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The group was sent overseas to Australia in January 1942 and was assigned to the Fifth Air Force. They moved to Darwin in April 1942 and was redesignated 49th Fighter Group in May. The group was equipped with P-40's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft in Australia and after a brief period of training, provided air defense for the Northern Territory.
On 25 August 1959, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Spangdahlem AB from the Etain-Rouvres Air Base, France, and assumed host unit duties. [7] On 8 July 1958 the name of the wing was changed to the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing as a result of an Air Force wide redesignation. Its squadrons were renamed Tactical Fighter Squadrons.
During World War II, the unit's predecessor unit, the 49th Fighter Group, operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as part of the Fifth Air Force. The group earned three Distinguished Unit Citations (DUC) for engaging the enemy in frequent and intense aerial combat in numerous campaigns between 1942 and 1945.
In August 1958 he assumed command of the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing at Etain Air Base, France and in August 1959 moved the squadron to Spangdahlem Air Base, West Germany. In June 1960 he was assigned to U.S. Air Forces in Europe as liaison officer in Rabat, Morocco, and commander of the 7416th Support Squadron.
After completing the Air War College in June 1971, General Kirk was assigned as chief of the Tactics Branch and, later, as deputy chief of the Tactical Division, Directorate of Operations, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, Headquarters USAF, Washington, D.C., where he was credited with developing the Red Flag training ...
49th Pursuit Group (later 49th Fighter Group, 49th Fighter-Bomber Group), 15 January 1941; Attached to Japan Air Defense Force, 17 December 1952 – November 1953; 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 17 August–c. 6 September 1950 and after 15 April 1957) 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing (later 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, 49th Fighter Wing, 10 December 1957
He next was assigned as vice commander of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, equipped with North American F-100 Super Sabres, at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in South Carolina, and he became commander of the wing in April 1963. He assumed command of the 832nd Air Division at Cannon Air Force Base, in New Mexico, in January 1964. [1]
Gerald Richard Johnson (June 23, 1920 – October 7, 1945) was a World War II flying ace who flew for the United States Army Air Forces. Johnson commanded the 9th Fighter Squadron and 49th Fighter Group, and became the fourth ranking fighter ace in the Pacific during World War II. He ended his war career with 22 kills.