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500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron

Field	Value
unit_name	500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
image	File:Curtiss P-40 Warhawk USAF.JPG
image_size	300
caption	P-40 Warhawks as flown by the squadron
dates	1942–1944
country
branch
role	Fighter-bomber training
identification_symbol	[[File:306th Bombardment Squadron (later 500th Fighter Squadron) - Emblem.png	165px]]
identification_symbol_label	500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron emblem

The 500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the 85th Fighter-Bomber Group. It participated with dive bombers in air support maneuvers until 1943, when it became a Replacement Training Unit for fighter-bomber pilots. It was disbanded on 1 May 1944, when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States.

History

The squadron was activated in February 1942 as the 306th Bombardment Squadron at Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia, one of the four squadrons of the 85th Bombardment Group. It moved to Bowman Field, Kentucky, where it was equipped with Vultee V-72 Vengeance aircraft and began training for air support missions. However, the Army Air Forces (AAF) determined that the Vengeance was not suited as a dive bomber. In August the squadron moved to Waycross Army Air Field, Georgia, where it began to receive Douglas A-24 Banshees.

In November 1942, the squadron moved to Blythe Army Air Base, California, By the end of the year, it moved to Harris Neck Army Air Field, Georgia, where it concentrated on training with P-40s.

However, the AAF found that standard military units like the 500th, Whose manning was based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, with flexible manning. The 500th was disbanded on 1 May 1944,

Lineage

Constituted as the 306th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 13 January 1942 : Activated on 10 February 1942 : Redesignated 306th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) on 27 July 1942 : Redesignated 500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 10 August 1943 : Disbanded on 1 May 1944

Assignments

85th Bombardment Group (later 85th Fighter-Bomber Group), 10 February 1942 – 1 May 1944

Stations

Army Air Base, Savannah, Georgia, 10 February 1942
Bowman Field, Kentucky, 16 February 1942
Hunter Field, Georgia, 8 June 1942
Waycross Army Air Field, Georgia, 15 August 1942
Gillespie Field, Tennessee, 3 October 1942
Blythe Army Air Base, California, 2 November 1942
Rice Army Air Field, California, 11 December 1942
Harding Army Air Field, Louisiana, 9 April 1943
Waycross Army Air Field, Georgia, 23 August 1943
Harris Neck Army Air Field, Georgia, 11 December 1943 – 1 May 1944

Aircraft

Vultee V-72 Vengeance, 1942
Douglas A-24 Dauntless, 1942–1943
North American A-36 Apache, 1943
Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1943–1944
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1944

Campaign

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
[[File:World War II - American Campaign Streamer (Plain).png	200px]]	American Theater without inscription	10 February 1942–1 May 1944	306th Bombardment Squadron (later 500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron)

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes

; Citations

Bibliography

References

Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 603
"Abstract, History 84 Fighter-Bomber Group to Jul 1943". Air Force History Index.
No byline. "Abstract, History 85th Fighter-Bomber Group, CY 1942". Air Force History Index.
pilots]] or [[aircrew]]s. Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
Goss, p. 75

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

fighter-squadrons-of-the-united-states-army-air-forces military-units-and-formations-disestablished-in-1944 american-theater-of-world-war-ii

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