402d Fighter-Day Group

402d Fighter-Day Group
Active	1943–1957
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces

The 402d Fighter-Day Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, being inactivated at Greenville Air Force Base, Mississippi on 8 February 1957.

History

Lineage

• Constituted as 402d Bombardment Group (Medium) on 20 April 1943

Activated in China on 19 May 1943

Disbanded in China on 31 July 1943

Reconstituted and consolidated with the 402d Fighter Group on 3 October 1956

402d Fighter Group was constituted on 24 September 1943

Activated in the US on 1 October 1943

Disbanded on 10 April 1944.

• Reconstituted and redesignated 402d Fighter-Day Group, on 4 October 1956

Activated on 15 October 1956

Inactivated on 8 February 1957

Assignments

• Fourteenth Air Force, 19 May – 31 July 1943
• I Fighter Command, 1 October 1943 – 10 April 1944

Attached to: New York Fighter Wing, 1–13 October 1943

• Tactical Air Command, 15 October 1956 – 8 February 1957

Components

• 320th Fighter (later Fighter-Day) Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 10 April 1944; 15 October 1956 – 8 February 1957
• 442d Fighter (later Fighter-Day) Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 10 April 1944; 15 October 1956 – 8 February 1957
• 452d Fighter Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 10 April 1944
• 538th Fighter Squadron: 1 October – 25 November 1943
• 539th Fighter Squadron: 1 October – 25 November 1943
• 540th Fighter (later Fighter-Day) Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 10 April 1944; 15 October 1956 – 8 February 1957

Stations

• Kunming Airport, China, 19 May – 31 July 1943
• Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 October 1943
• Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, c. 13 October 1943
• Bluethenthal Field, North Carolina, c. 9 December 1943
• Bradley Field, Connecticut, c. 11 February – 10 April 1944
• Greenville Air Force Base, Mississippi, 15 October 1956 – 8 February 1957

Aircraft

• P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944

Operations history

Activated in China as 402d Bombardment Group assigned to Fourteenth Air Force in early 1943. Programmed for B-25 Mitchell medium bombers, however no aircraft or squadrons were assigned and its headquarters apparently was never fully manned. The unit was subsequently disbanded.

402d Fighter Group was activated and assigned to First Air Force as a replacement training unit for P-47 Thunderbolt pilots in 1943–1944.

Reconstituted and redesignated 402d Fighter-Day Group and assigned to Tactical Air Command. Planned as an F-100 Super Sabre group, however decision was made to keep Greenville AFB as an Air Training Command base. As a result no aircraft were assigned and the unit was inactivated in 1957.

References

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

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.