56th Training Squadron The 56th Training Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit . Its is assigned to the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base , Arizona . The squadron was first activated at Hamilton Field , California in 1941 as the 56th Pursuit Squadron . It deployed to Alaska where it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation in combat during the Aleutian Campaign . It returned to the United States , where it became a training unit and was disbanded in a general reorganization of the Army Air Forces in 1944 . The squadron was redesignated the 56th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and activated late in 1952 as an air defense unit in the upper midwestern United States . It initially flew North American F - 86 Sabre s , but converted to the Lockheed F - 104 Starfighter . It continued to fly the Starfighter until Air Defense Command began to phase them out of its inventory . In 1979 , the squadron was redesignated as the 56th Tactical Training Squadon . It dropped the " Tactical " from its designation in 1991 . Since 1979 , except for a brief break in 1993 – 1994 , the squadron has conducted academic training for United States Air Force fighter pilots , earning six Air Force Outstanding Unit Award s along the way Mission . The 56th Training Squadron trains almost half of the United States Air Force ' s new fighter pilots each year . It provides academic and ground training for pilots transitioning into the General Dynamics F - 16 Fighting Falcon at Luke Air Force Base , and at the Papago Park military reservation in Phoenix , Arizona . Courses provided by the unit include initial instruction , transition courses , senior officer courses , Thunderbird / aggressor pilot instruction , forward air control , night systems and F - 16 Block 50 specialized conversion courses . It also provides academic , simulator and live mission training for upgrading weapons directors . It establishes quality control of training materials and manages all international military student affairs and aircrew training devices for the 56th Fighter Wing . History . World War II . The squadron was activated at Hamilton Field , California as the 56th Pursuit Squadron on 15 January 1941 , as one of the three original squadrons of the 54th Pursuit Group . It trained with Curtiss P - 36 Hawk s and Curtiss P - 40 Warhawk s , then moved to Everett Army Air Field , where it served as a part of the air defense force for the northwest Pacific coast during the first few months of World War II . The squadron was redesignated as a fighter unit in May 1942 . On 20 June 1942 , the air echelon of the 56th took its newly assigned Bell P - 39 Airacobra s to Nome , Alaska , where it served in combat against the Japanese forces that invaded the Aleutian Islands during the summer of 1942 . For operations against the Japanese in November 1942 the squadron received a Distinguished Unit Citation . The air echelon returned to the United States in December 1942 and rejoined the group , which had been assigned to Third Air Force in Louisiana , and became a replacement training unit ( RTU ) for North American P - 51 Mustang pilots . RTUs were oversized units training individual pilots or aircrew s . In early May 1943 , the 54th Fighter Group began a split operation , with headquarters and the 56th and 57th Fighter Squadrons relocating to Bartow Army Air Field , Florida , while the group ' s other squadron was at Hillsborough Army Air Field . However , the Army Air Forces ( AAF ) was finding that standard military units , based on relatively inflexible tables of organization , were proving less well adapted to the training mission . Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit . As a result , in 1944 the squadron was disbanded as the AAF converted to the AAF Base Unit system . The units at Bartow were replaced by the 340th AAF Base Unit ( Replacement Training Unit , Fighter ) , Cold War . The squadron was reconstituted as the 56th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron , activated at Selfridge AFB , Michigan in November 1952 , assigned to the 4708th Air Defense Wing , and equipped with North American F - 86F Sabre s . In February 1953 the 56th was assigned to the 575th Air Defense Group , and in July converted to radar equipped and HVAR rocket armed F - 86Ds . On 18 August 1955 , as part of Air Defense Command ' 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 56th FIS moved on paper from Selfridge to Wright - Patterson AFB , Ohio , where it assumed the mission , personnel and aircraft of the 97th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron . At Wright - Patterson the squadron was assigned to the 4706th Air Defense Wing until the spring of 1956 when it transferred to the 58th Air Division . The squadron was the primary air defense unit for southwestern Ohio and the research facilities at Wright - Patterson . In the Spring of 1957 , the 56th FIS began re - equipping with the North American F - 86L Sabre , an improved version of the F - 86D which incorporated data link to communicate directly with Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) computers . The unit became proficient with both the F - 86L and SAGE , and won an Air Defense Command " A " award for live rocket SURE - FIRE missions in the late summer of 1957 . The transition into the F - 86L was short - lived however , as the squadron began transition into the " missile - with - a - man - in - it " , the Lockheed F - 104 Starfighter in May 1958 , becoming the second ADC squadron equipped with the Starfighter . The squadron received both single seat F - 104As and the two - seat , dual - control , combat trainer F - 104B . The performance of the F - 104B was almost identical to that of the F - 104A , but the lower internal fuel capacity reduced its effective range considerably . The 56th FIS was under operational control of 30th Air Division ( Air Defense ) , before being transferred to the Detroit Air Defense Sector in April 1959 . It was found that the F - 104A was not very well suited for service as an interceptor . Its short interception range was a problem for North American air defense , and its lack of all - weather capability made it incapable of operating in conjunction with the SAGE system . Its service with the ADC was consequently quite brief , and the F - 104As of the 56th FIS were transferred to the Air National Guard . With the transfer of the Starfighters , ADC shut down operations at Wright - Patterson and the 56th FIS was inactivated at Wright - Patterson on 1 March 1960 . Training . In 1979 , the squadron became the 56th Tactical Training Squadron and was assigned to the 56th Tactical Fighter Wing at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida to conduct academic training for F - 16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilots until 1993 when it was inactivated . From the spring of 1994 , performed the same function at Luke Air Force Base , Arizona as well as for McDonnell Douglas F - 15 Eagle pilots in 1994 and 1995 . The squadron has earned six Air Force Outstanding Unit Award s for its performance of this mission . References . Bibliography . Further reading