| 461st Flight Test Squadron [1] | |
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461st Flight Training Squadron Patch |
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| Active | 12 December 1942 - 11 November 1945 8 February 1956 - 1 August 1959 1 July 1977 - 5 August 1994 27 October 2006 - Present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Flight Test |
| Part of | Air Force Material Command Air Force Flight Test Center 412th Test Wing 412th Operations Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Edwards Air Force Base |
| Engagements | Operation Market Garden |
| Decorations | DUC AFOUA |
The 461st Flight Test Squadron (461 FLTS) is part of the 412th Test Wing and is based at Edwards Air Force Base, California. It conducts aircraft systems testing.
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Organized and trained in the Northeast United States by First Air Force. During training was part of the air defense of the northeast, being attached to the New York and Boston Fighter Wings.
Deployed to England aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth and served in combat as part of VIII Fighter Command from October 1943 to May 1945, participating in operations that prepared for the invasion of the Continent, and supporting the landings in Normandy and the subsequent Allied drive across France and Germany. The squadron flew P-47 Thunderbolts until they were replaced by P-51 Mustangs in November 1944. Aircraft of the 461st were identified by a magenta/blue diamond pattern around their cowling, carrying fuselage code "QI".
From October 1943 until January 1944, operated as escort for B-17 Flying Fortress/B-24 Liberator bombers that attacked such objectives as industrial areas, missile sites, airfields, and communications.
Fighters from the 461st engaged primarily in bombing and strafing missions after 3 January 1944, with its targets including U-boat installations, barges, shipyards, aerodromes, hangars, marshalling yards, locomotives, trucks, oil facilities, flak towers, and radar stations. Bombed and strafed in the Arnhem, Netherlands area on 17, 18, and 23 September 1944 to neutralize enemy gun emplacements providing support to Allied ground forces during Operation Market-Garden. In early 1945, the squadron's P-51 Mustangs clashed with German Me 262 jet aircraft. The squadron flew its last combat mission, escorting B-17's dropping propaganda leaflets, on 7 May 1945.
Remained in the United Kingdom during the balance of 1945, most personnel were demobilized and returned to the United States, with aircraft being sent to storage facilities in the UK. The squadron was administratively inactivated at Camp Kilmer New Jersey on 10 November 1945 without personnel or equipment.
The 461st Fighter-Day Squadron was re-activated at Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany during Feb 1956, equipped with North American F-100 Super Sabres, being one of the first USAFE squadrons equipped with supersonic jet aircraft. Aircraft carried three black diagonal stripes on tail. Between 1956-1959, it conducted air superiority and general support missions as directed by Twelfth Air Force and, later by United States Air Forces in Europe. It also maintained and trained forces for a limited fighter-bomber capability with basic air to air weapons. Inactivated August 1959 due to budget restraints.
Reactivated on 1 Jul 1977 at Luke AFB, Arizona as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for the F-15A Eagle, conducting fighter aircraft aircrew training for pilots. The improved F-15C/D model arrived in 1982 for pilot training. In 1985, as there was no 461st Fighter Squadron during World War II, the Air Force Historical Research Agency consolidated the 461st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron with the World War II 361st Fighter Squadron, giving the squadron a combat heritage and lineage.
In the late 1980s, the F-15E Strike Eagle ground attack version of the F-15 arrived at Luke, and the 461st received the first new F‑15E on 12 April 1988. The 461 TFTS continued to gain aircraft and the first F‑15E transition class (TX) graduated on 24 February 1989. Once qualified the crews were then relocated to an operational squadron at the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing located at Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina. It was inactivated on 5 August 1994 as part of the phasedown of F-15 training at Luke.
The squadron was reactivated at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 2006. It's mission is flight testing aircraft, primarily the F-35 Lightning II[1]
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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