Warning: file_put_contents(/opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/storage/proxy/cache/00cc9bc5503f66b04d793fef9703ad2e.html): Failed to open stream: No space left on device in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php on line 36

Warning: http_response_code(): Cannot set response code - headers already sent (output started at /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php:36) in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Models/Response.php on line 17

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Arsae/CacheManager.php:36) in /opt/frankenphp/design.onmedianet.com/app/src/Models/Response.php on line 20
64th Air Division - Wikipedia Jump to content

64th Air Division

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

64th Air Division
327th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-102s[a]
Active1942–1947; 1952–1963
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleCommand of air defense forces
MottoMors Semper Tyrannus (Latin for 'Death Always to Tyrants') (World War II)[1]
EngagementsMediterranean Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations[2]
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Glenn O. Barduc
Carroll W. McColpin
Insignia
64th Air Division emblem[b][2]
64th Fighter Wing emblem (World War II)[1]

The 64th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Stewart Air Force Base, New York, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1963.

The division was first activated as the 3rd Air Defense Wing in December 1942. After a brief period of organization, it moved to North Africa in February 1943, where it served as an element of Twelfth Air Force, directing air defense and tactical units. The wing added fighter and fighter-bomber forces in the spring of 1943 and was redesignated the 64th Fighter Wing in July. During wing operations in North Africa and Italy, it pioneered methods to provide close air support to ground forces. In November 1944, it moved to France, continuing operations in France and Germany until V-E Day. It remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces until inactivating in June 1947.

In April 1952, it was activated in Newfoundland as the 64th Air Division, where it controlled air defense forces in the arctic. In July 1960, it moved to Stewart Air Force Base, where it controlled air defense forces in the northeastern United States.

History

[edit]

World War II

[edit]

Initial organization and training

[edit]

The division was first activated at Mitchel Field, New York as the 3rd Air Defense Wing in December 1942.[2] It drew its initial cadre from the Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, and San Francisco Air Defense Wings.[3] After a short period of organization and training, the wing departed the United States aboard the MV Sloterdijk on 7 February 1943,[3] Arriving in Algeria on 22 February.[4]

North African campaign

[edit]
SCR-270 radar antenna as used by the wing

The wing's initial mission was air defense of Algiers from Oran Es Sénia Airport under XII Fighter Command. However, this mission was already in the hands of the Royal Air Force (RAF), and within a few days, the wing moved to Thelepte Airfield, Tunisia, where it became part of XII Air Support Command. At Thelepte, the 561st Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion and three independent signal warning companies were assigned to the wing. These units, which had been operating independently, were organized into a provisional battalion for unified control. This arrangement became more regular in July 1943, when the aircraft warning unit was renamed the 2691st Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Provisional)(Mobile). These units provided radar coverage over the combat zone and warning of German attacks for installations to the rear.[5][6] The wing's 82nd Fighter Control Squadron directed strike aircraft and provided radio direction finding for aircraft returning to base.[5] Attached RAF units also provided information from visual observation points near the front lines and from intelligence units monitoring Luftwaffe communications.[c] The wing occasionally augmented the operations section of XII Air Support Command in the Tunisian campaign.[2]

Invasion of Sicily

[edit]
A-36 of the 86th Fighter-Bomber Group

In early July 1943, the wing embarked elements aboard the USS Monrovia, USS Ancon (AGC-4), USS Chase and USS Biscayne. From these ships, wing controllers directed fighters defending the fleet in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily and the fighter-bombers providing air support to the landing forces.[7] During this operation, the wing operated as XII Air Support Command, Advanced, operating to maintain air superiority and providing reconnaissance support for I Armored Corps.[8] For these operations, fighter and reconnaissance units began being assigned to the wing.[9][10] Wing elements landed near Gela with advanced elements, and set up two radar sites on the island. On shore radar operations ceased on 10 July, when wing personnel were pressed to act as infantry to help repel a German counterattack. Operations resumed on13 July.[11] On 12 July, wing headquarters moved to Gela,[2] and took over control from the elements aboard the Monrovia and its sister ships.[10] In the middle of the month, the wing's fighter and reconnaissance units moved to Sicily from North Africa.[12] Recognizing the changed mission of the wing with the addition of tactical groups, it was redesignated the 64th Fighter Wing in late July.[2]

