322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

The 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command stationed at Kingsley Field, Oregon. It was inactivated on 1 July 1968.

History
Activated in the summer of 1942 as part of I Fighter Command. Flew early-model Republic P-47B Thunderbolts as part of the air defense of New York in the early part of World War II. Became a P-47D Thunderbolt Operational training unit (OTU), being stationed in New England, then reassigned to III Fighter Command and moved to North Carolina in 1943 as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Inactivated on 1 May 1944 as part of a reorganization of training units.

Reactivated in 1955 at Larson AFB, Washington where the squadron was equipped with F-86D Sabre Interceptors. Was upgraded to 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.

Moved to Kingsley Field, Oregon in 1959 and was re-equipped with new McDonnell F-101B Voodoo supersonic interceptor, and the F-101F operational and conversion trainer. The two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable. Operated the Voodoos until July 1968, the aircraft being passed along to the Air National Guard and the squadron inactivated as part of the general drawdown of the ADC active-duty interceptor force.

Lineage

 * Constituted 322d Fighter Squadron on 24 June 1942
 * Activated on 19 August 1942
 * Disbanded on 10 April 1944


 * Reconstituted, and redesignated 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 20 June 1955
 * Activated on 18 August 1955, receiving assets from inactivated 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron IAW ADC "Project Arrow".
 * Inactivated 1 July 1968

Note: "Project Arrow" was an Air Defense imitative in 1955 to reactivate and re-designate notable World War II units.

Assignments

 * I Interceptor Command
 * 326th Fighter Group, 19 August 1942 – 10 April 1944


 * Air Defense Command
 * 9th Air Division, 18 August 1955
 * 4721st Air Defense Group, 1 December 1956
 * 408th Fighter Group, 1 April 1959 – 1 July 1968

Stations

 * Mitchel Field, New York, 19 August 1942
 * Bradley Field, Connecticut, 1 September 1942
 * Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 November 1942
 * Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 13 October 1943 – 10 April 1944
 * Larson AFB, Washington, 18 August 1955
 * Kingsley Field, Oregon, 1 April 1959 – 1 July 1968

Aircraft

 * P-47 Thunderbolt, 1942–1944
 * F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1955–1957
 * F-86L Sabre Interceptor (SAGE), 1957–1959
 * F-101B Voodoo, 1959–1968