Active 1945, 1953–1955 Type Fighter Interceptor Part of Air Defense Command | Country United States Role Air Defense | |
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Branch United States Air Force | ||
The 530th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 9th Air Division at Geiger Field, Washington. It was inactivated on 18 August 1955. The group was originally activated as a support unit for the 301st Bombardment Group at the end of World War II in Italy and then redeployed to the United States where it continued to support the 301st until it was inactivated in 1945.
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The group was activated once again in 1953, when ADC established it as the headquarters for a dispersed fighter-interceptor squadron and the medical, maintenance, and administrative squadrons supporting it. It was replaced in 1955 when ADC transferred its mission, equipment, and personnel to the 84th Fighter Group in a project that replaced air defense groups commanding fighter squadrons with fighter groups with distinguished records during World War II.
World War II
The group was first activated as the 530th Air Service Group toward the end of World War II to provide support for a flying unit in Italy in 1945 as part of a reorganization of Army Air Forces (AAF) support groups in which the AAF replaced Service Groups that included personnel from other branches of the Army and supported two combat groups with Air Service Groups including only Air Corps units, it was designed to support a single combat group. Its 956th Air Engineering Squadron provided maintenance that was beyond the capability of the combat group, its 780th Air Materiel Squadron handled all supply matters, and its Headquarters & Base Services Squadron provided other support. The 530th supported the 301st Bombardment Group at Foggia, Italy. The group returned to the United States and briefly supported the 301st Bombardment Group again at Pyote Army Air Field before all units at Pyote were inactivated in late 1945. The 530th was disbanded in 1948.
Cold War
During the Cold War the group was reconstituted, redesignated as the 530th Air Defense Group, and activated at Geiger Field on 18 February 1953 with responsibility for air defense of the Northwestern United States. The group replaced the 87th Air Base Squadron as USAF host organization at Geiger Field. It was assigned three squadrons to perform its support responsibilities. The organizations it supported included its headquarters, the 4702d Defense Wing, and later the 9th Air Division. Its first operational squadron, the 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS), was activated at Geiger two days later flying airborne intercept radar equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed North American F-86D Sabre aircraft. In March 1953, a second F-86D squadron, the 445th FIS was activated at Geiger.
In July 1954, the 440th FIS moved overseas and was reassigned away from the group. In December 1954, the 530th once again had two flying squadrons, when the 520th FIS, another F-86D unit, was activated. The 530th was inactivated and replaced by the 84th Fighter Group (Air Defense) in 1955 as part of Air Defense Command's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars. The group was disbanded again in 1984.