World War II The squadron was first established in February 1943 as the
416th Night Fighter Squadron and assigned to the
481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group at
Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for training. The 416th was among the first
Army Air Forces dedicated night fighter squadron formed. Trained in the
Douglas P-70 Havoc, a modified A-20 bomber using a U.S. version of the British Mk IV radar. At the time the P-70 was the only American night fighter available. After completing its initial training by April 1943, the squadron crossed the Atlantic on the and landed in the United Kingdom on 11 May. Pausing briefly for training under
VIII Fighter Command the Squadron was attached to the
Royal Air Force (RAF) for familiarization in theater night fighter techniques. The unit then moved to North Africa for operations with
Twelfth Air Force. There, the squadron fell under the operational control of the Northwest African Coastal Air Force, a Combined allied organization with British, Free French, and other American units. Further 'foo fighter' lights were seen by the squadron at 12.45am on February 21 1945 at 5,000 ft over
Piacenza. On February 22 1945 at 4,000 ft over
Parma, a 'stationary' rotating white light was seen.
Post war With the fall of Germany, the unit became part of the
United States Air Forces in Europe army of occupation. It moved in August 1945 to
AAF Station Hörsching, Austria, for occupation duties. A year later, the 416th relocated to
AAF Station Schweinfurt, Germany, where it inactivated on 9 November 1946, The 416th moved to France in November–December 1954. For this move, the ground echelon left George on 26 November and arrived at
Toul-Rosieres Air Base on 12 December. The flight echelon left George on 13 December and traveled to France by the northern air route. Bad weather, however, delayed the movement, and the flight element did not reach Toul until 22 February 1955. From then until December 1957, the squadron participated in
NATO tactical operations and exercises, stood air defense alert, and periodically deployed aircraft and crews to
Wheelus Air Base, Libya, for fighter weapons training. The unit was not operational from 10 January until inactivating on 8 February 1958. On 25 March 1958, the 416th activated under
Fifth Air Force at
Misawa Air Base, Japan, where it started converting from
Republic F-84G Thunderjets to
North American F-100 Super Sabres. Later in July, the squadron joined the
21st Fighter-Bomber Wing; however, the USAF directed the 416th to transfer its F-100s to another unit. This order temporarily interrupted its conversion and forced the 416th to fly F-84Gs until May 1959, when a full complement of F-100s arrived. During this period in the Far East, the units crews flew tactical operations and exercises in South Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa, Singapore, the Philippines, and other places in the Far East. The 416th deployed with the 3d Wing to SEA in November 1965 to
Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. There, the 6250th Combat Support Group controlled the squadron's operations until June 1966, when it rejoined the 3d at Bien Hoa. The 416th remained at Bien Hoa until its April 1967 reassignment to the
37th Tactical Fighter Wing. In May, the squadron moved to
Phù Cát Air Base without a break in combat missions. As the U.S. Air Force's original "Fast FAC" effort, they were pioneers. The original 16 Mistys were flight leader qualified with over 100 combat missions to their credit; four of them were already trained as FACs. After this quartet trained the other dozen, planes from this detachment would fly missions into North Vietnam's
Route Package 1 or against the defenses of the
Ho Chi Minh Trail in
Operation Steel Tiger. The Misty pilots committed to serving for either 120 days or 75 FAC sorties, whichever came first. Their standard operating profile of 450 Knots
indicated air speed at 4,500 feet
altitude above ground level allowed their survival where slow FACs dared not venture. The Mistys having proved their worth, an attempt to expand the detachment began in August 1967. Only one additional F-100F was located to transfer to the unit. Nevertheless, by April 1968, Misty FACs had flown 565 FAC sorties against the
Mu Gia Pass and the
Ban Karai Pass and directed 850 air strikes against this northern end of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The 1 April 1968 cessation of bombing north of the 20th Parallel intensified operations in Route Package 1 and increased the Misty FAC workload. On 1 June 1968, the Mistys began the loan of their services to the U.S. Navy for
Operation Sea Dragon. On 11 June 1968, the Mistys began the first night Fast FAC missions of the war. On 12 August 1968, the Misty FACs began training two aircraft commanders from the
366th Fighter Wing as FACs. On 2 September 1968, the first "Stormy" FACs began controlling in Route Package 1. With 1 November 1968 halt of bombing North Vietnamese targets, the Mistys ceased operations in Route Package 1 and shifted their FAC mission towards the Ho Chi Minh Trail. By that time, the Misty FACs had flown 1,441 combat sorties, directed 3,988 air strikes, and lost nine airplanes. From 1 November 1968 until June 1969, the Mistys flew 1,530 combat sorties and directed 2,321 air strikes against the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Plagued by shortages of aircraft, the Mistys stood down on 14 May 1970. By that time, about a quarter of the 93 Misty FAC pilots had been shot down, though most had been rescued. The Fast FAC concept having been proven, other Fast FAC units had taken up the fight. "P-Unit" was established by
Tactical Air Command at
Groom Lake, Nevada as a classified unit on 15 October 1979. It received LTV A-7D Corsair II fighters from the
23d Tactical Fighter Wing at England Air Force Base, Louisiana to use as training aircraft for the
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter, then under development. The unit performed training for pilots to transition to the single-seat, subsonic F-117. Was given designation of 4451st Test Squadron on 11 July 1981, and assigned to the 4450th Test Group (later 4450th Tactical Group) which was formed to bring the F-117 from development to operational status. The squadron moved to
Tonopah Test Range Airport on 28 October 1983, performing training missions with the F-117A in a clandestine environment. It performed the dual mission of training F-117 pilots with the A-7Ds as well as providing a cover story for the classified Stealth Fighter project. All Tonopah training flights were conducted at night under the cover of darkness until late 1988. On 10 November 1988, the Air Force brought the F-117A from secrecy by publicly acknowledging its existence, but provided few details about it. The official confirmation of the F-117A's existence, however, had little impact on Tonopah operations. Pilots began occasionally flying the F-117A during the day, but personnel were still ferried to and from work each Monday and Friday from
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Everyone associated with the project was still forbidden to talk about what they did for a living, and the program remained shrouded in secrecy. After Desert Storm, the Air Force redesignated the squadron as the 416th Fighter Squadron on 1 October 1991. The following month, under the Objective Wing reorganization, the squadron realigned from the wing to the
37th Operations Group on 1 November 1991. In 1992, as part of the post
Cold War budget cutbacks in the Air Force, the F-117As moved to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 37th Fighter Wing and its subordinate squadrons were inactivated in July 1993. The aircraft, equipment, personnel and mission of the squadron were transferred to the
8th Fighter Squadron, which was simultaneously activated. ==Lineage==