Lineage

• Constituted 420th Night Fighter Squadron on May 25, 1943.

Activated on June 1, 1943.

Disbanded on March 31, 1944.

• Reconstituted, and consolidated with the 420th Air Refueling Squadron, Fighter-Bomber, which was constituted on December 8, 1953.

Activated on March 18, 1954.

Redesignated 420th Air Refueling Squadron, Tactical on August 8, 1958.

Discontinued, and inactivated, on March 25, 1964.

• Consolidated with the 6520th Test Squadron, which was designated, and activated, on March 10, 1989.

Redesignated: 420th Test Squadron on October 2, 1992

Reesignated: 420th Flight Test Squadron on March 1, 1994.

Inactivated on December 30, 1997.

• Redesignated 420th Flight Test Flight on September 24, 2001.

Activated in the Reserve on October 1, 2001.

Assignments

• Air Defense Department, AAF School of Applied Tactics, June 1 – July 26, 1943

(attached to 481 Night Fighter Operational Training Group, July 17–25, 1943)

• 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, July 26, 1943 – March 31, 1944.

• Ninth Air Force
  Ninth Air Force
  The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
  
  , March 18, 1954 – October 9, 1955

(attached to 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing

366th Fighter Wing

The 366th Fighter Wing is a Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho...

, March 18, 1954 – September 22, 1955)

• Third Air Force
  Third Air Force
  The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
  
  , October 9, 1955 – July 1, 1961

(attached to 47th Bombardment Wing

47th Flying Training Wing

The 47th Flying Training Wing is a United States Air Force pilot training wing based at Laughlin Air Force Base, near Del Rio, Texas...

, March 15, 1960 – July 1, 1961)

• Seventeenth Air Force
  Seventeenth Air Force
  Seventeenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The command served the United States Air Forces in Europe during its years of active service...
  
  , July 1, 1961 – June 22, 1962

(remained attached to 47th Bombardment Wing, November 8, 1961

• Seventeenth Air Force, June 22, 1962

(attached to 7375th Combat Support Group, October 1, 1962 – September 30, 1962)

• 6510th (later, 412th) Test Group, March 10, 1989 – December 30, 1997.
• 622d Flight Test Group, October 1, 2001 – October 1, 2003
• 413th Flight Test Group, October 1, 2003 – Present

Stations

• Orlando AB, FL, June 1, 1943
• Kissimmee AAFld, FL, June 1, 1943
• Dunnellon AAFld, FL, August 20, 1943
• Hammer Field, CA, January 18 – March 31, 1944

• Alexandria (later, England) AFB, LA, March 18, 1954 – September 22, 1955
• RAF Sculthorpe, England, October 9, 1955 – March 25, 1964

• Edwards AFB, CA, March 10, 1989 – December 30, 1997

• Mesa, AZ, October 1, 2001 – Present.

Aircraft Assigned

• AT-11, A-20, P-70, BT-13, and C-78, 1943–1944
• P/YP-61, 1944.
• KB-29, 1954–1959
• KB-50, 1956–1964
• B-2, 1989–1997
• T-38, 2001–Present

Operational History

• Replacement training unit, June 1943 – March 1944.

• Air refueling operations, 1954–1964. Was the first Tactical Air Commanded refueling squadron and the first to be deployed to refuel F-84's fighter aircraft based in Europe and North Africa. Initially equipped with KB-29s, the squadron was upgraded to the jet-assisted KB-50Js which were specially equipped with two General Electric J47 turbojet engines that enabled the tankers to match the speed of the faster jet fighters during refueling. By the early 1960s, the tankers were simply too slow to refuel the faster tactical jet aircraft of USAFE, along with the squadron having serious problems keeping the aircraft flyable. The 420th ARS was deactivated on March 25, 1964 when the KB-50Js were declared obsolete.

• Tested and evaluated B-2 aircraft, 1989–1997.

• From October 2001, performed testing and delivery of T-38C aircraft as part of an avionics upgrade program.