In Sicily, the wing inaugurated a more efficient system of communication with ground units needing air support. Previously, such request followed the ground force chain of command upward and the air force chain of command downward before being implemented. The wing established liaison teams of operations and intelligence officers with each division, who could transmit requests for support directly to wing headquarters through a special radio net. While still clumsy compared to later systems it was an improvement over previous systems.[13]

Italian campaign

[edit]
415th Night Fighter Squadron Bristol Beaufighter

At the beginning of September 1943, the wing moved to Milazzo Airfield, Sicily,[2] from which it would be able to support Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy near Salerno. From this location, it was also able to handle air-sea rescue operations for aircraft on missions to mainland Italy.[14] Elements of the wing disembarked at Salerno on 9 September and by that evening were able to provide warning of enemy air attacks.[15] An experiment with the use of aircraft VHF radios modified for ground use led to the deployment of controllers in jeeps with radios mounted on them to control attacking aircraft. However, landline communications with ground forces were still required. With this system, fighter-bombers could be launched to receive their targets once they were near the battle area. However, limitations on the system still required a majority of strike to be against targets determined before takeoff. More offensive missions were being controlled, and strikes nearer the front lines were possible. The addition of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron to the wing permitted interceptions against night raids.[16]

324th Fighter Group P-40 Warhawks

In January 1944, during Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio, an element of the wing aboard HMS Ulster Queen directed American fighters defending the landing forces. By 24 January, the wing had established a control unit near the Villa Borghese[17] Prior to this operation, air support missions, as a safety measure, were conducted across a bomb safety line, typically five to ten miles ahead of the front lines. With the aid of a wing detachment located with VI Corps headquarters and a radio equipped halftrack near the front lines, Curtiss P-40 Warhawks of the 324th Fighter Group conducted strikes against enemy strong points close to friendly troops. This system proved particularly effective against transportation, and the wing claimed the destruction of thousands of enemy vehicles during the Anzio campaign.[18] In March, officers of Ninth Air Force, which was preparing for the invasion of Normandy, visited the wing for briefings on the system of air-ground cooperation the wing had developed in North Africa and Italy.[19]

Stinson L-5 Sentinel on the ground in 1943

In June 1944, the wing experimented with the use of Piper L-4 Grasshoppers with observers from the 1st Armored Division aboard to control strikes. Later using Stinson L-5 Sentinels and flying low and typically within ten to twenty miles of the battle line, these light planes could identify targets and call fighter bombers to strike them. When needed, they could also point out targets to the strike aircraft. Similarly, tactical reconnaissance aircraft flew further to the rear and radioed wing controllers, who could direct strikes. These were usually transportation targets, trains or trucks.[20]

During the Italian campaign, wing fighter and fighter-bombers supported ground forces in a wide range of operations that included cover patrols, battle-area patrols, escort missions, dive bombing missions, and reconnaissance. Primary targets included enemy gun positions, road junctions, traffic concentrations, assembly areas, bridges, and targets of opportunity.[2]

Operations in the European Theater

[edit]
USS Catoctin during Operation Dragoon

On 19 July, the wing moved to the staging area at Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy and began preparation for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France.[21] A headquarters detachment went aboard the USS Catoctin, which would be the headqarters fpr the invasion,while a control team went to Malta, where they trained aboard HMS Stuart Prince. The control ships for the landing would once again be the Ulster Queen, plus Fighter Director Tender 13 (FDT 13), an LST converted for fighter direction with a control room and two radars.[22]

