545th Test Group | |
---|---|
Active | 1942-1944; 1979-1996 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Role | Test operations |
Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
Insignia | |
6545th Test Group (later 545th Test Group) emblem |
The 545th Test Group is an inactive group of the United States Air Force. It was organized at Hill Air Force Base, Utah as the 6545th Test Group in January 1979 to manage the Utah Test and Training Range and the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. In 1994, it transferred its flight testing mission to Ogden Air Logistics Center, and in 1996 the 388th Fighter Wing assumed its range management, and the group was inactivated.
In October 1992, the group was consolidated with the 545th Tactical Airlift Group, formerly the 5th Ferrying Group, a World War II unit of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). It was activated in February 1942 as the California Sector, Ferrying Command, but soon changed its name. It ferried aircraft manufactured in the Southwestern United States until March 1944, when it was disbanded in a general reorganization of AAF units in the United States. It was replaced by the 556th Army Air Forces Base Unit, which continued its mission until August 1946. The group was reconstituted in 1985 as the 545th Tactical Airlift Group, but was not active under that designation.
The group's origins can be traced to 3 January 1942, when Air Corps Ferrying Command, in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor divided its Domestic Division into six sectors. The Midwest Sector was established at Hensley Field, Texas and was responsible for ferrying aircraft from the Boeing, Cessna, and Beechcraft factories in Wichita, Kansas; the Douglas Aircraft factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma; the North American Aviation plants in Dallas, Texas and Kansas City, Missouri; the Consolidated Aircraft factory at Fort Worth and the Glenn L. Martin Company factory in Omaha, Nebraska. [1] The bulk of this work consisted in flying new planes from the plant to modification centers in the US. On 18 February, this office was formally organized as a unit, the Midwest Sector, Ferrying Command and Ferrying Command's Domestic Division became the Domestic Wing, Air Corps Ferrying Command. [1]
In April 1942, the group was assigned its first operational units, the 2nd, [2] 11th [3] and 16th Air Corps Ferry Squadrons. [4] Ferrying Command requested the AAF to reorganize its sectors as groups, with assigned squadrons. Accordingly, the sector became the 5th Ferrying Group on 26 May 1942. In September 1942, the group moved to Love Field, Texas. There, it added the 62nd Ferrying Squadron before the end of the year. On 16 January 1943, the 2nd Squadron moved to Fairfax Field, [2] Kansas, where it joined with the 24th Transition Training Detachment there to form the cadre for the 33rd Ferrying Group. The 91st Ferrying Squadron was activated on 30 May 1943. The final addition to the group was a detachment of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS). It was the second to be formed after the group attached to the 2nd Ferrying Group and was led by the first commander of the WAFS, Nancy Love. The 5th was selected with the idea that the WAFS pilots would be able to fly basic and advanced trainers, such as the North American AT-6 Texan. After flying one of the first deliveries of an AT-6 by a WAFS pilot, Ms. Love moved to the 4th Ferrying Group at Long Beach Army Air Field, California. [5] Although the women pilots were initially limited to acting as copilots or flying small aircraft, they eventually flew essentially every plane in the AAF inventory.
By 1944, the Army Air Forces (AAF) was finding that standard military units like the 6th Group, whose manning was based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not well adapted to support missions. Accordingly, the AAF adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. [6] As part of this reorganization the group was disbanded on 31 March 1944 along with its subordinate units and its resources were absorbed by the 555th Army Air Forces Base Unit (5th Ferrying Group) which was designated and organized on the same day. [7] The base unit was redescribed as the 555th AAF Base Unit (Ferrying Group) then discontinued after the end of World War II on 15 August 1946.
The 5th Ferrying Group was reconstituted and redesignated the 545th Tactical Airlift Group on 31 July 1985, but remained inactive [8] until it was consolidated as a test group in 1992.
The 6545th Test Group was activated on 1 January 1979 at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It provided operational management of the Utah Test and Training Range through its 6501st Range Squadron (later 501st Range Squadron). [9] It not only tested developing weapons systems, but conducted training for combat aircrews [10] The 6514th Flight Test Squadron (later 514th Flight Test Squadron) moved from Edwards Air Force Base, California to join the group at Hill. [11] The 514th used Lockheed DC-130 Hercules and HC-130H Hercules, Sikorsky NCH-53A, and Bell HH-1H Twin Huey aircraft to support the development of unmanned aerial vehicles. [12] It also provided airlift support. [10]
The 6545th Group was consolidated with the 545th Group on 1 October 1992 as the 545th Test Group. In September 1995, the group's test mission was transferred to the Ogden Air Logistics Center. The following year, the 388th Fighter Wing assumed the range mission and the group was inactivated.
Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1982 – 31 December 1983 | 6545 Test Group [17] | |
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1984 – 31 December 1984 | 6545 Test Group [17] | |
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1985 – 31 December 1986 | 6545 Test Group [17] | |
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996 | 545 Test Group [17] | |
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1997 – 31 December 1997 | 545 Test Group [17] |
Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
American Theater without inscription | 18 February 1942 – 31 March 1944 | California Sector, air Corps Ferrying Command (later 6th Ferrying Group) |
Twenty-Second Air Force is a Numbered Air Force component of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It was activated on 1 July 1993 and is headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.
