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United States Air Force unit From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group is a United States Air Force unit that reports to the 53rd Wing. It is stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The unit is part of Air Combat Command.
53rd Weapons Evaluation Group | |
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![]() BQM-167 Streaker of the group's 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron | |
Active | 1943–1949; 1955–1958; 1983–1998; 1998–present |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Role | Weapons Evaluation |
Nickname(s) | Satan's Angels (World War II) |
Motto(s) | In Proelio Gaudete Latin Be Joyful in Battle[1] |
Engagements | Asiatic-Pacific Theater |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Air Force Organizational Excellence Award Philippine Presidential Unit Citation |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Colonel Charles H. MacDonald Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) John S. Loisel |
Insignia | |
53rd Weapons Evaluation Group emblem[note 1] | ![]() |
475th Fighter Group emblem (Approved 26 November 1956)[1] | ![]() |
The unit was known as the 475th Fighter Group during World War II, when it operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater. The 475th was perhaps the best known of the theater's Lockheed P-38 Lightning groups since its personnel included the top flying aces in the Pacific: Richard I. Bong (40 kills) and Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. (38 kills), both Medal of Honor recipients.
By the war's end, 38 other pilots from the 475th had achieved ace status in P-38s. The group's commander for 20 months, Colonel Charles H. MacDonald, scored 27 kills in his famous "Putt Putt Maru" and was the seventh-ranking American ace.
The group remained in the Far East until 1949 as part of the occupation forces.
From 1955 to 1956, the group was an Air Defense Command interceptor group stationed at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport. It was inactivated in 1958 when the United States Air Force withdrew its regular units from this civilian field.
As the 475th Weapons Evaluation Group, then the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group, the group has performed its current mission at Tyndall since 1983.
The 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group is made up of five squadrons and two detachments and conducts the Air Force's air-to-air weapon system evaluation program, known as Combat Archer, and the Air Force's air-to-ground weapon system evaluation program, known as Combat Hammer. It also supports weapons instructor air-to-air training. Unit personnel provide all Air Force aerial target support for United States Department of Defense (DoD) users in the Gulf Ranges and targets for testing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The group also plans, manages and executes the United States Air Force (USAF) air-to-air Weapons Meet, William Tell.[2]
In 1943 Japanese air strength in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II was powerful, and they were capable of launching large scale attacks against Allied ground forces and installations at any time. On New Guinea, the Japanese had many bases from which to launch their air strikes.[citation needed]
The swiftest and most effective means of gaining control of the air was to bomb those Japanese strongholds and destroy as many aircraft on the ground as possible. Such bombing strikes could best be accomplished during daylight hours, when fighter escort was essential. The only fighter aircraft then in the Southwest Pacific with sufficient range to escort bombers to and from Rabaul and Wewak was the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. However, the limited P-38 strength in the Fifth Air Force in April 1943 consisted of only three squadrons, (the 80th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group; the 39th Fighter Squadron of the 35th Fighter Group; and the 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group). The limited number of spare Lightnings available during late 1942 and early 1943 had to be used to make up attrition in these squadrons.[citation needed]
To augment the small force, the 475th Fighter Group was activated in Australia as a P-38 unit on 14 May 1943 at Amberley Airfield in Queensland, Australia.[1] The operational squadrons of the 475th were the 431st,[3] 432d and 433d Fighter Squadrons. However, the continuing shortage of P-38s forced the 35th and 49th Fighter Groups to convert their single P-38 squadrons to P-47Ds, thus leaving the Fifth Air Force at the end of 1943 with only the 475th Fighter Group, and the 80th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group.[citation needed]
The group was specifically trained to provide long-range escort for bombers during daylight raids on Japanese airfields and strongholds in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago.[1] On 14 August 1943, the 475th Fighter Group and its 431st, 432d and 433d Fighter Squadrons transferred from Amberley Airfield to the Dobodura Airfield Complex, in New Guinea. The 431st and 432d operated from Port Moresby. The 431st operated until October 1943 and the 432d until September 1943. The 433d squadron flew its first mission on 15 August 1943.[citation needed]
The 475th received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for missions in August 1943 when the group not only protected North American B-25 Mitchells that were engaged in strafing attacks on airdromes at Wewak but also destroyed a number of the enemy fighter planes that attacked the formation.[1]
The group received a second DUC for intercepting and destroying many of the planes the Japanese sent against American shipping in Oro Bay on 15 and 17 October 1943. It covered landings in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Schouten Islands. After moving to Mokmer Airfield on Biak Island in July 1944, the group flew escort missions and fighter sweeps to the southern Philippines, Celebes, Halmahera, and Borneo.[1]
For a while, the 475th included among its personnel the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh. He was serving with the Group as a technical representative from the United Aircraft Corporation. Lindbergh flew a number of combat missions with the Group in June/August 1944 as a civilian to instruct pilots on how to use cruise control to get maximum range and endurance from their P-38Js. On 28 July, Lindbergh was credited with shooting down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-51 over Elpaputih Bay in the Netherlands East Indies in a 433rd Fighter Squadron P-38 42-104995.
