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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.
337th Flight Test Squadron emblem (approved 1 July 1982)[1]
Patch with 337th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron emblem (approved 9 June 1955)[3]
337th Fighter Squadron emblem (World War II)
Historyedit
World War IIedit
Activated in 1942 at Keflavik, Iceland, equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. Mission was to intercept and destroy German planes that on occasion attempted to attack Iceland or that appeared in that area on reconnaissance missions. Returned to the United States in November 1942 as a IV Fighter Command Lightning Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Trained P-38 pilots in California and Washington State until phaseout of Lightning training in March 1944.
Air defenseedit
Reactivated in 1953 as an Air Defense Command interceptor squadron. Performed air defense mission over Minneapolis and Upper Midwest United States, 1953–1955 with Northrop F-89D Scorpions. Reassigned to air defense of Boston and New England with North American F-86D Sabres. In 1957 began re-equipping with the North American F-86L Sabre, an improved version of the F-86D which incorporated the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, or SAGE computer-controlled direction system for intercepts. The service of the F-86L destined to be quite brief, since by the time the last F-86L conversion was delivered, the type was already being phased out in favor of supersonic interceptors.
Received new Lockheed F-104A Starfighter interceptor aircraft in early 1958, the third ADC squadron to receive the F-104. In addition, the squadron received the two-seat, dual-control, combat trainer F-104B. The performance of the F-104B was almost identical to that of the F-104A, but the lower internal fuel capacity reduced its effective range considerably. However, the F-104A was not very well suited for service as an interceptor. Its low range was a problem for North American air defense, and its lack of all-weather capability made it incapable of operating in conjunction with the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) system. Service with the ADC was consequently quite brief, and the F-104As of the 337th were transferred to the Air National Guard.
With the transfer of the Starfighters, ADC shut down operations at Westover Air Force Base and the 337th was inactivated in July 1960.
The 2874th Test Squadron was activated as a flight test squadron as part of the Sacramento Air Logistics Center at McClellan Air Force Base, California in January 1988. It conducted flight tests on aircraft returning to active service after depot maintenance, modification, or repair. In 1992, the squadron was consolidated with the 337th Tactical Fighter Squadron as the 337th Test Squadron[2] It was inactivated with the closure of McClellan.[citation needed]
Lineageedit
337th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Constituted as the 337th Fighter Squadron on 29 August 1942
Activated on 11 September 1942
Redesignated: 337th Fighter Squadron (Twin Engine) on 1 July 1942
Redesignated: 37th Fighter Squadron, Two Engine on 5 February 1944
Disbanded on 31 March 1944
Reconstituted, and redesignated 337th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 23 March 1953
Activated on 8 July 1954
Discontinued on 8 July 1960
Redesignated 337th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 11 December 1981
Activated on 1 April 1982
Inactivated on 1 July 1985
Consolidated with the 2874th Test Squadron as the 337th Test Squadron on 1 October 1992[2]
337th Flight Test Squadron
Designated as the 2874th Test Squadron and activated, on 15 January 1988
Consolidated with the 337th Tactical Fighter Squadron as the 337th Test Squadron on 1 October 1992
Redesignated 337th Flight Test Squadron on 1 March 1994[2]
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Endicott, Judy G. (1998). Active Air Force Wings as of 1 October 1995 and USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995(PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ASIN B000113MB2. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
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.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
"ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor. 21 (1). Aerospace Defense Command: 5–11, 26–31, 40–45, 54–59. January 1979.