1st Proving Ground Group

February 2024 February 2024 1st Proving Ground Group Stearman XA-21 in flight.jpg Stearman XA-21, one of the planes tested by the group 1939-1944 United States 23px United States Army Air Forces Test and Development 175px 1st Proving Ground Group emblem The 1st Proving Ground Group is a disbanded United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last active with the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command, based at Eglin Field, Florida, where it was disbanded on 1 April 1944. The unit's personnel/equipment/mission was taken over by the 610th Army Air Forces Base Unit (AAF Base Unit) and 611th AAF Base Unit. The group was originally established as the 23d Composite Group and was part of the Air Corps Tactical School with a mission that focused on developing and demonstrating tactics and doctrine. After moving to Eglin it also conducted testing of experimental weapons. History The group was established at Maxwell Field, Alabama in August 1939 as the 23d Composite Group.Abstract, History 23d Composite Group August 1939-Sep 1943 Air Force History IndexSee Mueller Robert Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330255/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-026.pdf 1989 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-53-6 386 It was assigned the 1st Pursuit Squadron,Maurer, Maurer Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II 1969 http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf dead 20 December 2016 reprint 1982 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-405-12194-6 9 24th Bombardment Squadron (Light)Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 125 (not manned until 1940) and the 54th Bombardment Squadron (Medium).Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 223 Throughout the 1930s, there had been a number of attempts to have Air Corps tactical units demonstrate current tactics to students attending the Air Corps Tactical School, which was the advanced school for Air Corps officers. The impracticability of scheduling a recently trained unit with modern aircraft for these demonstrations led the school to recommend the formation of a composite unit permanently stationed with the school as early as 1932. The recommendation was disapproved because of the lack of personnel or equipment that could be dedicated to this mission. The establishment of the group was finally approved in August 1939, with the understanding that the group would also assume the demonstration and exhibition function that was being carried out by combat units of Air Force Combat Command.http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090602-019.pdf Finney Robert T. History of the Air Corps Tactical School, 1920-1940, USAF Historical Study No. 100 March 1955 Research Studies Institute, USAF Historical Division, Air University dead 12 January 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20130313133054/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090602-019.pdf 13 March 2013 , pp. 18-19 The group was also assigned the mission of performing tactical service tests of aircraft and other equipment, developing and testing new air tactics, and demonstrating these new tactics to the service schools of the other branches of the Army, to General Headquarters, and at Air Corps stations. However, because the Tactical School suspended classes in June 1940 because experienced officers were required for the expansion of the Air Corps in response to the war in Europe and could not be spared for a nine-month-long school, the group was only able to support the school for a short time. In September 1940, the group moved to Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, which would become the base for the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics.Finney, pp. 41-42 The group transferred from Orlando for assignment to Eglin Field to conduct flight testing activities in July 1941. At Eglin it was redesignated as the Air Corps Proving Ground Detachment, then the Air Corps Proving Ground Group. On 1 May 1942, the group's three original squadrons were disbanded as it focused on weapons development rather than tactics. thumb|JB-2 Buzz Bomb In 1944, the group conducted "Operation Crossbow" program to determine the best method of attacking German V-1 "buzz bomb" sites along the French and Dutch coasts, February 1944. Began testing the Republic-Ford JB-2, an American version of the German V-1, which became the foundation of the Air Force guided missile program, October 1944.History of Eglin Air Force Base https://web.archive.org/web/20120313040531/http://site.nwfdailynews.com/Eglin75/brief.pdf 2012-03-13 . Air Armament Center Office of History The AAF found standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving less well adapted to the support mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.Goss William A Craven, Wesley F Cate, James L The Army Air Forces in World War II Vol. VI, Men & Planes 1955 University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois 48003657 75 The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF Accordingly, the group was disbanded, and the testing mission and associated personnel