46th Fighter Training Squadron

rdf:langString 46th Fighter Training Squadron

rdf:langString 46th Fighter Training Squadron

rdf:langString The 46th Fighter Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 917th Operations Group at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. where it was inactivated on 1 October 1993. The squadron was first activated in 1940, as the United States expanded its military forces prior to World War II, as the 46th Pursuit Squadron. The squadron formed part of the air defenses of the Hawaiian Islands, and suffered heavy losses in the attack on Pearl Harbor. It served in Hawaii and the Pacific for the remainder of the wark, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for long-range fighter missions over Japan in 1945. It was inactivated on Guam in 1946. The squadron was reactivated as the 46th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in 1952 and served in the air defense role before inactivating again in 1958. It was activated again in 1962 as the 46th Tactical Fighter Squadron and became one of the first McDonnell F-4 Phantom II fighter units, flying the Phantom until 1971, and deploying elements to Southeast Asia. It was activated again in the reserves in 1973, and served as a reserve fighter unit until inactivated.