8th Flying Training Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 8th Flying Training Squadron (8 FTS) is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing
based at Vance Air Force Base
, Oklahoma
. It operates the T-6A Texan II aircraft conducting flight training.
; after a brief organizational period in Southern California
where it was equipped with reconnaissance P-38 Lightning
s (F-4) it deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area (SPA), being assigned to Fifth Air Force
in Australia.
Engaged in long-range tactical reconnaissance missions over New Guinea
; later the Dutch East Indies
and in late 1944, over the Philippines in support of Mac Arthur's Island-Hopping campaign (1942–1945). After the Japanese capitulation in August 1945, became part of the Army of Occupation in Japan. It was not operational between April 1946 and July 1947.
From 1947–1949 flew photographic mapping missions over Japan, Korea
, Philippines and other areas of western Pacific. During the Korean War
, the squadron flew tactical reconnaissance sorties over North and South Korea from, 29 June 1950 – 24 February 1951.
The 8th has conducted undergraduate pilot training for active duty
, Air National Guard
, Air Force Reserve and selected foreign allies since 1 November 1972.
71st Flying Training Wing
The 71st Flying Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma where it also is the host unit....
based at Vance Air Force Base
Vance Air Force Base
Vance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located 6 km south of downtown Enid, Oklahoma, and within its city limits, about north northwest of Oklahoma City...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. It operates the T-6A Texan II aircraft conducting flight training.
History
Activated in early 194 under Fourth Air ForceFourth Air Force
The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....
; after a brief organizational period in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
where it was equipped with reconnaissance P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
s (F-4) it deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area (SPA), being assigned to Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
in Australia.
Engaged in long-range tactical reconnaissance missions over New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
; later the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
and in late 1944, over the Philippines in support of Mac Arthur's Island-Hopping campaign (1942–1945). After the Japanese capitulation in August 1945, became part of the Army of Occupation in Japan. It was not operational between April 1946 and July 1947.
From 1947–1949 flew photographic mapping missions over Japan, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Philippines and other areas of western Pacific. During the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, the squadron flew tactical reconnaissance sorties over North and South Korea from, 29 June 1950 – 24 February 1951.
The 8th has conducted undergraduate pilot training for active duty
Active duty
Active duty refers to a full-time occupation as part of a military force, as opposed to reserve duty.-Pakistan:The Pakistan Armed Forces are one of the largest active service forces in the world with almost 610,000 full time personnel due to the complex and volatile nature of Pakistan's...
, Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
, Air Force Reserve and selected foreign allies since 1 November 1972.
Lineage
- Constituted 8th Photographic Squadron on 19 Jan 1942
- Activated 1 Feb 1942
- Redesignated: 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 9 Jun 1942
- Redesignated: 8th Photographic Squadron (Light) on 6 Feb 1943
- Redesignated: 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 13 Nov 1943
- Redesignated: 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic, on 10 Aug 1948
- Redesignated: 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photo-Jet, on 1 Aug 1949
- Redesignated: Inactivated on 25 Feb 1951
- Redesignated 8th Flying Training Squadron on 14 Apr 1972
- Redesignated: Activated on 1 Nov 1972.
Assignments
- IV Air Support CommandFourth Air ForceThe Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....
, 1 Feb 1942 - Fifth Air ForceFifth Air ForceThe Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
, 29 Mar 1942
- Attached to Allied Air Forces, Apr–Sep 1942
- V Bomber CommandV Bomber CommandThe V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946....
, 5 Sep 1942 - 6th Photographic (later, 6th Reconnaissance) Group6th Reconnaissance GroupThe 6th Reconnaissance Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with Fifth Air Force, stationed at Irumagawa Air Base, Japan...
, 13 Nov 1943
- V Bomber Command
- Attached to V Bomber CommandV Bomber CommandThe V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946....
after c. 10 Dec 1945- V Bomber CommandV Bomber CommandThe V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946....
, 27 Apr 1946 - 314th Composite Wing, 31 May 1946
- 71st Reconnaissance (later, 71st Tactical Reconnaissance) Group71st Operations GroupThe 71st Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 71st Flying Training Wing. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma....
, 28 Feb 1947
- V Bomber Command
- Attached to 314th Composite Wing to Nov 1947
- Fifth Air ForceFifth Air ForceThe Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
, 1 Apr 1949 - 543d Tactical Support Group543d Tactical Support GroupThe 543d Tactical Support Group was a United States Air Force unit that fought in the Korean War. The unit was attached to Far East Air Forces Fifth Air ForceOperational Units:* 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic...
, 26 Sep 1950 – 25 Feb 1951 - 71st Flying Training Wing71st Flying Training WingThe 71st Flying Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma where it also is the host unit....
, 1 Nov 1972 - 71st Operations Group71st Operations GroupThe 71st Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 71st Flying Training Wing. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma....
