59th Test and Evaluation Squadron
military unit
The 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the Air Combat Command 53d Wing, 53d Test Management Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
The 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron is responsible for the management of A-10, F-15C/E, F-16, F-22, F-35, HH-60, HC-130J and Guardian Angel weapon system testing including force development evaluations, tactics development and evaluations, and software evaluations. Squadron personnel direct operational test planning and execution, as well as data gathering, analyzing, and reporting for the above systems operated by the combat air forces. The squadron also manages Operational Test and Evaluation of weapons and support systems in order to improve current and future U.S. Air Force combat capabilities.
History
World War II
The squadron was constituted as the 59th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940 and activated on 15 January 1941 at Mitchel Field, New York as part of the 33d Pursuit Group. The squadron trained on the Bell P-39 Airacobra but soon switched to the more modern Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. After the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December resulted in the American entry into World War II, the squadron was moved to various bases to provide air defense for the East Coast, relocating to Groton Airport in Connecticut on 7 December, Glenn Martin Airport in Maryland on 15 December, and finally to Philadelphia Airport on 10 May 1942. Five days after moving to Philadelphia, the squadron was redesignated the 59th Fighter Squadron when all Air Force pursuit units became fighter units, and between May and June it was temporarily stationed at Paine Field in Washington to provide air defense on the West Coast.
On 12 October, the squadron and the 33rd Fighter Group left Philadelphia for loading aboard the escort carrier USS Chenango for Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa, which began on 8 November.
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