Misplaced Pages

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

83d Fighter Weapons Squadron
Squadron F-106 at Loring Air Force Base in 1972
Active	1942–1945; 1946–1969; 1971–1972; 1972–1977; 1991–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Fighter weapons training
Engagements	European Theater of Operations
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
Patch with 83d Fighter Weapons Squadron emblem (approved 9 May 1956)

The 83d Fighter Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group and stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.

Mission

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The 83d Fighter Weapons Squadron is a non-flying unit that conducts the Air Force Air-to-Air Weapon System Evaluation Program (WSEP), known as COMBAT ARCHER. The squadron evaluates the total air-to-air weapons system including aircraft, weapon delivery system, weapon, aircrew, support equipment, technical data and maintenance actions. The squadron hosts 38 air-to-air WSEP deployments annually at Tyndall Air Force Base Florida.

The annual firing of 300 missiles evaluates all Air Force air-to-air missile capabilities for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, AIM-7 Sparrow missile, AIM-9 Sidewinder missile and aircraft guns, and also provides live missile training for combat Air Force crews as a secondary objective. Squadron personnel verify weapon system performance, determine reliability, evaluate capability and limitations, identify deficiencies, recommend corrective action, and maintain Combat Air Force-wide data.

The squadron investigates missile envelopes and evaluates capabilities and limitations to determine future firing requirements. They provide liaison support for pre-deployment, employment, and redeployment of Air Combat Command, United States Air Forces Europe, Pacific Air Forces, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Command and Canadian forces participating in WSEP, William Tell and WIC missile firing programs.

History

World War II

It was established in early 1942 as a IV Fighter Command squadron, and equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. After training in California it was deployed overseas to the European Theater of Operations in England. It was assigned to RAF Goxhill for European transition training with the Royal Air Force, and then assigned to its operational station at RAF Duxford. It was assigned to VIII Fighter Command for heavy bomber escort duties of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberators, engaged in long range strategic bombardment of military and industrial targets in Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany. It engaged in air-to-air combat with Luftwaffe interceptors over France and the Low Countries; the extended range of the P-38 could not extend over Germany. It replaced P-38s with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in mid-1943; later with North American P-51D Mustangs in 1944 which enabled the squadron to fly escort missions deep into Germany and also engage in fighter sweeps over enemy airfields, bridges, railroads, road transport and other targets of opportunity. It continued combat operations until the German capitulation in May 1945.

The squadron demobilized in England during the summer of 1945, returned to the United States and was inactivated largely as a paper unit in October 1945. It was reactivated by the United States Air Forces in Europe in 1946 as an occupation unit at Army Air Force Station Straubing, Germany in 1946–1947.

Air Defense Command

The 83d was transferred from USAFE to Air Defense Command (ADC) in June 1947, and stationed at Mitchell Field, New York. Prior to being equipped it was transferred to Hamilton Air Force Base, California, where it received F-51D Mustangs and Republic F-84B Thunderjets. In the fall of 1950 it was upgraded to F-84Ds, and in August 1951 it transitioned into Northrop F-89B Scorpions. In July 1952 the squadron moved to Paine Field, Washington, and received North American F-86D Sabres. In August 1955 the 83d FIS designation was transferred back to Hamilton to another F-86D squadron, and the organization at Paine Field was reassigned.

In December 1957, the 83d received AIM-9 Sidewinder-armed Lockheed F-104 Starfighters and become the first operational F-104 squadron in ADC. In addition, the squadron received the two-seat, dual-control combat trainer F-104B. The performance of the F-104B was almost identical to that of the F-104A, but the lower internal fuel capacity reduced its effective range considerably.

It was found that the F-104A was not very well-suited for service as an interceptor. ADC released all its F-104s to the Air National Guard in 1960 because its fire control system was not sophisticated enough to operating in conjunction with the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system to make it an all-weather interceptor.

Service with the F-104s was consequently quite brief, and the Starfighters were replaced by the more heavily armed all-weather McDonnell F-101B Voodoo in July 1960. The F-101B proved to be a quite successful interceptor. Assigned alongside the F-101B interceptor was the F-101F operational and conversion trainer. The two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable.

