2d Fighter Squadron American Beagle Plaque
A hand crafted 14 inch plaque of the 2d Fighter Squadron American Beagle.
The 2nd Fighter Training Squadron, sometimes written as 2d Fighter Training Squadron, is an active United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 325th Operations Group at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
Originally constituted in 1940 as the 2nd Pursuit Squadron, over the course of time the unit has been variously designated as, amongst others, the 2nd Fighter All-Weather Squadron, the 2nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, the 2nd Fighter Weapons Squadron, the 2nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, and the 2nd Fighter Squadron. It was redesignated the 2nd Fighter Training Squadron in 2014 and reactivated the same year. The squadron operates the Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft conducting adversary training for F-22 Raptor pilots in air superiority missions.
History
World War II
Originally constituted as the 2d Pursuit Squadron on 20 November 1940, the squadron was activated on 15 January 1941. It served in World War II with the 52d Pursuit Group, and during that period flew the Curtis P-40 Warhawk and Bell P-39 Airacobra. The 2d also flew combat missions in the Supermarine Spitfire and North American P-51 Mustang in the European and Mediterranean Theaters, serving specifically in air campaigns in Europe, Algeria, French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Normandy, Northern France, Southern France, north Apennines, Rhineland, Central Europe, Po Valley, and performed air combat. The unit received two Distinguished Unit Citations for operations in Germany and Romania in 1944. Following World War II, the squadron was inactivated on 7 November 1945 at Drew Field, Florida.
