441st Fighter Squadron
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name =441st Fighter Squadron
(later 41st Tactical Missile Squadron)
|image=Dale Mabry Field pr13624.jpg
|image_size=300
|caption=P-39 Airacobras of the 338th Fighter Group at Dale Mabry Field in 1942
|dates = 1943–1944; 1952–1954
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type =
|role =Missile operations
|size =
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|identification_symbol=165px
|identification_symbol_label=441st Fighter Squadron emblem (approved 17 February 1944)Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 546-547
|identification_symbol_2=
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The 441st Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was formed by the consolidation of the 941st Forward Air Control Squadron, which was attached to the 507th Tactical Control Group at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina until 12 January 1954 and the 441st Fighter Squadron, a Replacement Training Unit that operated in Florida during World War II, until it was disbanded in a reorganization of Army Air Forces training units in 1944.
History
The squadron was activated as part of the 338th Fighter Group at Dale Mabry Field, Florida in February 1943, when the 338th Group expanded from three to four squadrons.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 217–218 The 441st flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
The squadron's mission was to act as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). RTUs were oversized units that trained individual pilots or aircrews following their graduation from flight school.Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi In June 1943, the 338th Group began a split organization and the 441st and 312th Fighter Squadrons moved to Perry Army Air Field, Florida, while group headquarters and the other two squadrons remained at Dale Mabry Field.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 369Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 370 The squadron focused on Republic P-47 Thunderbolt training, although the squadron had some Curtiss P-40 Warhawks in 1944.
However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly it adopted a more functional system for its training bases in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.Goss, p. 75
The squadron was disbanded in May 1944, and its personnel, equipment and mission transferred to the 342d AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Fighter).{{fact|date=January 2024}}
The 941st Forward Air Control Squadron was activated in November 1952 at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, it is not clear if the unit was fully manned or equipped before it was inactivated in January 1954. In September 1945, the two squadrons were consolidated as the 41st Tactical Missile Squadron, but have not been active under that designation.{{cite web|url= http://www.foia.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-091029-031.pdf |last1=Kane|first1=Robert B.|title=Lineage and Honors History of the 41st Tactical Missile Squadron|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120326140519/http://www.foia.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-091029-031.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2012|access-date=22 September 2018}}
=Lineage=
; 441st Fighter Squadron
- Constituted as the 441st Fighter Squadron on 12 February 1943
: Activated on 21 February 1943
: Disbanded on 1 May 1944
: Reconstituted and consolidated with the 941st Forward Air Control Squadron as the 41st Tactical Missile Squadron on 19 September 1985
; 41st Tactical Missile Squadron
- Constituted as the 941st Forward Air Control Squadron on 23 September 1952
: Activated 20 November 1952
: Inactivated on 12 January 1954
: Consolidated with the 441st Fighter Squadron as the 41st Tactical Missile Squadron on 19 September 1985
=Assignments=
- 338th Fighter Group, 21 February 1943 – 1 May 1944
- Ninth Air Force, 20 November 1952 – 12 January 1954 (attached to 507 Tactical Control Group)
=Stations=
=Aircraft=
=Campaigns=
class="wikitable" | |||
style="background:#efefef;"
! Service Streamer ! Campaign ! Dates ! Notes | |||
200px | American Theater without inscription | 21 February 1943 – 1 May 1944 | 441st Fighter Squadron |
See also
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist|40em}}
=Bibliography=
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
- {{cite book|editor=Craven, Wesley F |editor2=Cate, James L|url=http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329891/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-019.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220184358/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329891/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-019.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 December 2016|access-date=17 December 2016 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=VI, Men & Planes|year=1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158| lccn=48003657}}
- : {{cite book|last=Goss|first=William A.|editor=Craven, Wesley F. |editor2=Cate, James L. |url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf|access-date=17 December 2016 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=VI, Men & Planes|year=1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158| lccn=48003657|chapter=The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF}}
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 20 December 2016|access-date= 17 December 2016|edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher= Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|access-date= 17 December 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
{{Tactical Air Command}}
{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II}}
Category:Fighter squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces
Category:Military units and formations established in 1943
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944