2d Fighter Squadron (Commando)

2d Fighter Squadron (Commando)
Active	1944-1945
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Force
Role	Air Commando
Engagements	World War II

Last updated March 05, 2019

The 2d Fighter Squadron (Commando) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Tenth Air Force, based at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. It was inactivated on 12 November 1945.

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

The Tenth Air Force is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field, Texas.

Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in preparation for transport to the European Theater of Operations in World War II. Eventually, it became the largest processing center for troops heading overseas and returning from World War II, processing over 2.5 million soldiers. It officially closed in 2009.

History

Lineage

Constituted 2d Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 April 1944

Activated on 20 April 1944

Redesignated as: 2d Fighter Squadron (Commando) on 2 June 1944

Inactivated on 12 November 1945

Disbanded on 8 October 1948.

Assignments

Third Air Force, 20 April 1944
2d Air Commando Group, 22 April 1944-12 November 1945.
Army Service Forces, 11–12 November 1945

The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa operations and support activities in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command's areas of responsibility.

Stations

Lakeland AAF, Florida, 20 April 1944
Cross City AAF, Florida, 12 June 1944
Alachua AAF, Florida, 21 June 1944
Drew Field, Florida, 17 August 1944
Lakeland AAF, Florida, 22 August-23 October 1944
Kalaikunda Airfield, India, 14 December 1944
Cox's Bazar, India, 13 February 1945
Kalaikunda Airfield, India, io May-22 October 1945
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 11–12 November 1945.

Florida is the southernmost contiguous state in the United States. The state is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U.S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. The Miami metropolitan area is Florida's most populous urban area. Tallahassee is the state's capital.

India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Aircraft

P-51D Mustang, 1944–1945
F-6 (P-51D) Mustang, 1945

Operational history

Trained for operations with P-51 Mustangs as part of Third Air Force and trained at the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics. Moved to India, September–November 1944 assigned to Tenth Air Force. Combat in CBI, 14 February-9 May 1945. After May 1945 in training. Returned to the US during October— November 1945.

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References

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

The Air Force Historical Research Agency is the repository for United States Air Force historical documents. The Agency's collection, begun during World War II in Washington, D.C. and moved in 1949 to Maxwell Air Force Base, the site of Air University, to provide research facilities for professional military education students, the faculty, visiting scholars, and the general public.

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.

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is a serially-based system of numbering cataloging records in the Library of Congress in the United States. It has nothing to do with the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of Congress Classification.

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