On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one-third of its force, equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles, to Kingsley Field at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to Hamilton after the crisis.

Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, the number of planes assigned to each squadron gradually dropped from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. This drop a result of aircraft attrition as well as the fact that production lines had closed in 1961. The 83d was inactivated to make up for attrition losses of F-101s in other units, but six aircraft remained at Hamilton as the 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron strength increased from 18 to 24 Voodoos.

The 83d was reactivated at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, in July 1971 when it absorbed the mission, personnel, and Convair F-106 Delta Darts of the 27th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. The 83d was inactivated in June 1972 as part of the draw-down of Air Defense Command.

Training and weapons evaluation

It was reactivated in 1972 as a Northrop T-38 Talon Undergraduate Pilot Training squadron at Webb Air Force Base, Texas. It was inactivated with the closing of Webb in 1977. It was reactivated at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida as a weapons evaluation squadron in 1983.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 83d Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 13 January 1942
• Activated on 9 February 1942

Redesignated 83d Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942

• Inactivated on 18 October 1945
• Activated on 20 August 1946

Redesignated 83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 20 January 1950

Redesignated 83d Fighter-Day Squadron on 18 November 1956

Redesignated 83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 8 February 1957

• Inactivated on 1 July 1963
• Activated on 1 July 1971
• Inactivated on 30 June 1972

Redesignated 83d Flying Training Squadron on 28 July 1972

• Activated on 1 December 1972
• Inactivated on 30 September 1977

Redesignated 83d Fighter Weapons Squadron on 14 October 1983

• Activated on 15 October 1983

Assignments

• 78th Pursuit Group (later Fighter Group), 9 February 1942 – 18 October 1945
• 78th Fighter Group (later Fighter-Interceptor Group), 20 August 1946
• 4702d Defense Wing, 6 February 1952
• 4704th Defense Wing, 1 August 1952
• 529th Air Defense Group, 16 February 1953
• 78th Fighter Group, 18 August 1955 (attached to 13th Air Task Force, 15 September 1958 – 20 December 1958)
• 78th Fighter Wing, 1 February 1961 – 1 July 1963
• 21st Air Division, 1 July 1971 – 30 June 1972
• 78th Flying Training Wing, 1 December 1972 – 20 September 1977
• USAF Air Warfare Center, 23 January 1991
• 475th Weapons Evaluation Group (later 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group), 1 October 1991

Stations

Aircraft

See also

• Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons
• Advanced Landing Ground

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. This emblem was used by the squadron during World War II; Watkins, p. 48; although not formally approved until the 1950s.
2. The squadron was assigned to the 479th Group until 20 November 1998, then reassigned to the 53d Weapons Evaluation Group. However, the two groups were consolidated on 25 July 2000. Robertson, Factsheet 53 Weapons Evaluation Group.

Citations

1. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 290-291
2. McMullen, pp. 10–12
3. NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, p. 6
4. McMullen, p. 16
5. McMullen, pp. 41, 43–45
6. McMullen, p. 42
7. ^ Lineage information, including assignments and aircraft, through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 290-291.
8. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 114-115
9. "Factsheet 21 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
10. Robertson, Patsy (24 February 2009). "Factsheet 53 Weapons Evaluation Group (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
11. ^ Station number in Anderson.
12. Station number in Johnson
13. Station information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 290-291, except as noted.
14. Mueller, p. 329

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Anderson, Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
• 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2006. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
• Johnson, 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. (1982) . 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.
• 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 March 2000), pp. 10–12
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases (PDF). Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force In World War II. Vol. II (VIII) Fighter Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-2535-9.
• NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)
• "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor. Vol. 21, no. 1. Aerospace Defense Command. January 1979. pp. 5–11, 26–31, 40–45, 54–59.

