85th Test and Evaluation Squadron

85th Test and Evaluation Squadron
85th TES F-16D Fighting Falcon over the northwest Florida coastline during an evaluation mission in 2004
Active	9 February 1942 - 15 July 1947 1 November 1952 - 1 July 1959 12 April 1971 - Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Weapon system testing and evaluation
Part of	Air Combat Command Air Force Warfare Center 53d Wing 53d Test and Evaluation Group
Garrison/HQ	Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
Engagements	Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
85th Test and Evaluation Squadron emblem (approved 8 August 1984, modified 26 May 1987)^[1]

The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron (85 TES) is part of the 53d Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. It conducts testing and evaluation for the F-15 Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, and F-16 Fighting Falcon airframes.

Mission

The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron is responsible for conducting operational test and evaluation, tactics development, and programs for F-15C, F-15E, and F-16CM aircraft. It uses specially instrumented aircraft to test and evaluate current and future weapons, the newest air-to ground munitions, air-to-air missiles, electronic warfare systems, and associated components and avionics.^[2]

The squadron provides operational fighter expertise to United States Air Force Headquarters, Department of Defense agencies, and the aerospace industry in developing future aircraft and in employment techniques and concepts. The 85th focuses on air-to-air missile employment and tactics, suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses and lethal precision engagement.^[2]

History

World War II

Activated on 9 February 1942. Moved to Egypt, October–November 1942, and became part of Ninth Air Force.

Trained with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks's while moving westward in the wake of the British drive across Egypt and Libya to Tunisia. Although many of the unit's pilots flew combat missions with other organizations, the 79th group itself did not begin operations until March 1943. By escorting bombers, attacking enemy shipping, and supporting ground forces, took part in the Allied operations that defeated Axis forces in North Africa, captured Pantelleria, and conquered Sicily.

Assigned to Twelfth Air Force in August 1943 and continued to support British Eighth Army by attacking troop concentrations, gun positions, bridges, roads, and rail lines in southern Italy. Operated in the area of the Anzio beachhead, January–March 1944. Participated in the drive on Rome, March–June 1944, and converted to P-47 Thunderbolts during that time. Flew escort and strafing missions in southern France during August and September 1944, and afterward engaged in air interdiction and close air support operations in northern Italy.

Remained overseas as part of United States Air Forces in Europe after the war as part of the occupation force. Transferred, without personnel and equipment, to the US in June 1947. Inactivated on 15 July 1947.

Air Defense Command

Patch with 85th FIS emblem (approved 7 Aug 1953)^[3]

85th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron North American F-86D Sabre 52-3725 in May 1957

Reactivated in 1952 as part of Air Defense Command as an air defense squadron, initially equipped with F-51D Mustang fighters at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois with a mission for the air defense of St Louis and the western Ohio River Valley. Re-equipped in January 1953 with F-86D Sabre Interceptors. In 1957 began re-equipping with the North American F-86L Sabre, an improved version of the F-86D which incorporated the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, or SAGE computer-controlled direction system for intercepts. The service of the F-86L destined to be quite brief, since by the time the last F-86L conversion was delivered, the type was already being phased out in favor of supersonic interceptors, inactivated on 1 March 1960.^[1]

Lineage

85th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

Constituted as the 85th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 13 January 1942

Activated on 9 February 1942

Redesignated 85th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) (Twin Engine) on 31 January 1942

Redesignated 85th Fighter Squadron (Twin Engine) on 15 May 1942

Redesignated 85th Fighter Squadron on 10 September 1942

Redesignated 85th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 21 August 1944

Inactivated on 15 July 1947

Redesignated 85th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 11 September 1952

Activated on 1 November 1952

Inactivated on 1 July 1959

Consolidated on 15 Dec 1991 with the 4485th Test Squadron as the 4485th Test Squadron^[4]

85th Test and Evaluation Squadron

Designated as the 4485th Test Squadron and activated on 12 April 1971.
Consolidated on 15 Dec 1991 with the 85th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

Redesignated 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron on 1 Dec 1991^[4]

Assignments

79th Pursuit (later, 79th Fighter) Group, 9 February 1942 - 15 July 1947
33d Air Division, 1 November 1952
20th Air Division, 1 March 1956 - 1 July 1959
USAF Tactical Air Warfare Center, 12 April 1971
4443d Test and Evaluation Group (later 79th Test and Evaluation Group, 53d Test and Evaluation Group), 1 August 1988 – Present^[4]

Bases stationed

Dale Mabry Field, Florida, 9 February 1942
Morris Field, North Carolina, 1 May 1942
East Boston Airport, Massachusetts, 23 June 1942
Bedford Municipal Airport, Massachusetts, 1 July 1942 - 28 September 1942
Kasfareet Landing Ground, Egypt (LG-212), 12 November 1942
Gazala Landing Ground, Libya (LG-149), 24 January 1943
Sidi el Hani Landing Ground, Tunisia, 27 April 1943
Causeway Landing Ground, Tunisia, 2 June 1943
RAF Valletta, Malta, 6 July 1943
Syracuse Airfield, Sicily, Italy, 18 July 1943
Cassabile Landing Ground, Sicily, Italy, 26 July 1943
Palagonia Landing Ground, Sicily, Italy, 30 July 1943
Isole Landing Ground, Crotone, Italy, 15 September 1943
Salsola Airfield, Italy, 5 October 1943
Madna Airfield, Italy, 19 November 1943
Capodichino Airport, Italy, 16 January 1944
Pomigliano Airfield, Pomigliano d'Arco, Italy, 30 April 1944
Serragia Airfield, Corsica, France, 11 June 1944
Saint Raphaël-Frejus Airport, France (Y-12),^[5] 22 August 1944
Valence, France (Y-23),^[5] 30 September 1944
Iesi Airfield, Italy, 5 October 1944
Fano Airfield, Italy, 5 December 1944
Cesenatico Airfield, Italy, 24 March 1945
Hörsching Airfield, Austria, 26 July 1945 -
Langley Field, Virginia, 25 June 1947 - 15 July 1947
Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, 1 November 1952 – 1 July 1959
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 12 April 1971 – Present^[4]

