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Constituted as 408th Bombardment Group (Dive) on 23 Mar 1943. Activated on 5 Apr 1943. Redesignated 408th Fighter-Bomber Group in Aug 1943. Assigned to Third AF, then to Second (Nov 1943), and again to Third (Feb 1944). Received A-24, A-26, P-40, and P-47 aircraft in Oct 1943 and began training. Disbanded on 1 Apr 1944.
Reconstituted and redesignated 408th Fighter Group (Air Defense), on 8 Jul 1955. Activated on 8 Apr 1956. Assigned to Air Defense Command.
Squadrons. 455th: 1944. 518th (formerly 636th): 1943-1944; 1956-. 519th (formerly 637th): 1943-1944. 520th (formerly 638th): 1943-1944. 639th: 1943.
Stations. Key Field, Miss, 5 Apr 1943; Drew Field, Fla, 22 Sep 1943; Abilene AAFld, Tex, 10 Nov 1943; DeRidder AAB, La, 12 Feb 1944; Woodward AAFld, Okla, 26 Mar-1 Apr 1944. Klamath Falls Mun Aprt, Ore, 8 Apr 1956-.
Commanders. 1st Lt Reynold H Ulick, 7 Apr 1943; Maj John R Reynolds, 22 Jun 1943; Maj Wyatt P Exum, 22 Sep 1943; Lt Col Thomas Hitchcock, 26 Dec 1943; Maj Wyatt P Exum, 1 Feb 1944; Lt Col Harry L Galusha, 18 Mar-1 Apr 1944. Lt Col Robert L Larson, Apr 1956-.
Campaigns. None.
Decorations. None.
Insigne. Shield: Azure, a lightning bolt, bendwise, or, between two jet-like eagles volant proper with trailing speed vapor proper. Motto: Defend With Vigilance. (Approved 22 May 1957.)
Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986
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Historical Artifacts: We are looking for photos, documents and other types of artifacts including uniforms, medals, insignia, gear, manuals, and training material. We accept electronic/scans or originals of pictures and paper records. A General Order could be an award document that contains information on many servicemen. Special Orders may contain transfers or other information. Flight records, accident reports, maintenance logs, after action reports, pilot encounter reports, diaries and biorgraphies; all of these types of documents help us support or mission: preserving your history! Contact us today for instructions on sending us this material. Contact Today
Are you an AAC, AAF or USAF Veteran, family member, historian or WW2 enthusiast? We Need YOU! Contact us today to see how you can help the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, a Texas Not-For-Profit Corporation. We need your help! We are looking for volunteers that can help us with the following tasks. Typing and Transcriptionists: One of our big projects is extracting data from the thousands of documents we have and putting this data into a database where we can display the information on a website such as this one. We also need assistance with retyping unit history documents.
