418th Test and Evaluation Squadron

The squadron was activated on 1 April 1943 at the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. After several months of training with Douglas P-70 Havoc night fighters, the unit was deployed to the Pacific Theater, moving first to Camp Patrick Henry, near Newport News, Virginia where they boarded the USS General John Pope, sailing through the Panama Canal to Milne Bay, New Guinea.[4]

418th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 at McGuire Field[note 3]

In New Guinea, the squadron was assigned to Fifth Air Force and initially stationed at Dobodura Airfield in November 1943. It was the first dedicated night interceptor squadron assigned to the Pacific Theater. However, it was found that the P-70 was not very successful in actual combat interception of Japanese fighters at night[5] and after a short time, Fifth Air Force modified some Lockheed P-38F Lightnings in the field as single-seat night fighters by fitting an SCR-540 radar with Yagi antennae on the nose on both sides of the planes' central nacelle, and above and below the wings. The Lightnings were much more successful than the P-70s, and Lockheed Aircraft Company sent field representatives to New Guinea to study the modified aircraft for a new production model, the P-38M, which it began producing in 1944.[6]

As the war progressed, the squadron moved west along the northern coast of New Guinea, moving to several advance airfields on the island through 1943 and 1944. In September 1944, the squadron was re-equipped with Northrop P-61 Black Widows and moved to Morotai Island in the Netherlands East Indies where they engaged enemy aircraft. In the East Indies, additional North American B-25 Mitchells and P-38s were assigned, using the B-25s for night intruder operations, P-61s for night fighter operations and the P-38s for searchlight cooperation operations. In November the squadron moved to the Philippines, arriving on Leyte on 14 November.[4]

The unit was attached to different units throughout the war, and remained in the Philippines until July 1945 when it moved to Okinawa. From Kadena Airfield, the unit attacked a wide range of enemy targets on Hainan Island, Hong Kong, and along the east China coast. Its first mission against targets on the Japanese Home Islands took place on 28 July when it attacked targets on Kyūshū and also in the Shanghai area of enemy-controlled China.[4]

After V-J Day, the 418th moved briefly to Atsugi Airfield, Japan during October 1945 where it was part of the occupying forces. It returned to Okinawa on 15 June 1946, conducting training operations until 20 February 1947 when the unit was inactivated. Its personnel, aircraft and equipment were transferred to the 4th Fighter Squadron (All Weather).[1]

The squadron was activated at Misawa Air Base, Japan in late 1957 and assigned to the 39th Air Division, which was responsible for the air defense of northern Japan.[7] It was programmed to be a North American F-100A Super Sabre air superiority squadron. However, before the squadron was manned or equipped, it was decided to base a fighter-bomber unit at Misawa. In March 1958, the squadron was replaced by the 416th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at Misawa and moved on paper to Clark Air Base, Philippines.[8] The squadron remained without its complement of personnel, although deliveries of F-100s began before it was inactivated on 1 July 1958, and the 72d Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated in its place.[1][9]

418th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron TF-104G Starfighter[note 4]

Because of the more favorable weather in the southwestern United States, the German Air Force began training fighter pilots at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona., beginning with training with the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak in 1957.[10] On 1 March 1964, Tactical Air Command (TAC) organized the 4518th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Luke to train German pilots on the Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter and assigned it to the 4510th Combat Crew Training Wing. On 1 April 1964, the squadron became part of the new 4540th Combat Crew Training Group, but the 4540th Group was inactivated on 1 December 1966 and the squadron returned to wing assignment.[11] The training was in support of foreign military sales, and the squadron operated twin-seat trainers with USAF markings and serial numbers, although the planes were produced in Germany by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) under license from Lockheed and were owned by the German government.[12]

However, the 4518th was a Major Command controlled unit and did not have a permanent history. TAC determined to replace its temporary training units with permanent ones. In this reorganization, on 15 October 1969 the 418th Squadron was again activated under the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing and assumed the personnel and equipment of the 4518th. F-104G production ended with the delivery of the last aircraft by MBB in 1973 to the squadron, the last German Air Force students graduated in the summer of 1976. The squadron became nonoperational on 17 August 1976 and was inactivated on 1 October.[12][13]

The squadron was redesignated the 418th Test and Evaluation Squadron and activated at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona on 1 October 2021. It is assigned to the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.[2]

• Air Defense Department, Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, 1 April 1943 (attached to 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, 17 July – 26 September 1943)
• V Fighter Command, c. 15 November 1943 (attached to First Air Task Force, 22 November 1943; 308th Bombardment Wing, 1 February 1944; 310th Bombardment Wing, c. 15 May 1944; Thirteenth Air Force, 10 November 1944; 310th Bombardment Wing, 26 December 1944 – 30 January 1945; 308th Bombardment Wing, c. 30 July 1945; 310th Bombardment Wing, 22 October 1945; V Bomber Command, 10 November 1945)
• 301st Fighter Wing, 20 March 1946 – 20 February 1947[14]
• 39th Air Division, 10 December 1957
• Thirteenth Air Force, 25 March – 1 July 1958
• 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing, 15 October 1969 – 1 October 1976
• 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, 1 October 2021 – present[2]

Explanatory notes

Citations

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

• 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.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Pape, Garry R.; Campbell, John M.; Campbell, Donna (1991). Northrop P-61 Black Widow: The Complete History and Combat Record. Minneapolis, MN: Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-0-879385-09-5.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.