337th Aeronautical Systems Group

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

The 337th Fighter Group was activated in July 1942 at Morris Field, North Carolina with the 98th,[3] 303d,[4][note 1] and 304th Fighter Squadrons[5] assigned.[1] It received its initial cadre from the 20th Fighter Group.[6] However, two of its squadrons departed Morris Field the day they were activated, with the 303d moving to Spartanburg Army Air Field and the 304th to the Myrtle Beach Bombing Range, both in South Carolina, to be organized.[4][5] The group's initial equipment was a mix of obsolescent fighter aircraft. Although these were mostly Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, the 304th Squadron also flew Bell P-39 Airacobras and Republic P-43 Lancers.[1][5]

Two weeks later, the group and the 98th Squadron moved to Drew Field, near Tampa, Florida.[1][3] The 303d Squadron joined them later that month, while the 304th moved to the Tampa Bay Area, but to Pinellas Army Air Field, on the other side of the bay.[4][5] The group operated as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU), with the Warhawk.[1] RTUs were oversized units which trained individual pilots or aircrews.[7]

P-51B of a training unit in the Tampa Bay area[note 2]

In January 1943 the group and the squadrons at Drew Field moved to Sarasota Army Air Field, where the following month the group added a fourth squadron, the 440th Fighter Squadron. In August, the 440th joined the 304th at Pinellas and the group maintained a split operation at Sarasota and Pinellas until it was disbanded.[1][3][4][5][8] The group transitioned to North American P-51 Mustangs in early 1944.[1]

However, the Army Air Forces (AAF) was finding that standard military units, which were based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving to be well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[9] The group and its squadrons were disbanded in May 1944.[1] The 336th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) assumed the mission of the group at Sarasota,[10] while the 341st AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter) took over the group's equipment at Pinellas.[11]

F-89H Scorpion[note 3]

337th Fighter Group F-102 at Portland International Airport[note 4]

The group was reconstituted, redesignated as the 337th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated at Portland International Airport in August 1955[1] as part of Air Defense Command's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.[12] At Portland, the group assumed the personnel and equipment of the inactivating 503d Air Defense Group,[13] while its 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which moved to Portland from McGhee-Tyson Airport,[14] took over the radar equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed Northrop F-89D Scorpion aircraft and personnel of the 503d's 497th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which moved to Geiger Field, Washington.[15]

The group operated interceptors to provide active air defense in the 25th NORAD Region area of responsibility.[16] It also served as the host organization for regular United States Air Force units at Portland International Airport and was assigned a number of support organizations to perform this mission.[17][18][19] In May 1958, the group converted from F-89Ds to supersonic Convair F-102 Delta Dagger aircraft equipped with data link for interception control through the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system and capable of launching the AIM-4 Falcon.[20]

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Continental Air Defense Command directed the group to place all its interceptors on five-minute alert. Unlike most ADC groups, however, the group did not disperse part of its strength to other bases. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned units to their normal alert status, except for those under the control of its 32d Region, which controlled air defense in the Southeastern United States.[21][22]

Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, attrition (and the fact that production lines closed in 1961) caused a gradual drop in the number of planes assigned to a squadron, from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. The force reduction continued, finally resulting in a reduction in the number of interceptor units, and the group was inactivated in the spring of 1966.[1][23] In 1985 the group was redesignated the 337th Tactical Fighter Group, although it remained inactive.[24]

In 2005, Air Force Materiel Command AFMC formed the Training Aircraft Systems Group as part of the AFMC Transformation initiative, which replaced traditional project offices with wings, groups, and squadrons. In 2006 this new organization was consolidated with the 327th and became the 337th Aeronautical Systems Group.[25] In 2007, the group's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) team oversaw the effort to provide the Iraqi Air Force with Cessna 172 training aircraft in order to resume flying operations[26] and also sought vendors for Counterinsurgency (COIN) aircraft for Iraq.[27] The group was inactivated in 2008 and its subordinate units were transferred to the 77th Aeronautical Systems Wing's 877th Aeronautical Systems Group.[28]

• III Fighter Command, 23 July 1942 - 1 May 1944
• 25th Air Division, 18 August 1955[30]
• Portland Air Defense Sector, 15 April 1960 - 25 March 1966[30]
• Aeronautical Systems Center, 18 January 2005 - 30 June 2008[32]

Systems Units

• T-1 Systems Squadron (later 662d Aeronautical Systems Squadron), 18 January 2005 - 30 June 2008[32]
• T-38 Systems Squadron (later 663d Aeronautical Systems Squadron), 18 January 2005 - 30 June 2008[32]
• Joint Primary Aircraft Training Systems Squadron (later 664th Aeronautical Systems Squadron), 18 January 2005 - 30 June 2008[32]

• Morris Field, North Carolina, 23 July 1942
• Drew Field, Florida, 7 August 1942
• Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, ca. 3 January 1943 - 1 May 1944[29]
• Portland International Airport, Oregon, 18 August 1955 - 30 March 1966[30]
• Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 18 January 2005 - 30 June 2008[32]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1956.
• Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L., eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II: Men & Planes (PDF). Vol. VI. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved December 17, 2016.

Goss, William A (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II: Men & Planes. Vol. VI. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158.

• 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 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
• 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.
• McMullen, Richard F. (1964) "The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964" ADC Historical Study No. 27, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO (Confidential, declassified 22 March 2000)
• NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN, declassified 9 March 1996)
• AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits Archived 2015-08-04 at the Wayback Machine Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 15 June 1971