29-576: The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex ( OC-ALC ) Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma is one of the largest units in the Air Force Materiel Command. The complex performs programmed depot maintenance on the C/KC-135, B-1B, B-52 and E-3 aircraft; expanded phase maintenance on the Navy E-6 aircraft; and maintenance, repair and overhaul of F100, F101, F108, F110, F117, F118, F119, F135, and TF33 engines for
58-523: A close air support school unit, the 415th Bombardment Group was added. The fighter school unit from 23 March 1943 was the 50th Fighter Group . Night Fighter training initially began with the 50th Group's 81st Fighter Squadron , but by 1943 was concentrated in the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group . However, the AAF was finding that standard military units like these groups, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization not well adapted to
87-495: A combat simulation facility in Florida. Units and airfields were established throughout an 8,000-square-mile (21,000 km ) area of north central Florida designated a mock "war theater" stretching roughly from Tampa to Titusville to Starke to Apalachicola in which war games were conducted. AAFSAT also had a bombing range at Ocala AAF , a service center at Leesburg AAF , and an air depot at Pinecastle Army Air Field . Due to
116-638: A major reorganization of the Tactical Center and a change in the types of courses conducted by the institution, the Army Air Forces redesignated the "new" AAFSAT as the Army Air Forces School on 1 June 1945, while the Tactical Center dropped the "Tactical" from its name and became the AAF Center. Following the end of World War II, in preparation for its post-war educational operations, the AAF moved
145-680: A month of the invasion, it moved to Normandy and operated from several forward bases in Northeast France during the summer of 1944 as Allied ground forces moved eastwards towards Germany. The unit supported the Fifth Army movement from southern France though the Lyon Valley, then into Germany as part of the Western Allied invasion in the spring of 1945. The squadron remained in Germany as part of
174-571: A result, the responsibility for the development and change to tactics for Air Corps units was scattered among various Air Corps units. Moreover, no single element of the Air Staff or special committee was responsible for overseeing tactical doctrine for the Army's air elements. The field organizations primarily responsible for development of tactics and associated doctrine were the Army Air Force Board ,
203-409: Is part of the 413th Flight Test Group of Air Force Materiel Command based at Tinker Air Force Base , Oklahoma. It performs acceptance testing on refurbished Rockwell B-1 Lancer , Boeing B-52 Stratofortress , Boeing E-3 Sentry , and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft before they are returned to their units. The squadron was first activated as the 10th Pursuit Squadron prior to the entry of
232-715: The Army Air Forces Tactical Center . A "new" AAFSAT was organized as one of the center's subordinate units. The first group receiving AAFSAT training to deploy overseas was the 390th Bombardment Group in July 1943, based in England with the Eighth Air Force . By September 1945, the AAF Center had trained 54,000 personnel and the cadres of 44 bombardment groups . During 1943-1945 the AAF Tactical Center operated
261-721: The occupation forces . It returned to the United States and was inactivated in Colorado in November 1945. The squadron was reactivated in the reserve by Continental Air Command in January 1950 as a corollary unit of the 4th Fighter Wing . It was called to active duty in early 1951 for the Korean War and its personnel were used to fill up other units. The squadron was activated at Clovis Air Force Base , New Mexico on 1 January 1953 and assumed
290-638: The AAF School from Orlando to Maxwell Field, Alabama on 29 November 1945 and assigned it directly to Headquarters, AAF. Having lost its developmental function, the AAF Center moved to Eglin Field in March 1946 and became the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command. The AAF Tactical Center medium and heavy bomber school unit from 31 October 1942 was the 9th Bombardment Group . In February 1943,
319-643: The Air Defense Board and, after April 1943, the AAF Equipment Board. Although the Board had been operating before AAFSAT was activated, it only became official in July, when the school became the AAF Tactical Center. It was reassigned from the center directly to Headquarters, AAF in October 1943.although the commandant of the center remained a member of the board. In October 1943, AAFSAT was reorganized and became
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#1733086217132348-658: The Air Defense Board, the Fighter Command School and the Army Air Forces Proving Ground . In addition, the splitting of existing combat groups into cadres for new groups had become impracticable as the number of new groups increased. At the entry of the United States into World War II on 7 December 1941, the Army Air Forces (AAF) had expanded to 67 groups from a pre-1939 total of 15, but approximately half were paper units just forming. The entry into
377-462: The Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, Navy and foreign military sales. Additionally, the complex is responsible for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of a myriad of Air Force and Navy airborne accessory components, and the development and sustainment of a diverse portfolio of operational flight programs, test program sets, automatic test equipment, and industrial automation software. It
406-612: The F-100, F-4 and F-16 as part of the NATO tactical air forces. In late Dec 1990 the squadron deployed to Southwest Asia , assigned to the 363rd Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) from January to May 1991, and flew combat missions during Operation Desert Storm . After returning to Hahn, squadron pilots spent the last summer in Germany flying unit aircraft back across the North Atlantic Ocean to gaining Air National Guard units in preparation for
435-463: The United States into World War II . It served as a test unit as the 10th Fighter Squadron in the southeastern United States until 1943, when it prepared for deployment to the European Theater of Operations . It remained in combat until V-E Day , earning a Distinguished Unit Citation . The unit returned to the United States in 1945 and was inactivated. In 1950, the squadron was activated in
464-510: The personnel and North American F-86H Sabres of the 120th Fighter-Bomber Squadron , a Colorado Air National Guard squadron that had been federalized for the Korean War and was being returned to state control. The unit deployed to West Germany and assigned to Hahn Air Base as a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fighter squadron. It moved briefly to France in 1956, but returned to West Germany in 1959 and flew defensive missions in
