History
Activated as a III Fighter Command P-47 Thunderbolt replacement training unit during World War II, 1943–1944.
During the early years of the Cold War, activated in 1955 as an Air Defense Command interceptor squadron for the defense of the Grand Coolie Dam and the Hanford Atomic Energy Reservation, Washington State. Initially equipped with F-86D Sabre Interceptors; in the Spring of 1957, the 56th FIS began re-equipping with the North American F-86L Sabre, an improved version of the F-86D which incorporated the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, or SAGE.
The transition into the F-86L was short-lived however, as the squadron began transition into the "missile-witha-man-in-it", the Lockheed F-104A in May 1958, becoming the 4th ADC squadron equipped with the Starfighter. In addition, the squadron received the two-seat, dual-control, combat trainer F-104B. The performance of the F-104B was almost identical to that of the F-104A, but the lower internal fuel capacity reduced its effective range considerably.
However, the F-104A was not very well suited for service as an interceptor. Its low range was a problem for North American air defense, and its lack of all-weather capability made it incapable of operating in conjunction with the SAGE system. Service with the ADC was consequently quite brief, and the F-104As of the 538th FIS were transferred to the Air National Guard. With the transfer of the Starfighters, the 56th FIS was deactivated at Larson AFB on 1 July 1960.
Read more about this topic: 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible to the young.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art’s audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.”
—Henry Geldzahler (1935–1994)