17th Fighter Squadron

17th Fighter Squadron
Emblem of the 8th Weapons Squadron
Active	1917–Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Training

The 17th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

History

Lineage

• Organized as 29th Aero Squadron on 16 Jun 1917

Re-designated 17th Aero Squadron on 30 Jul 1917

Demobilized on 1 Apr 1919

• Reconstituted, and consolidated (17 Oct 1936) with 147th Aero Squadron, which was organized on 11 Nov 1917

Re-designated: 17th Squadron (Pursuit) on 14 Mar 1921

Re-designated: 17th Pursuit Squadron on 25 Jan 1923

Re-designated: 17th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 6 Dec 1939

Inactivated on 2 Apr 1946

• Re-designated 17th Wild Weasel Squadron on 12 Nov 1971

Activated on 1 Dec 1971

Inactivated on 15 Nov 1974

• Re-designated 17th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 11 Dec 1981

Activated on 1 Jul 1982

Re-designated 17th Fighter Squadron on 1 Nov 1991

Inactivated on 31 Dec 1993

• Re-designated 17th Weapons Squadron on 24 Jan 2003

Activated on 3 Feb 2003.

Assignments

• 17th Aero: Unknown, 16 Jan 1917-Feb 1918
• Attached to RAF for operations and training, Feb 1918
• 65th Wing, RAF, Jun 1918
• 13th Wing, RAF, Aug 1918
• 4th Pursuit Group, AEF, Nov-Dec 1918
• Unknown Dec 1918-1 Apr 1919
• 147th Aero (later, 17th Pursuit): Unknown, 11 Nov 1917-Jun 1918
• 1st Pursuit Group, Jun-Dec 1918
• Unknown, Dec 1918-22 Aug 1919
• 1st Pursuit Group, 22 Aug 1919-consolidation
• Consolidated Squadron: 1st Pursuit Group, from consolidation in 1936
• 4th Composite Group, 14 Dec 1940
• 24th Pursuit Group, 1 Oct 1941-2 Apr 1946
• 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 Dec 1971-15 Nov 1974
• 363d Tactical Fighter (later, 363d Fighter) Wing, 1 Jul 1982

Attached to 363d Tactical Fighter Wing Provisional, 9 Aug 1990-13 Mar 1991

• 363d Operations Group, 1 May 1992-31 Dec 1993
• USAF Weapons School, 3 Feb 2003-Present

Stations

17th Aero

• Camp Kelly, Texas, 16 June 1917
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 4 August 1917

Detachments at Camp Borden and Deseronto, Ontario, Canada, after c. 25 August 1917

• Taliaferro Field No. 1, Texas, c. 14 October 1917
• Garden City, New York, 23 December 1917 – 9 January 1918
• France, 10 February 1918

Unit divided into four flights which operated from various stations in Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, and Oise, until squadron reassembled on 20 June 1918

• Petite-Synthe, France, 20 June 1918
• Auxi-le-Chateau, France, 19 August 1918

Detachment operated from Beugnatre, 10–20 September 1918

• Soncamp (near Sombrin), France, 20 September 1918
• Toul, France, 4 November 1918
• Colombey-les-Belles, France, 12 December 1918
• Nantes, France, 15 January-7 March 1919
• Garden City, New York, C. 20 March-1 April 1919.

147th Aero (later 17th Pursuit) Squadron

• Kelly Field, Texas, 11 November 1917
• Taliaferro Field No. 2, Texas, 12 November 1917
• Taliaferro Field No. 1, Texas, 22 December 1917
• Garden City, New York, 19 February-5 March 1918
• Tours, France, 25. March 1918
• Epiez, France, 22 April 1918
• Toul, France, June 1918
• Touquin, France, 28 June 1918
• Saints, Seine-et-Marne, France, 9 July 1918
• Rembercourt, France, 1 September 1918
• Colombey-les-Belles, France, 12 December 1918
• Brest, France, 5 February-8 March 1919
• Garden City, New York, 19 March 1919
• Selfridge Field, Michigan, 27 April 1919
• Kelly Field, Texas, 31 August 1919
• Ellington Field, Texas, 1 July 1921
• Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1 July 1922 to consolidation in 1936.

Consolidated squadron

• Selfridge Field, Michigan, from consolidation in 1936 to 27 October 1940
• Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippines, 5 December 1940

Operated from Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 9–24 December 1941

• Bataan Field, Luzon, Philippines, 25 December 1941 – April 1942

Air echelon operated from: Lubao Field, Luzon, Philippines,25–31 December 1941

Air echelon operated from: Del Monte Airfield, Mindanao, Philippines, c. 8 April–May 1942

• Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 1 December 1971 – 15 November 1974
• Shaw AFB, South Carolina, 1 July 1982 – 31 December 1993

Deployed to Al Dhafra AB, United Arab Emirates, 9 August 1990 – 13 March 1991

• Nellis AFB, Nevada, 3 February 2003–present

Aircraft

17th Aero Squadron

• JN-4, 1917
• Sopwith F-1 Camel, 1918
• Spad XIII, 1918

147th Aero (later 17th Pursuit) Squadron

• Nieuport 28, 1918
• Spad XIII, 1918
• In addition to SE-5, 1919–1922 Spad XIII, 1921–1922, and MB-3, 1922–1925
• Included DH-4 during period 1919–1925
• PW-8, 1924–1926
• P-1,1926–1930
• P-12, 1930–1932
• P-6, 1932–1934
• P-26, 1934 to consolidation in 1936.

Consolidated squadron

• In addition to P-26, from consolidation in 1936 to 1938, included P-6 during period 1936–1938
• In addition to P-35, 1938–1940, included C-40, 1939–1940
• P-26 Peashooter, 1940–1941
• Seversky P-35, 1941
• P-40 Warhawk, 1941–1942
• F-105 Thunderchief, 1971–1974
• F-16 Fighting Falcon, 1982–1993
• F-15E Strike Eagle, 2003–present

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• AFHRA 17th Weapons Squadron Factsheet]