Aircraft Operated

P-40 Warhawk (1942–1944)
P-47 Thunderbolt (1944–1947)
F-51 Mustang (1952–1953)
F-86D Sabre Interceptor (1953-1957)
F-86L Sabre Interceptor (SAGE) (1957-1959)
F-4 Phantom II (1971 - )
RF-4 Phantom II (1971 - )
A-10 Thunderbolt II (1977–Present)
F-15 Eagle (1976–Present)
F-15E Strike Eagle (1988–Present)
F-16 Fighting Falcon (1978–Present)^[4]

Commands	Reserve Air National Guard Field Operating Agencies Installations

Direct Reporting Units	District of Washington Operational Test and Evaluation Center USAF Academy

Major Commands	Air Combat Air Education and Training Air Mobility Global Strike Materiel Reserve Space Special Operations Europe & Africa Pacific

Numbered Air Forces	First Second Third Fourth Fifth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Fourteenth Seventeenth Eighteenth Nineteenth Twentieth Twenty-Second Twenty-Third Twenty-Fourth Twenty-Fifth

Wings ANG Groups ANG Squadrons ANG Security forces Civilian auxiliary: Civil Air Patrol

Personnel and
training

Uniforms and
equipment

History and
traditions

Category
Portal

Air Combat Command (ACC)

Air Forces

Center

United States Air Force Warfare Center

Bases

Wings

Composite	23d 49th 53d 55th 57th 432d

Fighter	1st 4th 20th 325th 355th 366th 388th

Other	9th Reconnaissance 93d Air-Ground Operations 99th Air Base 461st Air Control 505th Command and Control 552d Air Control 633d Air Base

Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)

Bases

CONUS	Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Heath Fort Lee Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenburg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown

Overseas	Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Bay Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule

Stations

CONUS	Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata

Overseas	Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville

Air
Defense
units

Forces	Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth

Air Divisions	8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th

Sectors	Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington

Wings	Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th

Groups	Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th

Squadrons	Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons

Major
weapon
systems

Electronic	TB-29 EB-57 EC-121

Fighters	Propellor: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106

Missiles	AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10

Ships	Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil

Texas Towers	Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4

Miscellaneous

Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons)
General Surveillance Radar Stations

USAAF Third Air Force in World War II

Airfields

Group Training Stations
Replacement Training Stations
Tactical Airfields

Units

Commands

Divisions

III Tactical Air Division

Wings

Groups

Air Commando	2nd Air Commando 3rd Air Commando

Bombardment	3rd Bombardment 12th Bombardment 17th Bombardment 21st Bombardment 29th Bombardment 30th Bombardment Group 38th Bombardment 44th Bombardment 46th Bombardment 47th Bombardment 85th Bombardment 88th Bombardment 90th Bombardment 91st Bombardment 92nd Bombardment 93rd Bombardment 94th Bombardment 95th Bombardment 97th Bombardment 98th Bombardment 99th Bombardment 100th Bombardment 309th Bombardment 310th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 319th Bombardment 320th Bombardment 321st Bombardment 322d Bombardment 323d Bombardment 335th Bombardment 336th Bombardment 340th Bombardment 344th Bombardment 345th Bombardment 386th Bombardment 387th Bombardment 391st Bombardment 394th Bombardment 396th Bombardment 397th Bombardment 409th Bombardment 410th Bombardment 411th Bombardment 416th Bombardment 417th Bombardment 418th Bombardment 451st Bombardment 454th Bombardment 463rd Bombardment 483rd Bombardment 488th Bombardment

Fighter	20th Fighter 31st Fighter 49th Fighter 50th Fighter 53rd Fighter 54th Fighter 56th Fighter 59th Fighter 79th Fighter 80th Fighter 81st Fighter 84th Fighter 85th Fighter 311th Fighter 332nd Fighter 337th Fighter 338th Fighter 339th Fighter 361st Fighter 369th Fighter 372nd Fighter 404th Fighter 405th Fighter 408th Fighter 414th Fighter 506th Fighter

Fighter-Bomber	27th Fighter-Bomber 48th Fighter-Bomber 86th Fighter-Bomber 406th Fighter-Bomber 407th Fighter-Bomber

Reconnaissance	2d Reconnaissance 9th Reconnaissance 10th Reconnaissance 26th Reconnaissance 65th Reconnaissance 67th Reconnaissance 68th Reconnaissance 69th Reconnaissance 70th Reconnaissance 75th Reconnaissance 77th Reconnaissance 423d Reconnaissance 424th Reconnaissance 426th Reconnaissance

United States Army Air Forces

References

Notes

1 2 "Factsheet 85 Test and Evaluation Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. March 31, 2008.
1 2 "53rd Wing Fact Sheet". 96th Test Wing Public Affairs. October 22, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
↑ Maurer, p. 295
1 2 3 4 5 Lineage, including assignments, stations, and aircraft in AFHRA Factsheet
1 2 Station Number in Johnson

Bibliography

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

Cornett, Lloyd H.; Johnson, Mildred W. (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center.
Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
"ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor. Aerospace Defense Command. Vol. 21 (No. 1): 5–11, 26–31, 40–45, 54–59. January 1979.

External links

53d Test and Evaluation Group Fact Sheet

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