World War II of a crew training unit The
469th Bombardment Squadron was activated on 15 July 1942 at
Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah as one of the four original squadrons of the
333d Bombardment Group. In August, it began operating at
Topeka Army Air Base, Kansas as an
Operational Training Unit (OTU) for
Consolidated B-24 Liberator units. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide
cadres to "satellite groups" The OTU program was patterned after the unit training system of the
Royal Air Force. The parent assumed responsibility for satellite unit 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 February 1943, the squadron moved to
Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas. However, many of the
Army Air Forces' (AAF) bomber units had been activated. With the exception of special programs, like forming
Boeing B-29 Superfortress units, training “fillers” for existing units became more important than unit training. The squadron mission changed to becoming a
Replacement Training Unit (RTU). RTUs were also oversized units, but their mission was to train individual
pilots or
aircrews. It continued this mission through November 1943. The 469th and other training and support units at Dalhart were disbanded or inactivated on 1 April 1944. In 1985, the squadron was consolidated with the
469th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In early 1953, it received long range F-47Ns to replace some of the F-47Ds it had inherited. In February 1953, the squadron became part of the
516th Air Defense Group, which was organized by
Air Defense Command (ADC) as headquarters for the squadron and supporting units at McGhee Tyson. As a result, the
355th Fighter Group replaced the 516th Group as the squadron's headquarters. The squadron continued to fly Sabres in actual and simulated exercises to test its
alert status and combat readiness until it was inactivated, along with the 355th Group in January 1958. but the squadron remained at George until 30 November 1964, when it moved to
Yokota Air Base, Japan to augment the
41st Air Division. It then moved to
Kadena Air Base. Okinawa, where it supported the fighter operations of the
18th Tactical Fighter Wing, which included supporting combat operation in Southeast Asia.
Combat in Southeast Asia On 8 November 1965, the squadron's temporary assignment to the Pacific became permanent, when the squadron moved to
Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, where it was assigned to
Pacific Air Forces' 6234th Tactical Fighter Wing and began combat operations. On 8 April 1966, the
388th Tactical Fighter Wing replaced the 6234th at Korat. In 1968 the squadron converted from the F-105 to the
McDonnell F-4 Phantom II.
Fast FACs By January 1969, proliferating antiaircraft defenses in the
Barrel Roll area in Laos were making operations ever riskier for
slow forward air controllers (FACs) such as the
Raven FACs. Volunteers from the squadron were approved for fast FAC duty under the call sign "Tiger" in February. The
inertial guidance systems in their fresh F-4E Phantom IIs were important for piloting and target location in an environment largely lacking in navigation aids, especially after
the March loss of the only
TACAN site in northern Laos. On 17 March, the volunteer FACs began supplying the necessary tactical air power for General
Vang Pao's
Hmong guerrillas to sweep through
Operation Raindance. In April, the "Tigers" were considered for night FAC duties, but rejected. By July, the "Tiger" FACs were so immersed in directing
close air support, they were allotted four sorties per day. Between July and September 1969, the "Tigers" were credited with 34 enemy killed by air, 12 antiaircraft sites destroyed, 246 interdictory road cuts of enemy supply lines, 15 enemy supply trucks destroyed, 403 structures destroyed, 360 fires caused by explosions, and 681 secondary explosions of munitions and fuel. They accomplished this during 182 FAC missions, during which they directed 2,004 air strikes. In turn, the "Tigers" suffered five F-4E's severely damaged by enemy fire. The squadron continued combat operations, for which it received two
Presidential Unit Citations until inactivating on 31 October 1972. While inactive, it was consolidated with the
469th Bombardment Squadron in September 1985, retaining its designation as tactical fighter squadron. The 469th Flying Training Squadron was reactivated in April 2009 as part of the 80th Flying Training Wing to conduct undergraduate flying training for ENJJPT pilot candidates. In April 2009, the consolidated squadron, redesignated the
469th Flying Training Squadron, was activated. Its personnel represent 13 NATO nations and it supports the ENJJPT with
Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft. It flys over 11,500 training sorties and 13,000 hours while training over 200 student pilots and instructor trainees annually. ==Lineage==