Donate      Newsletter Signup

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARMY AIR CORPS MUSEUM! [MORE]
Ads help support our web operation, if you would like to turn them OFF for this visit;

V Fighter Command

Constituted as II Interceptor Command on 26 May 1941. Activated on 4 Jun 1941. Redesignated II Fighter Command in May 1942, and V Fighter Command in Aug 1942. Moved to the Southwest Pacific, Oct-Nov 1942, and operated with Fifth AF until the end of the war. Afterward, served with the occupation force in Japan. Inactivated on 31 May 1946. Disbanded on 8 Oct 1948.

(This V Fighter Command bas no connection with a 5th Interceptor Command that was constituted on 14 Oct 1941, activated on 30 Oct, and redesignated Fighter Command School in Aug 1942. Nor is it related to a 5th Interceptor Command - probably a provisional organization - that was located in the Philippines in 1941-1942.)

Groups. 3d Air Commando: 1944-1945. 8th Fighter: 1942-1946. 35th Fighter: 1942-1945. 38th Bombardment: 1945-1946. 42d Bombardment: 1946. 49th Fighter: 1942-1945. 54th Fighter: 1941. 55th Fighter: 1941. 58th Fighter: 1943-1945. 312th Bombardment: 1943-1944. 348th Fighter: 1943-1945, 1946. 475th Fighter: 1943-1945.

Stations. Ft George Wright, Wash, 4 Jun 1941; Ft Lawton, Wash, 19 Jun 1941-2 Oct 11942; Australia, Nov 1942; Port Moresby, New Guinea, Dec 1942; Nadzab, New Guinea, Jan 1944; Owl, Schouten Islands, Jul 1944; Leyte, Nov 1944; Mindoro, Jan 1945; Clark Field, Luzon, Mar 1945; Okinawa, Aug 1945; Fukuoka, Japan, Oct 1945-31 May 1946.

Commanders. Brig Gen Carlyle H Wash, Jun 1941-unkn; Col Howard H Newman, 1942; Brig Gen Paul B Wurtsmith, 11 Nov 1942; Col Neel E Kearby, 24 Nov 1943; Brig Gen Paul B Wurtsmith, 13 Jan 1944; Brig Gen Frederic H Smith Jr, 10 Feb 1945; Col Hugh A Parker, 30 Sep 1945-31 Mar 1946.

Campaigns. American Theater; Air Offensive, Japan; China Defensive; Papua; New Guinea; Bismarck Archipelago; Western Pacific; Leyte; Luzon; Southern Philippines; China Offensive.

Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citation: Papua, [Nov] 1942-23 Jan 1943-Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.

Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986

 5th Air Force

VOLUNTEERING

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.

Contact About Volunteering