The group moved to the Philippines in October 1944 and received another DUC for bombing and strafing enemy airfields and installations, escorting bombers, and engaging in aerial combat during the first stages of the Allied campaign to recover the Philippines, October–December 1944.[1]
Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor for missions on 25 and 26 December 1944 leading flights of P-38's escorting bombers that struck Mabalacat Airdrome and Clark Field. He scored three confirmed victories on that Christmas day, and on the following day, he scored four more against Japanese fighters. On 7 January 1945, while attempting to save a fellow flyer from attack during a fighter sweep over Negros Island in the Philippines, Maj McGuire risked a hazardous maneuver at low altitude, crashed, and was killed.[1]
The group flew many missions to support ground forces on Luzon during the first part of 1945. It also flew escort missions to China and attacked railways on Formosa. It began moving to Ie Shima near Okinawa in August but the war ended before the movement was completed.[1]
During World War II, the 475th Fighter Group was engaged in combat for approximately two years. The group completed 3042 missions, (21,701 Sorties) and shot down 551 Japanese aircraft. On the other hand, the Group lost only 56 Planes to the Japanese. During the war, the Group took part in seven campaigns, and was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations for outstanding performance of duty in action. In addition to Majors Bong and McGuire, the unit boasted such "Aces" of the Pacific War as Col. Charles MacDonald (27), Capt. Daniel T. Roberts (14), Lt. Francis J. Lent (11), Lt. Col. John S. Loisel (11), Capt. Elliot Summer (10), plus many more.[citation needed]
475th Fighter Gp
After active combat ended, on 22 September 1945, the 475th moved to Seoul Airfield, Korea for occupation duty as part of the 308th Bombardment Wing of Far East Air Forces (FEAF). The group moved to Kimpo Airfield on 7 January 1946, where it converted to the long-range P-51H Mustang.[1] The following March, the group added an airlift mission when the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron at Kimpo was detached from its parent group in Japan and attached to the 475th.[8] In November 1947, the 433rd Fighter Squadron moved to Itazuke Airfield and was detached to the 347th Fighter Group.[9]
However, in August 1948 the group joined the 433rd at Itazuke and the squadron returned to the group's control.[1] The same month, FEAF organized its combat units under the wing base organization system and the group became a subordinate unit of 475th Fighter Wing, as did the units supporting it.[10] The 475th Fighter Group was inactivated on 1 April 1949 at Ashiya Air Base, Japan.[1]
In 1955, Air Defense Command (ADC) implemented 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.[11] As part of this project, on 18 August 1955, the 475th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was activated at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport,[1] where it assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 514th Air Defense Group, which was simultaneously inactivated.[12] Because Project Arrow was also intended to unite squadrons with their historical groups, the 432nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved on paper from Truax Field, Wisconsin to join the group at Minneapolis,[13] where it replaced the 337th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which departed for McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey.[14] The group also assumed host responsibility for regular USAF units at Minneapolis and was assigned several support units to carry out this responsibility.[15][16][17][18] The group took over the 514th's airborne interception radar equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed Northrop F-89D Scorpions. By June 1956, the group was flying a mix of F-89Ds and F-89H's. The H model could carry AIM-4 Falcons in addition to the unguided Mighty Mice. Two months later the group was completely equipped with H models.[13] In the late 1950s, ADC began withdrawing from civilian airports, partly because of security concerns arising from the nuclear capability its interceptor aircraft were beginning to acquire. In January 1958, the group and its subordinate units were inactivated.[19]
From 1983 to the present, group responsibilities included management of the Air Force weapon system evaluation program, range control for live-firing missile programs on the Gulf Range, and providing aerial targets support for special test projects, which included full-scale and sub-scale drones.[8]
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Drones
Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
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Distinguished Unit Citation | 18 and 21 August 1943 | 475th Fighter Group, New Guinea[8] | |
Distinguished Unit Citation | 15 and 17 October 1943 | 475th Fighter Group, New Guinea[8] | |
Distinguished Unit Citation | 25 October 1944-25 December 1944 | 475th Fighter Group, Philippines[8] | |
![]() | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 November 1986-31 October 1988 | 475th Weapons Evaluation Group[8] |
![]() | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1994-31 May 1995 | 475th Weapons Evaluation Group[8] |
![]() | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 1999-31 May 2000 | 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group[8] |
![]() | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 2002–31 May 2004 | 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group[8] |
![]() | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 2004–31 May 2006 | 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group[8] |
![]() | Air Force Organizational Excellence Award | 1 January 1992-31 December 1993 | 475th Weapons Evaluation Group[8] |
![]() | Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation | 17 October 1944-4 July 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] |
Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
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Air Combat, Asiatic-Pacific Theater | 14 May 1943 – 2 March 1946 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
China Defensive | 14 May 1943 – 4 May 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
New Guinea | 14 May 1943 – 31 December 1944 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
Bismarck Archipelago | 15 December 1943 – 27 November 1944 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
Western Pacific | 17 April 1944 – 2 September 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
Leyte | 17 October 1944 – 1 July 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
Luzon | 15 December 1944 – 4 July 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
Southern Philippines | 27 February 1945 – 4 July 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
China Offensive | 5 May 1945 – 2 September 1945 | 475th Fighter Group[8] | |
World War II Army of Occupation | 3 September 1945 – 1 April 1949 | 475th Fighter Group[8] |
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