World War II The
27th Bombardment Group had engaged in combat in the
Southwest Pacific Theater, both in the air with
Douglas A-24 Banshees and on ground as infantry in the Philippines. In May 1942, the
group and its three
squadrons were withdrawn from the theater and moved on paper to
Key Field, Mississippi, where it began reforming as a
Douglas A-20 Havoc unit. To bring the group to its full strength, the squadron was activated in July 1942 as the
465th Bombardment Squadron. In addition to A-20s, the squadron also was assigned a few DB-7 export versions of the Havoc The OTU program was patterned after the unit training system of the
Royal Air Force. The parent group assumed responsibility for the satellite's training and oversaw their expansion with graduates of
Army Air Forces Training Command schools to become effective combat units. Phase I training concentrated on individual training in
crewmember specialties. Phase II training emphasized the coordination for the crew to act as a team. The final phase concentrated on operation as a unit. In January 1943, the squadron moved to
Alachua Army Air Field, Florida, where it became part of the
Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics. In addition to training cadres for newly-formed groups it also demonstrated tactics for light bomber units as part of the
415th Bombardment Group. In March 1944 the group moved to
Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, where it became a
Replacement Training Unit. The 415th Group, including the squadron, and support units at Dalhart were disbanded,
Tactical Air Command In the fall of 1972, the squadron was reconstituted as the
465th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and reactivated on 1 December at
Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, where it trained crews on the
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark as part of the
27th Tactical Fighter Wing. This mission lasted only eight months, and in August 1973, the squadron moved to
Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, where it conducted lead in fighter training with the
Northrop AT-38 Talon under the
49th Tactical Fighter Wing. In January 1977, flying training activities at Holloman were put under the newly activated
479th Tactical Training Wing. The squadron was transferred to the 479th Wing, where it performed the academic training portion of the wing's mission. It continued this mission until it was inactivated in 1991, when its mission, personnel and equipment was transferred to the 435th Tactical Training Squadron. ==Lineage==