4708th Air Defense Wing The 4708th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization . Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) at Selfridge Air Force Base ( AFB ) , Michigan , where it was discontinued in 1956 . It was established in 1952 at Selfridge as the 4708th Defense Wing in a general reorganization of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) , which replaced wings responsible for a base with wings responsible for a geographical area . It assumed control of several fighter Interceptor squadrons that had been assigned to the 56th Fighter - Interceptor Wing , some of which were Air National Guard squadrons mobilized for the Korean War . In early 1953 it also was assigned nine radar squadrons in the Midwest . Several of these radar squadron s were located in Canada as part of the Mid - Canada Line . At the same time its dispersed fighter squadron s combined with colocated air base squadrons into air defense groups . The wing was redesignated as an air defense wing in 1954 . It was discontinued in and its units transferred to the 30th Air Division in 1956 . History . The wing was organized as the 4708th Defense Wing the beginning of February 1952 at Selfridge AFB , Michigan as part of a major reorganization of ADC responding to ADC ' s difficulty under the existing wing base organizational structure in deploying fighter squadron s to best advantage . It assumed operational control and the air defense mission of fighter squadrons formerly assigned to the inactivating 56th Fighter - Interceptor Wing ( FIW ) . The 61st Fighter - Interceptor Squadron ( FIS ) , flying Lockheed F - 94 Starfire aircraft , and the 172d FIS , flying World War II era North American F - 51 Mustang aircraft were located at Selfridge , while the 63s FIS , flying F - 86 Sabre aircraft , was located at Oscoda AFB . The 136th FIS at Niagara Falls Municipal Airport , flying World War II era Republic F - 47 Thunderbolt aircraft was also transferred to the wing from the 101st FIW , and the 71st FIW at Greater Pittsburgh Airport , another F - 86 unit , was transferred from the 1st FIW . The support elements of the 56th FIW ' s 56th Air Base Group and 56th Maintenance & Supply Group were replaced at Selfridge by the wing ' s 575th Air Base Group , and air base squadrons were activated at each of the dispersed locations assigned to the wing to support the fighter squadrons at those stations . The wing ' s mission was to train and maintain tactical units in a state of readiness to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft attempting to penetrate the air defense system in the Great Lakes area . In July 1952 , units at Oscoda AFB were transferred to the 4706th Defense Wing , while in the following month , the 166th FIS , at Youngstown Municipal Airport , where it flew Republic F - 84 Thunderjet aircraft was transferred from the 4706th . In November , the federalized Air National Guard ( ANG ) squadrons were returned to state control . The 136th FIS was returned to the New York ANG and replaced by the 47th FIS , the 166th FIS was returned to the Ohio ANG and replaced by the 86th FIS , and the 172nd FIS was returned to the Michigan ANG , and replaced by the 431st FIS . Another F - 51 squadron , the 56th FIS , was activated at Selfridge later that month . although it converted to F - 86 aircraft by the start of 1953 . In February 1953 , another major reorganization of ADC activated Air Defense Groups at ADC bases with dispersed fighter squadrons . These group s were assigned to the wing and assumed direct control of the interceptor squadrons at those bases , as well as support squadrons to carry out their role as the USAF host organizations at the bases . As a result of this reorganization , the 575th Air Base Group was redesignated the 575th Air Defense Gp and assumed control of the fighter squadrons at Selfridge , while the 500th Air Defense Group at Pittsburgh and the 502d Air Defense Group at Youngstown controlled the squadrons at these locations . Oscoda AFB ( now renamed Wurtsmith AFB ) , where the 527th Air Defense Group was activated , returned to the control of the wing . Although the 518th Air Defense Group took over operations at Niagara Falls , it was assigned to another wing . The reorganization also resulted in the wing adding the radar detection , control and warning mission , and it was assigned eight Aircraft Control & Warning Squadrons ( AC & W Sq ) in the United States and Canada to perform this mission . In November it added an additional AC & W Sq . In 1955 , ADC implemented 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 . As a result of this project , the 500th Air Defense Gp was replaced by the 54th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) , the 502nd Air Def Gp was replaced by the 79th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) , the 527th Air Def Gp was replaced by the 412th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) , and the 575th Air Defense Gp was replaced by the 1st Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) . In March 1956 , the 4711th Air Defense Wing moved to Selfridge from Presque Isle AFB , Maine and three of the 4708th ' s AC & W Sqs were assigned to it . Niagara Falls briefly was assigned to the wing in this realignment . The fighter groups and remaining radar detection and control squadrons of the wing were transferred to the 30th Air Division in July . With no remaining operational mission , the wing and the 4711th Wing were discontinued in July 1956 They would be replaced shortly by the 1st Fighter Wing ( Air Defense ) , which was activated on 18 October 1956 . Lineage . Components . Groups . Fighter Groups Air Defense Groups Squadrons . Fighter Squadrons Support Squadrons Radar Squadrons References . Bibliography . Further Reading