The group was first activated at Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia on 25 September 1943 as the 83d Fighter Group, with the 532d, 533d and 534th Fighter Squadrons assigned as its original components.[2][3][4][5] The group was initially assigned to the Philadelphia Fighter Wing,[6] but it was shortly thereafter decided that the unit would become a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). On 20 November, the 448th Fighter Squadron was assigned as a fourth squadron. Although the squadron was activated at Richmond, it moved to Dover Army Air Field, Delaware the same day.[7] Two days later, group headquarters and the three other squadrons joined it at Dover.[2][3][4][5]
At Dover, the group was an RTU for Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilots. RTUs were oversized units to train individual pilots or aircrews.[8] However, the Army Air Forces (AAF) found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, the AAF adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[9] Therefore, the 83d Group, along with its components and supporting units at Dover were disbanded on 10 April 1944 and replaced by the 125th AAF Base Unit (Fighter).[2][3][4][5][10]
The group became combat ready with its F-86s by June 1957 and participated in firepower demonstrations with its Sabres. In late 1957, the group began converting to the North American F-100 Super Sabre, but TAC reorganized the 83d Wing under the dual deputy organization. The group became non-operational on 7 November 1957, a few days before inactivating on 11 November, when its three operational squadrons were transferred directly to the 83d Wing.[1]
The group was redesignated the 83d Tactical Fighter Group on 31 July 1985, but remained inactive.[12]
Lineage
Constituted as the 83d Fighter Group on 18 September 1943[note 5]
Activated on 25 September 1943
Disbanded on 10 April 1944
Reconstituted and redesignated the 83d Fighter-Day Group on 24 February 1956
83d Fighter-Day Wing, 8 July 1956 – 11 November 1957[1]
Components
448th Fighter Squadron: 20 November 1943 – 10 April 1944[7]
532d Fighter Squadron (later 532d Fighter-Day Squadron): 25 September 1943 – 10 April 1944; 8 July 1956 – 11 November 1957[3] (Attached to 83d Fighter-Day Wing after 7 November 1957)[1]
533d Fighter Squadron (later 533d Fighter-Day Squadron): 25 September 1943 – 10 April 1944; 8 July 1956 – 11 November 1957[4] (Attached to 83d Fighter-Day Wing after 7 November 1957)[1]
534th Fighter Squadron (later 534th Fighter-Day Squadron): 25 September 1943 – 10 April 1944; 8 July 1956 – 11 November 1957[5] (Attached to 83d Fighter-Day Wing after 7 November 1957)[1]
Stations
Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 25 September 1943
Dover Army Air Field, Delaware, 22 November 1943 – 10 April 1944[15]
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, 8 July 1956 – 8 December 1957[16]
^Lead aircraft is a North American F-100C-1-NA Super Sabre, serial 53-174. Wingmen are flying North American F-100F-NA Super Sabres, serials 56-3842 and 56-3868.
^Approved 25 March 1957 for the 83d Fighter-Day Wing. The 83d Group uses the wing emblem with the group designation on the scroll. Air Force Instruction 84-105, Organizational Lineage, Honors and Heraldry, 19 March 2013, para 3.3.3.
^Aircraft is Republic P-47D Thunderbolt P-47D-20-RA, serial 43-25412, taken in 1944.
^Aircraft is North American F-86H-10-NH Sabre, serial 53-1298.
^Despite the similar name, the group is not related to the 83d Pursuit Group (Interceptor), which was constituted on 13 January 1942 and activated at New Orleans Army Air Base as part of Third Air Force on 9 February 1942, but disbanded on 15 February 1942. Maurer,Combat Units, p. 149.
^ abDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations
^Lineage through 1956 in Maurer, Combat Units, pp.149-150
^See Ravenstein, pp.118-119 (dates assigned to 83d Fighter-Day Wing; Mueller, p. 524 (dates stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB).
^Stations through 1944 in Maurer, Combat Units, pp.149-150
Goss, William A. (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II(PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN48003657. OCLC704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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