408th Armament Systems Group

World War II The group was activated in April 1943 as the 408th Bombardment Group at Key Field, Mississippi, with the 636th, 637th, assigned. In August, as were other Army Air Forces (AAF) single engine bomber units, it was redesignated as the 408th Fighter-Bomber Group and a replacement training unit, training individual pilots. The 455th also participated occasionally in demonstrations and maneuvers. However, the Army Air Forces (AAF) was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. Accordingly, the group was disbanded in 1944 as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system Cold War The group was reconstituted and redesignated as the 408th Fighter Group (Air Defense) in 1955 and activated in 1956 at Klamath Falls Municipal Airport, Oregon to defend the Pacific Northwest. It also became the USAF host organization for Klamath Falls and was assigned a number of support units to fulfill this mission. Its operational squadron was the 518th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS), which was activated and assigned in June. but the squadron was not manned and the group remained only a support organization. Instead, the group oversaw the construction of facilities to support its squadron and the 827th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, located at nearby Keno Air Force Station. In April 1959, the group gained its second operational squadron, the 322d FIS, which moved to what was now Kingsley Field from Larson Air Force Base, Washington Three months later, the 518th FIS inactivated without ever having been more than a paper unit at Kingsley. In December 1969, the 59th FIS stood down shortly after the 460th FIS, flying Convair F-106 Delta Darts moved to Kingsley from Oxnard Air Force Base, California. In the fall of 1970, the group inactivated while the 460th FIS was reassigned directly to the 25th Air Division. Its support responsibilities included Advanced Medium-Range Air to Air Missile, Joint Direct Attack Munition, Communications and Information Technology, Foreign Military Sales, and weaponeering. ==Lineage==

408th Fighter Group • Constituted as the 408th Bombardment Group (Dive) on 23 March 1943 : Activated on 5 April 1943 : Redesignated 408th Fighter-Bomber Group on 10 August 1943 : Disbanded on 1 April 1944 • Reconstituted and redesignated 408th Fighter Group (Air Defense), on 8 July 1955 : Activated on 8 April 1956 : Inactivated on 1 October 1970 • Redesignated 408th Tactical Fighter Group on 31 July 1985 (not active) • Consolidated with Area Attack Systems Group as Area Attack Systems Group on 3 May 2006 Area Attack Systems Group • Constituted as Area Attack Systems Group on 23 November 2004 : Activated on 27 January 2005 • 408th Air Base Squadron (later 408th Combat Support Squadron), 8 April 1956 – 1 October 1970 • 408th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 8 November 1958 – 1 October 1970 • 408th Materiel Squadron, 8 April 1956 – 1 April 1964 • 408th Supply Squadron, 1 April 1964 – 1 October 1970 • 671st Armament Systems Squadron, 1 June 2009 – 30 June 2010 • 675th Armament Systems Squadron, 7 September 2007 – 30 June 2010 • 680th Armament Systems Squadron, 7 September 2007 – 30 June 2010 • 683d Armament Systems Squadron, 15 May 2006 – 7 September 2007 • 684th Armament Systems Squadron, 15 May 2006 – 7 September 2007 • 685th Armament Systems Squadron, 15 May 2006 – 7 September 2007 • 686th Armament Systems Squadron, 15 May 2006 – 30 June 2010 • 690th Armament Systems Squadron, 7 September 2007 – 30 June 2010 • 694th Armament Systems Squadron, 7 September 2007 – 30 June 2010 Stations • Key Field, Mississippi, 5 April 1943 • Drew Field, Florida, 22 September 1943 • Abilene Army Air Field, Texas, 20 November 1943 • DeRidder Army Air Base, Louisiana, 12 February 1944 • Woodward Army Air Field, Oklahoma, 26 March 1944 – 1 April 1944 • Klamath Falls Municipal Airport (later Kingsley Field), Oregon, 8 April 1956 – 1 January 1970 • Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 27 January 2005 – 20 June 2010 Aircraft • Douglas A-24 Banshee, 1943–1944 • North American A-36 Apache, 1943–1944 • Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1943–1944 • Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1943–1944 • Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944 • Cessna C-78 Bobcat, 1943–1944 • North American F-86D Sabre (authorized but not assigned 1956–1959) • McDonnell F-101B Voodoo 1959–1969 • Convair F-106A Delta Dart 1969–1970 Awards and campaigns ==References==