48th Flying Training Squadron

The 48th Flying Training Squadron (48 FTS) is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training.

History
The 48th constructed and maintained airfields and related facilities in France between 1917 and 1919. It trained aviation personnel from 1927 to 1931 and from 1933 to 1936.

The squadron was equipped with P-38 Lightnings in 1941 and assigned to Hamilton Field, California. From 5 February to 3 June 1942 it flew air defense patrols along the California coast. It was deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in August 1942 to fly escort missions of B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers as part of VIII Fighter Command.

The squadron was sent to North Africa in late 1942 as part of the Operation Torch invasion forces, taking up station in Algeria. It was reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force and flew fighter escort missions for the B-17 Flying Fortresses operating from Algeria as well as tactical interdiction strikes on enemy targets of opportunity in Algeria and Tunisia during the North African Campaign.

Following the German defeat and withdrawal from North Africa the squadron participated in the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy and the subsequent drive of the United States Fifth Army up the Italian peninsula. It was engaged primarily in tactical operations after November 1943, supporting ground forces and attacking enemy targets of opportunity such as railroads, road convoys, bridges, strafing enemy airfields and other targets. The squadron was deployed to Corsica in 1944 to attack enemy targets in support of the Free French Forces in the liberation of the island and to support Allied forces in the invasion of southern France. The squadron continued offensive operations until the German capitulation in May 1945. The unit was demobilized during the summer and fall 1945 in Italy and inactivated.

It was reactivated in 1946 to the new Air Defense Command to perform air defense of the eastern United States. The 48th FIS was activated at Dow Field in November 1946 with P-47 Thunderbolts. In October 1947 a transition into P-84B Thunderjets was completed. These were flown until the unit was temporarily inactivated on 2 October 1949.

The 48th FIS was reactivated in November 1952 at Grenier Air Force Base in Manchester, New Hampshire, with F-47 Thunderbolts, replacing the New Hampshire ANG's 133d FIS. A relocation to Langley AFB was completed in early 1953 along with a transition into F-84Gs and then F-94C Starfires in the fall of 1953. In the summer of 1957 the squadron completed a transition into F-102A Delta Daggers followed by another in the fall of 1960 to F-106 Delta Darts. It deployed to Florida in 1962 during Cuban Missile Crisis. The 48th FIS flew F-15A Eagles from 1982 to 1991, where many of the F-15 were transferred to the Missouri ANG, the Hawaii ANG, and 3 or 4 going to AMARC. The 48th continued training and operational exercises until inactivation in 1991.

Currently the squadron specializes in the tanker and airlift track of specialized undergraduate pilot training. Students receive at least 159 hours of flight instruction in the T-1 Jayhawk where they learn air refueling procedures, tactical navigation, airdrop, and advanced navigation. Upon completion of this phase, students earn the aeronautical rating of pilot and receive their Air Force wings.

Lineage

 * Organized as 48th Aero Squadron on 4 Aug 1917
 * Redesignated: 435th Aero Squadron on 1 Feb 1918
 * Redesignated: 462d Aero Squadron on 3 Mar 1918
 * Demobilized on 11 Aug 1919


 * Reconstituted and consolidated (1930) with 48th School Squadron, which was constituted on 6 Feb 1923
 * Activated on 1 Aug 1927
 * Inactivated on 1 Sep 1931


 * Activated on 1 Aug 1933
 * Redesignated 48th Pursuit Squadron on 1 Mar 1935
 * Inactivated on 1 Sep 1936
 * Disbanded on 1 Jan 1938


 * Consolidated (1956) with 48th Pursuit Squadron (Fighter) which was constituted on 20 Nov 1940
 * Activated on 15 Jan 1941
 * Redesignated 48th Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942
 * Inactivated on 9 Sep 1945


 * Activated on 20 Nov 1946
 * Inactivated on 2 Oct 1949


 * Redesignated 48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 11 Sep 1952
 * Activated on 1 Nov 1952
 * Inactivated on 31 Dec 1991


 * Redesignated 48th Flying Training Squadron on 25 Apr 1996
 * Activated on 1 Jul 1996

Assignments

 * Third Aviation Instruction Center (1917–1918)
 * Detachment: Second Aviation Instruction Center (December 1917-April 1918)
 * Advance Section, Service of Supply (1918)
 * First Army (1918)
 * Third Army (1918–1919)
 * 10th School Group (1927–1931)
 * 24th School Wing (1931)
 * Air Corps Technical School (1933–1935)
 * 3d Wing (1935–1936)
 * 14th Fighter Group (1941–1945, 1946–1949)
 * 4707th Air Defense Wing (1952–1953)
 * 4710th Air Defense Wing (1953–1956)
 * 85th Air Division (1956–1958)
 * Washington Air Defense Sector (1958–1966)
 * 33d Air Division (1966–1969)
 * 20th Air Division (1969–1983)
 * 23d Air Division (1983–1987)
 * 1st Air Force (1987)
 * Southeast Air Defense Sector (1987–1991)
 * 14th Flying Training Wing (1996–present)

Stations

 * Kelly Field, Texas (1917)
 * Mineola, New York (1917)
 * Issoudun, France (1917–1918)
 * Detachment: Tours, France (2 December 1917-15 April 1918)
 * Delouze-Rosières, France (1918)
 * Vaucouleurs, France (1918)
 * Bullainville, France (1918)
 * Vadelaincourt, France (1918)
 * Lisle-en-Barrois, France (1918)
 * Parois, France (1918)
 * Buzancy, France (1918)
 * Mercy-le-Haut, France (1918)
 * Trier, Germany (1918–1919)
 * Weißenthurm, Germany (1919)
 * Mitchel Field, New York (1919)
 * Kelly Field, Texas (1927–1931)
 * Chanute Field, Illinois (1933–1936)
 * Hamilton Field, California (1941–1942)
 * Operated From: San Diego, California (5 February-3 June 1942)


 * RAF Atcham, England (1942)
 * Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria (1942)
 * Maison Blanche Airport, Algiers, Algeria (1942)
 * Youks-les-Bains Airfield, Algeria (1942–1943)
 * Berteaux Airfield, Algeria (1943)
 * Mediouna Airfield, French Morocco (1943)
 * Telergma Airfield, Algeria (1943)
 * El Bathan Airfield, Tunisia (1943)
 * Sainte Marie du Zit Airfield, Tunisia (1943)
 * Operated From: Sicily (6–18 September 1943)


 * Triolo Airfield, Italy (1943–1945)
 * Lesina Airfield, Italy (1945)
 * Dow Air Force Base, Maine (1946–1949)
 * Grenier Air Force Base, New Hampshire (1952–1953)
 * Langley Air Force Base, Virginia (1953–1991)
 * Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi (1996–present)

Aircraft

 * A-3 (1935–1936)
 * O-1 (1935–1936)
 * O-19 (1935–1936)
 * P-12 (1935–1936)
 * P-26 Peashooter (1935–1936)
 * P-40 Warhawk (1941)
 * P-66 Vanguard (1941)
 * P-43 Lancer (1941)


 * P-38 Lightning (1941–1945)
 * F-47D Thunderbolt (1946–1949, 1952)
 * F-84G Thunderjet (1947–1949, 1953)
 * F-94C Starfire (1953–1957)
 * F-102 Delta Dagger (1957–1960)
 * F-106 Delta Dart (1960–1982)
 * F-15 Eagle (1981–1991)
 * T-1 Jayhawk (1996–present)