of the group were assumed by the 611th AAF Base Unit (Flight Test) (later 611th AF Base Unit (Proof Test Group)). At the same time the 610th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Proving Ground Complement) assumed the equipment, and personnel of the group associated with base support as well as those of the 118th WAC Post Headquarters Company,Abstract, History Section W, 610th AAF Base Unit Apr 1943-Aug 1945 (retrieved 15 Dec 2012) 2051st Ordnance Company, Aviation (Service),Abstract, History Section D, 610th AAF Base Unit Aug 1943-Dec 1944 (retrieved 15 Dec 2012) 869th Signal Service Company (Aviation), 24th Aviation Squadron, 4th AAF Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron, and 1453d Quartermaster Service Company (Aviation). Later in 1944, the 610th assumed the electronicsAbstract, History Electronics Section, 610th AAF Base Unit Apr-Dec 1944 (retrieved 15 Dec 1944) and flight testAbstract, History Section H, 610th AAF Base Unit Sep 1944 (retrieved 15 Dec 2012) activities of the 611th and became the 610th AAF Base Unit (Flight Test).February 2024 The 610th transferred its base support activities to the 609th AAF Base Unit (Airdrome Group) in January 1947Abstract, History Squadron S, 609th AAF Base Unit Jan-Jun 1947 (retrieved 15 Dec 2012) and was discontinued on 1 August 1947 with its mission assumed by Army Air Forces Proving Ground (Provisional).See Mueller, pp. 133-141 The 611th AAF Base Unit was discontinued on 9 July 1948, when the Air Proving Ground Command reorganized according to the Wing/Base (Hobson Plan) model.Ravenstein Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave/page/10 1984 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-12-9 10 Lineage Constituted as: 23d Composite Group, and activated on 1 August 1939 Redesignated as: Air Corps Proving Ground Detachment on 1 July 1941 Redesignated as: Air Corps Proving Ground Group on 10 April 1942 Redesignated as: 1st Proving Ground Group on 16 April 1943 Disbanded on 1 April 1944. Assignments Air Corps Tactical School, 1 August 1939 Office of the Chief of Air Corps, 1 June 1940 Air Corps Proving Ground (later Proving Ground Command), 15 May 1941 – 1 April 1944 Stations Maxwell Field, AlabamaMueller, p. 386 Army Air Base, Orlando, Florida, 1 September 1940 Eglin Field, Florida, 29 May 1941- 1 April 1944Mueller, p. 137 Components 1st Pursuit Squadron (later 1st Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor)): 1 August 1939 - 1 May 1942 1st Proving Ground Torpedo Squadron: 27 August 1942 – 1 April 1944 24th Bombardment Squadron (Light): 1 December 1939 - 1 May 1942 54th Bombardment Squadron (Medium): 1 October 1939 - 1 May 1942 1000 Quartermaster Boat Company (Aviation)(later 4th AAF Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron): 9 September 1942 – 1 April 1944 2051st Ordnance Company, Aviation (Service): By 1 June 1943 – 1 April 1944 3062d Ordnance Company, Aviation (Service) Aircraft 34% Curtiss A-12 Shrike, 1940–1942 Curtiss A-18 Shrike, 1940–1942 Douglas A-20 Havoc, 1940–1942 Stearman XA-21, 1940–1942 Martin B-10, 1940–1942 Martin B-12, 1939–1940 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1939–1942 Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1940–1942 Douglas B-23 Dragon, 1940–1942 33% North American B-25 Mitchell, 1940–1942 Martin B-26 Marauder, 1941–1942 North American BC-1A, 1941–1942 Lockheed C-36 Electra, 1940–1942 Lockheed C-40 Electra, 1939–1940 Douglas O-38, 1939–1940 Grumman OA-9 Goose, 1939–1942 Bell YFM-1 Airacuda, 1939–1940 33% Consolidated P-30, 1939–1940 Curtiss P-36 Hawk, 1939–1942 Curtiss YP-37, 1939–1940 Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1941–1942 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1941–1942 Waco PT-14, 1939–1942 Stearman PT-17, 1939–1940 Douglas SBD Dauntless, 1939–1940 (Navy) Notes Bibliography Craven, Wesley F Cate, James L The Army Air Forces in World War II Vol. VI, Men & Planes 1955 University of Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois 48003657 http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090602-019.pdf Finney Robert T. History of the Air Corps Tactical School, 1920-1940, USAF Historical Study No. 100 March 1955 Research Studies Institute, USAF Historical Division, Air University dead 12 January 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20130313133054/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090602-019.pdf 13 March 2013 Maurer, Maurer Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II 1969 http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf dead 20 December 2016 reprint 1982 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-405-12194-6 Mueller Robert Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330255/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-026.pdf 1989 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-53-6 Ravenstein Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave 1984 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-12-9 registration Category:Groups of the United States Army Air Forces Category:Military units and formations established in 1939 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Category:1939 establishments in Alabama