On 15 August 1944 the landings began. Using techniques developed during the two previous invasions, wing personnel controlled air operations from FDT 13. This now included tactical reconnaissance aircraft patrolling the landing areas and reporting on potential targets. In addition, a control team from the 328th Fighter Control Squadron landed with the 550th Glider Infantry Battalion at Le Muy, operating with the advance elements of the airborne forces with a radio equipped Jeep. In addition to controlling fighter-bombers, this team also relayed reports by tactical reconnaissance planes to the airborne troops[23]

With the landing of troops, a beachhead control unit directed aircraft to hit enemy strong points, ammunition dumps, troop concentrations, road intersections, supply lines, and communications. As Allied forces advanced northward along the Rhone Valley, the wing implemented a plan to give more rapid support to the ground troops. Forward control units, equipped with the latest in air ground communications, directed sector air ground support. During the operations in France and Germany, the 64th continued to coordinate the close air-ground support of its fighter aircraft.[2]

Occupation duties

[edit]

After the end of hostilities in May 1945, the wing served in the occupation of Germany as part of the XII Tactical Air Command of United States Air Forces in Europe.[2] In Occupied Germany the wing performed occupation duties such as destroying captured enemy aircraft, repairing roads, bridges and processing prisoners of war. It also commanded combat units which were inactivating and sending their aircraft to storage, disposal, or return to the United States. It was inactivated in Germany on 5 June 1947.[2]

Cold War air defense

[edit]
64th Air Division Area of Responsibility

Reactivated as an Air Division under Northeast Air Command (NEAC) at Pepperrell Air Force Base, Newfoundland in December 1952. NEAC had taken over the former Newfoundland Base Command atmospheric forces and ground air and radar stations in Newfoundland, Northeastern Canada and Greenland upon the former command's inactivation. The 64th Air Division was NEAC's command and control echelon of command over these assets.

"Its mission was the administration, training and providing air defense combat ready forces within its designated geographic area of responsibility, exercising command jurisdiction over its assigned units, installations, and facilities. In addition, the division and its subordinate units under its control participated in numerous exercises.[2] NEAC was inactivated in April 1957, and its air defense mission was reassigned to Air Defense Command (ADC).

The 64th continued its operations under ADC at Pepperrell including the operational control of the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line) and Air Forces Iceland. In January 1960, it activated the Goose Air Defense Sector (Manual) at Goose Air Force Base. On 26 May 1960, the division headquarters moved from Newfoundland to Stewart Air Force Base, New York, when part of its mission was taken over by the 26th Air Division (SAGE) in a realignment of forces.

At Stewart it assumed the mission of training and providing air defense combat ready forces for the aerospace defense of a 6,000,000 square miles (16,000,000 km2) region of North America, including New Jersey, New York, New England north of Massachusetts, Eastern Canada, and atmospheric forces in Greenland.

The Division was inactivated in July 1963[2] with the phasedown of ADC at Stewart, its mission being taken over by First Air Force.

Lineage

[edit]
  • Established as the 3d Air Defense Wing on 12 December 1942
Activated on 12 December 1942
Redesignated 64th Fighter Wing on 24 July 1943
Inactivated on 5 June 1947
  • Redesignated 64th Air Division (Defense) on 17 March 1952
Activated on 8 April 1952
Inactivated on 20 December 1952
  • Organized on 20 December 1952[d]
Discontinued, and inactivated, on 1 July 1963[2]

Assignments

[edit]

Stations

[edit]

Components

[edit]

World War II

[edit]
Groups
[edit]
Squadrons
[edit]
Battalions
[edit]
  • Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Provisional) (later 2691st Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Provisional) (Mobile)): attached 1 March 1943–1943, 31 July 1943 – 15 January 1944[5]
  • 439th Signal Construction Battalion, Aviation: 19 September 1943 – unknown[28]
  • 582nd Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion: 15 January 1944 – unknown[26]
  • 593rd Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion: 10 March 1944 – unknown[28]
Other
[edit]
  • 346th Signal Company, Wing (later 20th Communications Squadron, Wing): 21 April 1944 – c. 5 June 1947[28]
  • 90th Wireless Observer Unit (Royal Air Force): attached 1943 – 1944[29]

