A short history of the 39th Fighter
Squadron

The 39th Pursuit Squadron came into being (on paper) in late
1939.  In early 1940 personnel were drawn from Eddie
Rickenbacher's old "Hat in the Ring" 94th Pursuit Squadron of WW I
fame and flight training started with Seversky P-35 "pursuit"
planes.  In early 1941 the 39th Squadron was chosen to receive
the first Bell P-39 Airacobras rolling off of the assembly
lines.  By midsummer a Bell Company artist had designed and
painted an attractive "Cobra in the Clouds" logo, which, with
considerable difficulty, was passed through the Office Of
Heraldry.  With that bit of legislation the 39th Squadron had
officially become "The Cobra
Squadron".

Severski P-35s of the 39th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field,
Mich. 1940

Bell P-39 Airacobras of the 39th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge
Field, Mich. 1941

With the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, the
squadron was on its way to the West Coast and quickly across the
Pacific to Brisbane, Australia.  Reassembling their P-39s, the
squadron was soon in the air over Port Moresby, New Guinea in
defense of  Northern Australia.  After two and a half
months of combat the 39th had lost several planes to the Japanese
Zeros, but never a pilot.

At the end of July
1942 the squadron was sent back to Australia to be equipped with
Lockheed's P-38 Lightning, becoming the first "Lightning" squadron
in the Southwest Pacific.  By October '42 the 39th was back in
action over New Guinea soil and the Zeros began to fall.  Early
in 1943 the 39th again distinguished itself in becoming the first
American squadron to rack up 100 kills.  Unit pride and esprit
de corps was running very high when the squadron adopted the "sharks
teeth" motif for their P-38s.  As a fresh faced young 2nd
Lieutenant, Richard Ira Bong started his combat career while on TDY
with the squadron.  Learning quickly from the experienced 39th
Squadron pilots, Dick Bong became an ace before moving back to his
assigned squadron.

Through the balance of
WW II the 39th put the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the North
American P-51 Mustang to good use.  The Occupation of Japan was
carried out with the Mustangs.  With the start of the Korea
War, the 39th was there early on with their F-51 Mustangs.
There came a relatively short period of time when Lockheed F-80
Shooting Stars where used to face North Korea and China, but their
short range necessitated a return to the trusty old Mustangs.
In mid summer 1952 the squadron made the transition to the North
American F-86 Sabre.  Through the Korea War the 39th produced
numerous Aces.  One of them, Joe McConnell with 16 Migs to his
credit, was the top ace of that war.

My history of the 39th
Squadron after Korea is sketchy, but it is known that the 39th
Fighter Interceptor Squadron was active in Viet Nam with F-105
Thunderchiefs.  Again in 1990 the 39th was activated at George
Air Force Base, Mojave, California as a Flight Training Squadron and
readied a squadron for the Desert Shield/Desert Storm operation over
Iraq.  The resulting fully trained squadron with its F-4G "Wild
Weasel" electronic counter measures planes was given the title 561st
Tactical Fighter Squadron and sent to Saudi, Arabia.  On 17
January 1991 they engaged in the initial attack and flew 1,146
sorties in 42 days.

Again the 39th was
deactivated and then once more activated in 1993 at Eglin AFB,
Florida with the title 39th Flight Test Squadron.  Since that
time they have been testing, among other things, the high speed and
extreme maneuver release of rockets and other arms.  Happily,
the "Cobra in the Clouds" logo has been retained through the years
with but slight change.  After 60 years it seems that the same
unit pride and esprit de corps still pervades the
squadron.

The 39th was part of the 5th Air Force during World War
II