External links

• 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group Factsheet
• 53rd Wing Factsheet

v t e Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)
Bases	CONUS Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Gregg-Adams Fort Heath Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenberg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown Overseas Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule
Stations	CONUS Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata Overseas Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville
Air Defense units	Forces Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth Air Divisions 8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th Sectors Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington Wings Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th Groups Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th Squadrons Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons
Major weapon systems	Electronic TB-29 EB-57 EC-121 Fighters Propeller: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106 Missiles AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10 Ships Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil Texas Towers Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4
Miscellaneous	Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons) General Surveillance Radar Stations

v t e USAAF Eighth Air Force in World War II
Stations United Kingdom Alconbury Aldermaston Andrews Field Atcham Attlebridge Bassingbourn Bodney Bottisham Bovingdon Boxted Bungay Burtonwood Depot Bury St. Edmunds Bushey Hall Chalgrove Cheddington Chelveston Chipping Ongar Daws Hill Debach Debden Deenethorpe Deopham Green Duxford Earls Colne East Wretham Eye Fersfield Fowlmere Framlingham Glatton Goxhill Grafton Underwood Great Ashfield Great Dunmow Halesworth Hardwick Harrington Hethel Honington Horham Horsham St. Faith Ibsley Keevil Kimbolton Kings Cliffe Kirton In Lindsey Knettishall Lavenham Leiston Little Walden Martlesham Heath Membury Mendlesham Metfield Molesworth Mount Farm North Pickenham Nuthampstead Old Buckenham Podington Polebrook Rackheath Ramsbury Rattlesden Raydon Ridgewell Seething Shipdham Snetterton Heath Steeple Morden Sudbury Thorpe Abbots Thurleigh Tibenham Wattisham Watton Wendling Westhampnett Wormingford Okinawa Bolo Ie Shima Kadena Futenma Yontan
Units Commands VIII Air Support VIII Bomber VIII Air Divisions 1st 2nd 3rdf Wings Bombardment 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 12th 316th Fighter 6th 65th 66th 67th 301st Groups Bombardment 34th 44th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 100th 301st 303rd 305th 306th 310th 319th 320th 322nd 323rd 333rd 346th 351st 379th 381st 382nd 383rd 384th 385th 386th 387th 388th 389th 390th 392nd 398th 401st 445th 446th 447th 448th 452nd 453rd 457th 458th 466th 467th 482nd 486th 487th 489th 490th 491st 492nd 493rd 801st (Provisional) Fighter 1st 4th 14th 20th 31st 48th 55th 56th 78th 318th 339th 350th 352nd 353rd 354th 355th 356th 357th 358th 361st 362nd 364th 413th 479th 495th 496th 507th Troop Carrier 60th 62nd 315th Reconnaissance 3rd 7th 25th 67th
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

v t e USAAF Fourth Air Force in World War II
Units	Commands IV Bomber Command IV Fighter Command IV Air Support Command Wings 21st Bombardment Los Angeles Fighter San Diego Fighter San Francisco Fighter Seattle Fighter Groups Bombardment 12th Bombardment 30th Bombardment 41st Bombardment 42nd Bombardment 47th Bombardment 380th Bombardment 385th Bombardment 389th Bombardment 392nd Bombardment 399th Bombardment 449th Bombardment 450th Bombardment 451st Bombardment 453rd Bombardment 454th Bombardment 455th Bombardment 456th Bombardment 461st Bombardment 463rd Bombardment 465th Bombardment 466th Bombardment 470th Bombardment 483rd Bombardment 486th Bombardment 491st Bombardment 492nd Bombardment Fighter 1st Fighter 14th Fighter 20th Fighter 35th Fighter 51st Fighter 55th Fighter 78th Fighter 81st Fighter 82nd Fighter 328th Fighter 329th Fighter 339th Fighter 354th Fighter 360th Fighter 363rd Fighter 364th Fighter 369th Fighter 367th Fighter 372nd Fighter 412th Fighter 473rd Fighter 474th Fighter 478th Fighter 479th Fighter Reconnaissance 68th Reconnaissance 69th Reconnaissance Troop Carrier 64th Troop Carrier
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

• Fighter weapons squadrons of the United States Air Force