, 15 Dec 1991 – present
- Fifth Air Force
Stations
- March Field, California, 1 Feb – 14 Mar 1942
- Two flights remained at March Field, CA, to 16 Jun 1942
- Essendon AirportEssendon AirportEssendon Airport is located at Essendon, in Melbourne's northern suburbs, Victoria, Australia. It is located next to the Tullamarine Freeway on , from the Melbourne Central Business District and from Melbourne Airport.-History:...
, Melbourne, Australia, 7 Apr 1942 - Archerfield Airport (Brisbane)Archerfield AirportArcherfield Airport is a small airport located 7 1/2 miles at Archerfield in the south west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time it was the primary airport in Brisbane. During World War II it was used as a Royal Australian Air Force station. Airport traffic peaked in the 1980s...
, Australia, 24 Apr 1942 - Charters Towers AirfieldCharters Towers AirportCharters Towers Airport is an airport located north of Charters Towers, Queensland, Australia.-World War II:During World War II, the United States Army Air Force Fifth Air Force stationed the following units at the airfield:* No...
, Australia, 2 May 1942 - Kila Airfield (3 Mile Drome)Kila AirfieldKila Airfield is a former World War II airfield near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It was part of a multiple-airfield complex in the Port Moresby area, located north of Joyce Bay, three miles from the town of Port Moresby near the village of Kila Kila.The airfield was Port Moresby's first...
, Port MoresbyPort MoresbyPort Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...
, New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, 9 Sep 1942 - Nadzab AirfieldLae Nadzab AirportLae Nadzab Airport is a regional airport located in Lae, Papua New Guinea. It is served by regional aircraft with domestic flight.-Airlines and destinations:-History:...
, New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, 16 Mar 1944
- Essendon Airport
- Operated from Biak after c. 11 Aug 1944
- Mokmer AirfieldFrans Kaisiepo Airport-History:Mokmer Airfield was part of a complex of airfields built on Biak Island by the Japanese , of which Mokmer was the main USAAF facility after the island was taken by the United States after fierce fighting in late May and June 1944....
, BiakBiakBiak features a tropical rainforest climate with nearly identical temperatures throughout the course of the year. The average annual temperature in the city is 27 degrees celsius, which is also generally the average temperature of each day in Biak...
, 10 Sep – 20 Oct 1944 - Dulag AirfieldDulag AirfieldDulag Airfield is a World War II airfield located near Dulag in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It was closed after the war.-History:The airfield was built by the Japanese during the Occupation of the Philippines in 1943...
, LeyteLeyteLeyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
, Philippines, 4 Nov 1944
- Mokmer Airfield
- Air Echelon assigned to: Clark Field, LuzonLuzonLuzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, Philippines, 19 May – 12 Aug 1945
- Motobu AirfieldMotobu AirfieldMotobu Airfield is a World War II airfield on the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa, near the East China Sea coast. The airfield was deactivated after 1945.-History:...
, Okinawa, 21 Jul 1945 - Chōfu Airfield, Japan, 28 Sep 1945
- Irumagawa Air Base, Japan, 25 Jan 1946
- Yokota AB, Japan, 25 Mar 1949
- Detachment operated from Itazuke Air Base, Japan, from 29 Jun 1950
- Itazuke Air Base, Japan, 9 Jul 1950
- Taegu Air Base (K-2), South Korea, 2 Oct 1950
- Komaki Air Base, Japan
- Operated from Taegu Air Base (K-2), South Korea, 26 Jan – 25 Feb 1951
- Vance Air Force BaseVance Air Force BaseVance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located 6 km south of downtown Enid, Oklahoma, and within its city limits, about north northwest of Oklahoma City...
, OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, 1 Nov 1972 – present
- Vance Air Force Base
Aircraft Operated
- F-4 Lightning (1942–1944)
- F-5 Lightning (1943–1946)
- B-17 Flying Fortress (1942–1943)
- B-26 MarauderB-26 MarauderThe Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
(1943–1944) - F-6 Mustang (1946)
- P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
(1946) - P-61 Black WidowP-61 Black WidowThe Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically for night interception of aircraft, and was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar. It was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom design developed during World War II...
(1946) - F-15A/RF-61C Reporter (1947–1949)
- RF-80 Shooting StarP-80 Shooting StarThe Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces. Designed in 1943 as a response to the German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter, and delivered in just 143 days from the start of the design process, production models were flying but...
(1949–1951) - T-37 Tweet (1972–2006)
- T-6 Texan II (2006 – present)
Famous people
- Fred HargesheimerFred HargesheimerCaptain Fred Hargesheimer was a former pilot of the USAAF who was shot down over Papua New Guinea in June 1943. He later became a philanthropist who helped out the village which had hidden him from the Japanese.-Early life:...
, pilot turned philanthropist to those who saved his life after he was shot down.