493-485: The reserves. After the start of the Korean War , it was called to active duty, but immediately inactivated and its personnel were transferred to other units. The squadron was activated in 1953 at Clovis Air Force Base , New Mexico as the 10th Fighter-Bomber Squadron , where it assumed the personnel and equipment of an Air National Guard squadron that was returned to active duty. It moved to Europe later that year, and remained there until inactivating in 1991. In 1994,
522-696: The school also developed as a tactical doctrine development center, assuming the functions formerly assigned the Air Corps Tactical School . In June 1946, the center became the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command . As the threat of entry of the United States into World War II increased, the United States Army decided to close the Air Corps Tactical School in 1940 in order to use its experienced personnel at headquarters , and in expanded training and tactical units. As
551-559: The schools, all four would be consolidated at a single location. Orlando Army Air Base , Florida was chosen 1 November 1942, primarily because it was already the location of Fighter Command School, which would be subordinated to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT). The AAF determined this organization would conduct tactical development and training and provide tactical training for flyers who were preparing to deploy to theaters of operation. The commandant of AAFSAT
580-750: The southeast until being transferred to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics in Florida, where it served as a test and demonstration unit. The 10th, designated as the 10th Fighter Squadron since May 1943, re-equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs and trained as an operational squadron. It deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), where it became part of IX Fighter Command in England in May 1944. It Re-equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and supported Allied ground forces in France after D-Day , attacking enemy strong points, troop concentrations, armor formations, bridges and other targets. Within
609-642: The squadron was redesignated the 10th Flight Test Squadron and activated at Tinker Air Force Base , Oklahoma. The squadron was initially activated at Selfridge Field , Michigan in January 1941 as the 10th Pursuit Squadron , one of the three original squadrons of the 50th Pursuit Group . It was established under the Northeast Air District as a pursuit squadron, and initially equipped with second-line aircraft. It transferred to Southeast Air District (later Third Air Force ) in late 1941 and re-equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks . The squadron trained in
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#1733086217132638-426: The training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in the spring of 1944 in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. In preparation for this reorganization, the 9th Bombardment Group moved to Nebraska, where it was reassigned to Second Air Force to become a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. The 50th Fighter Group began to concentrate on training in preparation for deployment to
667-402: The war meant an immediate significant increase in the numbers of new combat groups, expanding to 269 groups by the end of 1943. Headquarters USAAF originally intended that four tactical schools be developed across the United States, one each for air defense, air service, air support and bombardment. However "to save administrative costs and physical outlay" and to facilitate coordination between
696-669: The wing / squadron inactivation in Sep 1991. The squadron was reactivated at Tinker Air Force Base , Oklahoma in March 1994 as a testing and checkout squadron for supported aircraft after depot-level maintenance prior to the aircraft being returned to active service. The squadron absorbed the personnel, mission and resources of the 10th Test Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics The Army Air Forces Tactical Center
725-679: Was Brigadier General Hume Peabody, formerly the assistant commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School. The Fighter Command School became AAFSAT's Air Defense Department at once. The 91st Service Group at Fort Dix Army Air Field moved to Orlando and became the Air Service Department. 5th Interceptor Command moved from San Francisco and became the Interceptor Command School. The other two departments, Air Support and Bombardment were built up from scratch AAFSAT
754-498: Was a major command and military training organization of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II . It trained cadres from newly formed units in combat operations under simulated field conditions around which new combat groups would be formed. It was established as the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) in 1942 and redesignated the following year. In addition to its training function,
783-765: Was activated at Tinker Air Force Base, assigned to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. It was redesignated the 10th Test Squadron on 1 October 1992. It was inactivated on 18 March 1994, and its resources and personnel absorbed by the 10th Flight Test Squadron . In the late 2010s, the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex comprised five groups and eight staff offices providing USAF maintenance, repair, and overhaul support: 35°24′53″N 97°23′12″W / 35.41472°N 97.38667°W / 35.41472; -97.38667 10th Test Squadron The 10th Flight Test Squadron
812-505: Was established as the Oklahoma Air Depot Control Area Command on 19 Jan 1943. Activated on 1 Feb 1943. Redesignated as: Oklahoma City Air Service Command on 17 May 1943; Oklahoma City Air Technical Service Command on 14 Nov 1944; Oklahoma Air Materiel Area on 2 Jul 1946; Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center on 1 Apr 1974; Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex on 10 Jul 2012. On 15 January 1988, the 2871st Test Squadron
841-600: Was organized into three directorates: Tactical Development, School Activities, and Demonstration Air Force, with three combat groups acting as both school units and demonstration air force units. The Directorate of School Activities was responsible for the four functional departments. The school officially opened 12 November 1942. An important component was the Army Air Forces Board, which supervised developmental projects. This board also assigned developmental projects to AAFSAT's departments, and had two subordinate boards,
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