Seattle Fighter Wing

The Seattle Fighter Wing was a unit of the United States Air Force, active during the Pacific War of 1942-45. Based in the Northwest, its original purpose was defense against possible Japanese air attack.

World War II

The Wing has a unique history dating back to the establishment of the Seattle Air Defense Wing in the summer of 1942. The wing was established as an air defense organization to provide protection primarily for the Boeing plants and the multitude of military facilities in the northwest; from Vancouver, British Columbia to Portland, Oregon. It was established in mid-1942 after the Second Air Force shifted its mission from air defense of the US northwest to a training organization for heavy bomber crews and groups. The Wing consisted of fighter groups assigned to McChord Field and other fighter airfields in the northwest engaged in training provided by the Fourth Air Force and for third stage training in the Washington-Oregon region which were attached to the wing, and would, if necessary, provide a defensive unit in case of, presumably, a Japanese attack.

By mid-1943 the fortunes of war had eliminated the threat of an air raid by the Japanese on the West Coast; the wing was reduced to an administrative unit under IV Fighter Command, later being reassigned to the Fourth Air Force. It was designated as a Defense Region, remaining an administrative organization until the end of the war.

Postwar era

The organization was placed in a provisional status in January 1945, being re-designated as the Seattle Provisional Control Group. It controlled little or no assets, being under the Fourth Air Force 321st Wing (Special). Its mission remained the air defense of the Pacific Northwest and in July 1946, it moved from Fourth Air Force Headquarters in San Francisco, California to a location in the Seattle area. It was assigned to the new Air Defense Command upon its activation on 21 March 1946. It coordinated air defense in the Northwest, being re-designated the 412th Western Aircraft Control and Warning Group on 1 March 1947.

Lineage

• Constituted as the Seattle Air Defense Wing on 6 August 1942

Activated on 11 August 1942

Redesignated the Seattle Fighter Wing in July 1943

Redesignated the Seattle Air Defense Region on 1 Jul 1944

Redesignated the Seattle Provisional Control Group on 1 January 1945

Redesignated the Seattle Control Group on 1 January 1947

Redesignated the 412th Western Aircraft Control and Warning Group on 1 March 1947

Assignments

• IV Fighter Command, 11 August 1942
• Fourth Air Force, 7 June 1944
• Air Defense Command, 21 March 1946

Components

• 55th Fighter Group: 22 June 1942 – 23 August 1943

Attached at McChord Field, Washington

• 372d Fighter Group: 7 December 1943 – 29 March 1944

Attached at Portland Army Air Base, Oregon

• 478th Fighter Group: 3 February-31 March 1944

Attached at Redmond Army Airfield, Oregon

Stations

• Seattle Airport, Washington, 20 August 1942
• San Francisco, California, 7 June 1944
• Seattle, Washington (Station undetermined), 1 July 1946

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

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

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 - 1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. 
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. 
• 505th Command and Control Wing Website