page_title: 326th Aeronautical Systems Wing
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: 326th Aeronautical Systems Wing / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: English: 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-102A-75-CO Delta Dagger 56-1344 326th Fighter Group, Paine Field, Washington, March 1960 56-1344 crashed into Crystal Peak, S of Port Angeles, WA Feb 8, 1964. Pilot killed.
context_page_description: The 326th Aeronautical Systems Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force. It was last assigned to the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated in 2008.
  The wing was first activated as the 326th Fighter Group in August 1942 during World War II and participated in the air defense of the Northeast until 1943, flying from Bradley Field, Connecticut. It moved to the Southeastern US where it was an operational and replacement training unit until it was disbanded in 1944 in a major reorganization of Army Air Forces units not programmed for overseas deployment.
  The group was reconstituted in 1955 as part of an Air Defense Command program to revive fighter units that had participated in World War II. The group provided air defense of the Northwestern United States until 1961 when it was replaced by the 57th Fighter Group, which assumed its personnel, equipment and mission. It was redesignated as the 326th Tactical Fighter Group in 1985 but remained inactive.
context_section_description: The group was reconstituted, redesignated as the 326th Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated in 1955 as an Air Defense Command (ADC) operational air defense unit at Paine Field, Washington. It absorbed the personnel and equipment of the inactivating 529th Air Defense Group as part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars. The 326th was equipped with Northrop F-89D Scorpions, armed with Mighty Mouse rockets, and became the USAF host unit at Paine.  It was assigned a number of support organizations to fulfill its host responsibilities. Its 321st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron assumed the personnel and equipment of the 83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was transferred to Hamilton Air Force Base, California without personnel or equipment.
  The group received later model Scorpions and by 1956 was entirely equipped with the F-89H, which could carry AIM-4 Falcons in addition to the unguided Mighty Mouse rockets.  It finally equipped with nuclear-capable F-89Js, armed with the AIR-2 Genie and equipped with data link for interception control through the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system in the spring of 1958. For a brief period in 1960, the group was without an operational element, as the 321st Squadron was discontinued on 1 March and the 64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which replaced it, did not move to Paine Field with its Convair F-102 Delta Daggers until 15 March. The group was inactivated in April 1961 and its personnel and equipment were reassigned to the 57th Fighter Group (Air Defense), which also assumed its mission.
caption: 64th FIS F-102 at Paine field[note 1]
exif: {"Image Make": "HP", "Image Model": "HP ojp7700", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 12.01", "Image DateTime": "2011:10:20 21:32:01", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ReferenceBlackWhite": "[0, 255, 128, 255, 128, 255]", "Image ExifOffset": "274", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1112", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3300", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:10:20 18:41:42", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1523", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "705", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "\u0002\u0002\u0002\u0002", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[3, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "970", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF DeviceSettingDescription": "[1, 0, 19, 0, 32, 32, 32, 48, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 55, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 56, ... ]"}