disbanded as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system.[1] The 123d AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) replaced the group headquarters and squadrons at Seymour Johnson,[11] and the 130th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) replaced the squadrons at Bluethenthal Field.[12]

321st FIS F-89Js at Paine Field in 1956

The group was reconstituted, redesignated as the 326th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated in 1955 as an Air Defense Command (ADC) operational air defense unit at Paine Field, Washington.[1] It absorbed the personnel and equipment of the inactivating 529th Air Defense Group[13] as part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.[14] The 326th was equipped with Northrop F-89D Scorpions,[15] armed with Mighty Mouse rockets, and became the USAF host unit at Paine. It was assigned a number of support organizations to fulfill its host responsibilities.[16][17][18][19][20] Its 321st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron assumed the personnel and equipment of the 83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was transferred to Hamilton Air Force Base, California without personnel or equipment.[3][21]

64th FIS F-102 at Paine field[note 1]

The group received later model Scorpions and by 1956 was entirely equipped with the F-89H, which could carry AIM-4 Falcons in addition to the unguided Mighty Mouse rockets. It finally equipped with nuclear-capable F-89Js, armed with the AIR-2 Genie and equipped with data link for interception control through the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system in the spring of 1958.[15] For a brief period in 1960, the group was without an operational element, as the 321st Squadron was discontinued on 1 March[3] and the 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which replaced it, did not move to Paine Field with its Convair F-102 Delta Daggers until 15 March.[22] The group was inactivated in April 1961 and its personnel and equipment were reassigned to the 57th Fighter Group (Air Defense), which also assumed its mission.[23]

B-1 assigned to flight testing[note 2]

The wing was formed in 2005 as the Long Range Strike Systems Wing[24] as part of the Air Force Materiel Command Transformation initiative that replaced traditional staff offices in the command's centers with wings, groups, and squadrons. It was redesignated the following year when it was consolidated with the 326th Tactical Fighter Group. The 326th was a 297-person unit directing more than 44 programs with a budget exceeding $5 billion, and was responsible for the program execution to develop, acquire, field and modernize existing and advanced aircraft strike capabilities.[25] The wing consisted of the B-1 Systems Group (later the 326th Aeronautical Systems Group) for Rockwell B-1 Lancer systems, the B-2 Systems Group (later the 726th Aeronautical Systems Group) for Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit systems, the Airborne Electronic Attack Systems Squadron (later the 651st Aeronautical Systems Squadron,[note 3] and the F-117 Systems Squadron (later the 650th Aeronautical Systems Squadron) for Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk systems. It also provided operations management support to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System Program Office. In 2008, the wing and its component groups were inactivated, while its two squadrons were reassigned to the 312th Aeronautical Systems Wing.[26]

• New York Air Defense Wing, 19 August 1942[30]
• I Fighter Command, 13 Oct 43 – 10 April 1944[31]
• 25th Air Division, 18 August 1955[28]
• Seattle Air Defense Sector, 10 February 1960 – 1 April 1961[28]
• Aeronautical Systems Center, 23 June 2006 – 30 June 2008[24][26]

Groups

• B-1 Systems Group (later 326th Aeronautical Systems Group), 18 January 2005 – 30 June 2008[24][26]
• B-2 Systems Group (later 726th Aeronautical Systems Group), 18 January 2005 – 30 June 2008[24][26]

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

• Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, (1956)
• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center.
• Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48-3657.
• 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.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.

Further reading

• Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol II, 1955–1972. Fort McNair, DC: Center for Military History. ISBN 978-1-4379-2131-1.