Cold War

[edit]
Force
[edit]
Keflavik Airport, Iceland, 1 July 1962 – 1 July 1963
Sector
[edit]
Goose Air Force Base, Newfoundland, 1 April 1960 – 1 July 1963[2]
Wings
[edit]
  • 4601st Support Wing, 1 October 1960 – 1 July 1963
Paramus, New Jersey
  • 4602d Support Wing, 1 January 1961 – 1 July 1963[2]
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Thule Air Base, Greenland
  • 4737th Air Base Wing (see 6604th Air Base Group)
  • 6604th Air Base Wing (see 6604th Air Base Group)
  • 6605th Air Base Wing (see 6602d Air Base Group)
  • 6606th Air Base Wing (see 6603d Air Base Group)
  • 6607th Air Base Wing (see 6612th Air Base Group)
Groups
[edit]
Squadrons
[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Aircraft are Convair F-102A-75-CO Delta Daggers Serials 56-1368, 56-1360, 56-1361. 1360 was converted to a PQM-102 target drone and was shot down on 8 March 1977 over the White Sands Missile Range; 1361 was retired to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center 2 June 1971 and on 21 March 1985 was shipped to Nellis Air Force Base for use as a target; 1368 is now on static display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, McMinnville, Oregon. Dirkx, Marco (23 September 2025). "1956 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher’s Serial Number List. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  2. ^ Approved 8 August 1952. Description: Or, issuing from base a demi-sphere with line markings, snow capped, surmounted with a radar antenna, proper; in front of a representation of the Aurora Borealis argent, edges gules, in chief, surmounting the Aurora Borealis a stylized aircraft azure, in bend, with trailing flames proper. Maurer, p. 402.
  3. ^ This support continued through the Italian and French campaigns. In North Africa, it apparently included a source who was a Luftwaffe pilot breaking radio silence intentionally to provide information about his unit. Campbell et al., p. 14.
  4. ^ The simultaneous inactivation and organization on 20 December 1952 represents a change between a Table of Organization and a Table of Distribution unit.
  5. ^ Campbell states that wing headquarters were established near the Montecorvino Airfield on 11 September, then moved to Frattamaggiore in October.
  6. ^ Maurer does not list the two previous stations and dates the move to Orbetello as taking place on 1 June. Maurer, p. 402.
Citations
  1. ^ a b Campbell, et al., Front Cover
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad "Factsheet 64 Air Division (Defense)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b Campbell et al., p. 3
  4. ^ Campbell et al., p. 6
  5. ^ a b c Campbell et al., pp. 11-12
  6. ^ Campbell et al., p. 17
  7. ^ Campbell et al., p. 35
  8. ^ Campbell et al., p. 36
  9. ^ 64th Air Division factsheet: Components.
  10. ^ a b Campbell et al., p. 40
  11. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 38-39
  12. ^ Campbell et al., p. 41
  13. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 40-41
  14. ^ Campbell et al., p. 46
  15. ^ Campbell et al., p. 49
  16. ^ Campbell et al., p. 60
  17. ^ Campbell et al., p. 65
  18. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 71-72
  19. ^ Campbell et al., p. 76
  20. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 90-91
  21. ^ Campbell et al., p. 95
  22. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 96-97
  23. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 101-02
  24. ^ Campbell et al., pp. 51-58
  25. ^ a b Campbell et al., p. 84
  26. ^ a b Campbell et al., p. 12
  27. ^ Campbell et al., p. 70
  28. ^ a b c d Campbell et al., p. 75
  29. ^ Campbell et al., p. 14

Bibliography

[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=64th_Air_Division&oldid=1315964971"