It was first activated as the 326th Fighter Squadron and served as an air defense and operational training unit until 1 March 1944, and then a replacement training unit until 31 March 1944.
From 18 December 1953 – 1 March 1954, the 326th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was assigned to Fairfax Field, Kansas, and an F-84 crashed near the city's business district killing the pilot and three residents.[3]
On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Central Nebraska Regional Airport at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis.[4][5] These planes returned to Richards-Gebaur after the crisis.
However, Starting on 19 December 1962, the squadron established a detachment of fighters at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. This operation ended on 15 February 1963.[6] For one year, a similar detachment was established at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, from 1 August 1965 until 1 July 1966. From 1966 until inactivation, the 326th maintained a detachment at Grand Island Municipal Airport, Nebraska.
^"Brand New Jet Crashes Homes". Record Eagle. Traverse City, Michigan. 8 July 1954. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
McMullen, Richard F. (1964)『The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962–1964』 ADC Historical Study No. 27, Air Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, CO (Confidential, declassified 22 March 2000)
NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)
"ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor (January 1979) Aerospace Defense Command, (Volume 21, Number 1)
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United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
