The 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force which was last based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated in 2009. The wing was first organized as the 478th Fighter Group (Two Engine), which briefly served as a Fourth Air Force Replacement Training Unit in 1944. The unit was disbanded when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training units into AAF Base Units to reduce manpower requirements in the United States.
The 478th Fighter Group (Air Defense) opened Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota under Air Defense Command in 1957 and managed its expansion as an air defense and strategic bombardment base. In 1960, the group also assumed an alert commitment when it gained the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. In April 1961, the group was replaced by the 478th Fighter Wing as its responsibilities expanded to host a Strategic Air Command (SAC) wing. SAC activities at Grand Forks continued to expand with the planned addition of a strategic missile wing. In 1963 SAC took over host responsibilities for the base and the wing was inactivated.
In 1985 the 478th group and wing were consolidated into a single unit. In the spring of 2007, the consolidated unit was redesignated the 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing and activated with three subordinate groups as a systems development unit at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Ohio. In 2009 the wing was inactivated along with two of its groups and its functions transferred to its subordinate 478th Aeronautical Systems Group.
The group moved twice in the first two months of its existence, to Santa Rosa Army Air Field in December 1943, then to Redmond Army Air Field in February 1944. Starting in January its component squadrons dispersed to separate bases in California, Oregon, and Washington.[2][3][4][5]
The group experienced delays and was not fully manned or equipped until March 1944, when it began operations as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) using single engine Bell P-39 Airacobras despite its designation as a two engine unit.[1] RTUs were oversized units whose mission was to train individual pilots or aircrews.[7] The group's 454th Fighter Squadron did not equip as an operational squadron, but served as an administrative unit that processed fighter pilots before they were assigned to RTUs. This squadron was detached from the group in January 1944.[2]
However, the Army Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving poorly adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit,[8] while the groups and squadrons acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated.[9] The 478th was disbanded at the end of the month in this reorganization.[1]
The group's squadrons at Redmond and at Madras Army Air Field moved to Portland Army Air Base,[4][5] where they were replaced by the 432d AAF Base Unit (Fighter Replacement Training Unit, Single Engine).[6] The personnel and equipment of the 454th squadron at Salinas Army Air Base became part of the 451st AAF Base Unit (Night Fighter Replacement Training Unit) and those of the squadron at Paine Field were absorbed by the 465th AAF Base Unit. The 478th headquarters provided the cadre for the 317th Wing (P-39) which managed all P-39 training for Fourth Air Force.[10][note 1]
The unit was reconstituted at the end of 1956 and redesignated the 478th Fighter Group (Air Defense). It was activated at Grand Forks Air Force Base in February 1957, but had no tactical units assigned.[1][11] The group mission was to build up Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.[12] It was initially assigned an air base squadron and a materiel squadron[13] to carry out this mission.[11]
The Air Force had announced plans to build a base in eastern North Dakota for the air defense of the United States, and Grand Forks had been selected by the Department of Defense.[14] By the end of 1957 the group had managed the completion of the first runway, fighter base facilities, fuel storage and refueling facilities, a control tower and operations facility.[15]
The group's host responsibilities grew as well when SAC's 4133d wing became operational, adding the 905th Air Refueling Squadron and four maintenance squadrons.[11] The growth of the support mission at Grand Forks was recognized in April 1961 when ADC activated the 478th Fighter Wing and a number of subordinate units to replace the group.[20]
Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, attrition (and the fact that production lines closed in 1961) caused a gradual drop in the number of planes assigned to a squadron, from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. These reductions made it apparent that the primary mission of Grand Forks would be to support SAC and resulted in the inactivation of the wing[21] and, because of its expanding role at Grand Forks, SAC assumed control of the base from ADC and the wing and all the wing's support units were transferred to SAC and were inactivated.[20][22][23][24] The 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron transferred to the direct control of Grand Forks Air Defense Sector.[17]
Systems Development
The wing was redesignated the 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing and activated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio in 2007 and was assigned three groups.[25][26] The wing focused on systems development and procurement for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor aircraft. It was inactivated along with the 778th and 878th groups in 2009 and its mission and personnel transferred to its subordinate 478th Aeronautical Systems Group as the Raptor approached operational capability.[27]
Lineage
478th Fighter Group
Constituted as the 478th Fighter Group (Two Engine) on 12 October 1943
Activated on 1 December 1943
Disbanded on 31 March 1944
Reconstituted and redesignated 478th Fighter Group (Air Defense), on 11 December 1956
Activated on 28 February 1957
Inactivated 1 February 1961
Consolidated 31 January 1984 with the 478th Fighter Wing (Air Defense)[25]
478th Fighter Wing
Constituted as the 478th Fighter-Day Wing on 25 March 1953
Redesignated 478th Fighter Wing (Air Defense) on 28 December 1960 and activated (not organized)
Activated on 1 February 1961
Inactivated on 1 July 1963
Consolidated 31 January 1984 with the 478th Fighter Group (Air Defense)[25]
Consolidated Unit
Redesignated 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing on 16 March 2007
^The 317th wing headquarters was also a Base Unit, the 401st, rather than a table of organization unit. See"Abstract, History 317th Troop Carrier Wing May 1944-Sep 1945". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 11 December 2013.. The 317th moved to Portland upon organization.
^Aircraft is F-102A-41-CO Delta Dagger serial 55-3372
^478th Fighter Group assigned prior to 1 February 1961, 478th Fighter Wing assigned subsequently.
^Assigned to 478th Fighter Group prior to 1 February 1961, 478th Fighter Wing subsequently
^478th Fighter Group stationed prior to 1 February 1961, 478th Fighter Wing stationed subsequently.
Goss, William A. (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II(PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN48003657. OCLC704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
McMullen, Richard F. (1964) "The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964" ADC Historical Study No. 27, Air Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, CO (Confidential, declassified 22 Mar 2000)
Redmond, Kent C.; Smith, Thomas M. (2000). From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN978-0-262-18201-0.
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