615th Tactical Fighter Squadron

615th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Emblem of the 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Active	1943-1971
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Tactical Fighter

The 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam. It was inactivated on 15 July 1971

Contents 1 History 1.1 Lineage 1.2 Assignments 1.3 Stations 1.4 Aircraft 2 References

History

Activated in early 1943 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb squadron, trained under Second Air Force. Deployed to England in November 1943, assigned to VIII Bomber Command as a strategic bombardment squadron. Participated in the air offensive over Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe until German capitulation in May 1945. Personnel demobilized in England and returned to the United States; squadron reassigned to Second Air Force for re-equipping with B-29 Superfortresses. Japanese capitulation led to inactivation in August 1945.

Assigned to Air Force Reserve January 1947. Never equipped or manned, inactivated 1949

Allocated to Tactical Air command, 1957 and reactivated as a Fighter-Bomber, later Tactical Fighter squadron, equipped with F-100 Super Sabres. Performed routine deployments and exercises 1957-1966. Deployed to South Vietnam as part of USAF buildup of forces in 1966, engaging in tactical bombing of enemy targets in South Vietnam AOR. Inactivated in 1971 as part of USAF drawdown of forces in Indochina.

Lineage

• Constituted 615th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 March 1943

Activated on 1 April 1943

Inactivated on 28 August 1945

• Redesignated 615th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 27 December 1946

Activated in the reserve on 10 January 1947

Inactivated on 27 June 1949

• Redesignated 615th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 30 August 1957

Activated on 25 September 1957

• Redesignated 615th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 July 1958

Inactivated on 31 July 1971

Assignments

• 401st Bombardment Group, 1 April 1943-28 August 1945
• Tenth Air Force, 10 January 1947
• 401st Bombardment Group, 30 September 1947-27 June 1949.
• 401st Fighter-Bomber (later Tactical Fighter) Wing, 25 September 1957
• 834th Air Division, 27 April 1966
• 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, 16 July 1966
• 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 10 October 1966-31 July 1971

Stations

Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington, 1 April 1943 Geiger Field, Washington, 4 June 1943 Great Falls Army Air Base, Montana, 8 July-19 October 1943 RAF Deenethorpe (AAF-128), England, 4 November 1943-20 June 1945

Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 1–28 August 1945 Brooks Field, Texas, 26 June 1947 England AFB, Louisiana, 25 September 1957 Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, 16 July 1966-31 July 1971

Aircraft

• B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1945
• F-100 Super Sabre, 1957–1971

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0-89201-097-5