The Army Air Forces Tactical Center was a major command and military training organization of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It trained cadres from newly formed units in combat operations under simulated field conditions around which new combat groups would be formed. It was established as the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) in 1942 and redesignated the following year.
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, 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 370th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Central, which may activate or inactivate it at any time. The unit was last stationed in Iraq, and was likely inactivated in 2011 as part of the United States pullout of forces.
The 4th Special Operations Squadron is part of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It operates Lockheed AC-130J aircraft providing special operations capabilities.
The 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron is part of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. It operates the E-8 Joint STARS aircraft, conducting airborne command and control missions. The squadron has performed the airborne command and control mission since 1968, when it was activated in Vietnam. In 1985, the squadron was consolidated with three earlier units: The 7th Ferrying Squadron, which helped deliver aircraft to the Soviet Union from 1942 until 1944; the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron, which performed combat airlift missions in the Southwest Pacific Theater from 1944 until V-J Day, then became part of the Occupation Forces in Japan until inactivating in 1948; and the 7th Air Transport Squadron, Special, which provided airlift support for the United States' special weapons program from 1954 to 1966.
The 11th Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was most recently part of the 375th Airlift Wing as Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It operated McDonnell Douglas C-9 Nightingale aircraft conducting medical evacuation missions.
The 336th Air Refueling Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 452d Operations Group, stationed at March Joint Air Reserve Base, California. The squadron shares its aircraft and facility with the 912th Air Refueling Squadron, a USAF Associate Unit assigned to the 92d Air Refueling Wing.
The 337th Flight Test Squadron was most recently part of the 46th Test Wing and based at McClellan Air Force Base, California. It performed depot acceptance testing until being inactivated with the closure of McClellan on 13 July 2001.
The 313th Expeditionary Operations Group is a Provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe to activate or inactivate as needed. It was last active at Moron Air Base, Spain, supporting Operations Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. It was inactivated on 31 October 2011.
The 302d Operations Group is the operational flying component of the 302d Airlift Wing of the United States Air Force Reserve. It is stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB is a United States Air Force base in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it was merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its beginning, the installation has hosted elements of the Army Air Corps and Navy aviation and support elements.
The 24th Tactical Air Support Squadron was a ground attack squadron of the United States Air Force. It was last active at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, prior to being inactivated during December 2020.
The 10th Airborne Command and Control Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit that flew airborne command post aircraft from RAF Mildenhall, England from January 1970 to December 1991. Through a unit consolidation in September 1985, the squadron has roots in units that participated in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War
The 12th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron in an inactive United States Air Force unit. From 1956 through 1969, it flew aeromedical evacuation missions from McGuire Air Force Base. In 1985, the squadron was consolidated with two World War II units, but remained inactive. The consolidated squadrons were the 12th Ferrying Squadron, which ferried aircraft to Europe and from factories to flying units from 1942 and 1944; and the 162d Liaison Squadron, which tested equipment and developed tactics for liaison units between 1944 and 1946.
The 517th Training Group is a group of the United States Air Force. It conducts language training and is assigned to the 17th Training Wing at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. It is stationed at the Presidio of Monterey, California. It was activated in its present form on 14 May 2009. During World War II, the group was the 7th Ferrying Group, ferrying combat aircraft from factories in the United States to Alaska for onward transfer to the Soviet Union via the ALSIB air route.
The 2nd Aircraft Delivery Group is an inactive group of the United States Air Force (USAF). While it was established in 1969—as a continuation of USAF's ferrying mission dating back to 1948—it also constituted the reactivation of a unit first established as the Northeast Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command in February 1942. As the 2nd Ferrying Group, it was the first regular U.S. Army unit to employ the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron pilots, who flew all models of aircraft until that group was disbanded in 1944. Its role was to deliver aircraft to combat units. It was made inactivate in June 1994.
The 6th Ferrying Group was a World War II unit of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). It was activated in February 1942 as the California Sector, Ferrying Command in February 1942, but soon changed its name. It ferried aircraft manufactured in California until March 1944, when it was disbanded in a general reorganization of AAF units in the United States. It was replaced by the 556th Army Air Forces Base Unit, which continued its mission until late in 1946.
The 3rd Ferrying Group was a World War II unit of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). It was activated in February 1942 as the Detroit Sector, Ferrying Command in February 1942, but soon changed its name. It ferried aircraft manufactured in the midwest until March 1944, when it was disbanded in a general reorganization of AAF units in the United States. It was replaced by the 553rd Army Air Forces Base Unit, which continued its mission until spring 1947.
The 4th Ferrying Group was a World War II unit of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). It was activated in February 1942 as the Nashville Sector, Ferrying Command, but soon changed its name. It ferried aircraft manufactured in the midwest and south until March 1944, when it was disbanded in a general reorganization of AAF units in the United States. It was replaced by the 554th Army Air Forces Base Unit, which continued its mission until spring 1947.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency