The 48th Aero Squadron was organized at
Kelly Field, Texas on 4 August 1917 and sailed to Le Havre, France arriving in
November 1917. While in France, the unit
built or repaired various airdromes and participated in the Lorraine, St
Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. Following World War I, the squadron
returned to the United States and was demobilized at Mitchell Field, New York
in August 1919. The 48th
School Squadron was again active training aviation personnel between 1923 and
1927 at Kelly Field, Texas and between 1933 and 1936 at Chanute Field,
Illinois.
The unit was reactivated at Hamilton
Field, California as the 48th Pursuit Squadron in January 1941,
where it flew training missions and air defense patrols along the California
coast using P-40, P-66, and P-43 aircraft.
Designed by Walt Disney himself, the squadron patch depicting an alley
cat chasing a dragonfly was adopted by the 48th in 1942. In August 1942, the redesignated 48th
Fighter Squadron moved to Atcham, England and began training operations with
the P-38 Lightning. In November 1942,
the 48th moved to Algeria to support the invasion of North Africa
and later operations over Sicily and Sardinia.
While based in Algeria, the 48th flew escort missions for
B-25 and B-26 bombers, made fighter sweeps, and flew reconnaissance
missions. In December 1942, the 48th
moved to Triolo, Italy and conducted fighter escort for heavy bombers on
missions to central Europe, the Balkans, and Germany and also provided close
air support to allied armies pushing up the Italian peninsula. In August 1944, the unit moved temporarily to
Aghione, Corsica and engaged in patrol, dive-bombing, and armed reconnaissance
missions to support the allied invasion of southern France. Through May 1945,
the squadron continued operations from Italy conducting bomber escort and
attacks against transportation, oil, and communication targets. The squadron was deactivated in September
1945 at Lesina, Italy.
From November 1946 until October 1949,
the 48th Fighter Squadron flew air defense missions from Dow Field,
Maine using P-47s and P-84s. The 48th
Fighter Interceptor Squadron was activated at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
and flew F-84s, F-94s, F-102s, F-106s, and F-15s from January 1953 until the
squadron was deactivated in December 1991.
Activation of the 48th Flying Training Squadron on 1 July 1996 completed reunification of the squadrons in the World War II 14th Fighter Group, which included the 37th, 48th, 49th and 50th Squadrons, as the 14th Flying Training Wing. The 48th Flying Training Squadron now flies the T-1A Jayhawk for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi preparing future pilots to fly tanker and airlift aircraft.
