415th Flight Test Flight The 415th Flight Test Flight ( 415 FLTF ) is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron . It is assigned to the 413th Flight Test Group , Air Force Reserve Command , stationed at Randolph Field , Joint Base San Antonio , Texas . Overview . The unit provides flight testing for T - 38 Talon jet trainers carried out at Randolph Field . The unit performs functional check flights , making sure the aircraft are ready to fly after undergoing modifications and repairs . The 571st AMXS , a unit of the 309th Maintenance Wing at Hill AFB , Utah , performs T - 38 overhauls at Randolph , where the 571st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Operating Location A handles depot maintenance of all T - 38s in the Air Force , as well as some Navy T - 38s . The 415th FLTF is a small unit , consisting of two full - time test pilots , a command support staff NCO in charge and a cadre of other senior NCOs who specialize in aviation resource management and aircrew flight equipment . Every plane - except for those with minor modifications - requires a functional check flight before it ' s delivered to the field . . . each FCF lasts about an hour ; the unit shuts down the engine and test all the controls . It takes an un - airworthy aircraft and certify it for flight . History . World War II . Established as a B - 24 Liberator reconnaissance squadron in early 1942 . Engaged initially in antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico ; redesignated as a heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force . Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrision Field , Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil ; performed trans - Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia , then transited east across central Africa to Sudan . Lastly the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by ship around the Cape of Good Hope , joining with air echelon in British Palestine . Assigned to the newly formed IX Bomber Command , the squadron operated from airfields in Egypt ; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign . Also staged long - range strategic bombardment of enemy military and industrial targets in Sicily ; Italy and the Southern Balkans , including attacking the Nazi - Controlled oilfields at Polesti , Romania . Re - assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in southern Italy ; continuing strategic bombardment raids on Occupied France ; Southern Germany ; Austria and targets in the Balkans . In the summer of 1944 , the squadron participated in the invasion of southern France , assisted in the Soviet advance into the Balkans , and supported the partisans and guerrillas in Yugoslavia and neighboring countries . The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945 ; being re - designated as a B - 29 Superfortress heavy bomb squadron and began training for deployment to the Central Pacific Area and conduct strategic bombardment raids over the Japanese Home Islands . Training continued until the unit was inactivated at the end of July , its equipment and personnel being merged into the other three squadrons of its host group . Cold War . The squadron was activated in 1959 as a result of Strategic Air Command phasing out the B - 47 Stratojet , and additional squadrons were activated as part of the consolation of Stratojet wings , and the replacement of the B - 47 by B - 52 Stratofortress es . In March 1961 , President John F . Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B - 47 be accelerated . and the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962 as part of the drawdown of the USAF B - 47 force , with the aircraft were sent to AMARC storage at Davis - Monthan . Reactivated in 1989 as part of an Air Force Systems Command reorganization at Edwards AFB , California . Assumed F - 15 Eagle Test Flight mission evaluating modifications prior to them being sent into the field as changes to the aircraft . Inactivated in 1994 as part of the Cold War drawdown , mission consolidated into the 419th Flight Test Squadron . Air Force Reserve . Reactivated and reduced from a squadron to a flight organization in 2001 as a T - 38 Talon Functional Check Flight organization at Randolph AFB designed to extend the service life of the Air Force ' s fleet of T - 38C Talon aircraft through the year 2020 . Air Combat Command uses the aircraft as a companion trainer to provide pilots additional flying time at a lower cost . Air Force Materiel Command flies the aircraft for test support and flight test training . AETC uses the T - 38 as an advanced trainer to train pilots selected to fly fighters and bombers . AETC is the lead command responsible for sustainment and modernization of all T - 38s in the Air Force inventory . The T - 38 System Program Office at the Ogden Air Logistics Center , Hill AFB , Utah , provides primary field support for the aircraft . AFMC has direct operational control of the 415th FLTF mission , while Air Force Reserve Command maintains administrative control of the unit . In addition to modifying the propulsion system , the Air Force is also involved in a program to upgrade T - 38 avionics systems . This upgrade is designed to improve the training capabilities of the T - 38 and provide one design / configuration for all training roles envisioned for the system . Once completed , the program will make it easier for pilot trainees to transition from the T - 38 to a front - line fighter or bomber aircraft . Lineage . 415th Bombardment Squadron 415th Flight Test Flight