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- The 417th Test and Evaluation Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 753rd Test and Evaluation Group and stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Its previous assignment was with the USAF Weapons School at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, where it was inactivated on 14 September 2006. The squadron was originally activated as the 417th Night Fighter Squadron in February 1943. After training in the United States and receiving additional operational training in the United Kingdom, the squadron saw action in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, flying both the British Bristol Beaufighter and Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighters. It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations in Southern France. Following V-E Day, the 417th served as part of the occupation forces in Germany until inactivating in November 1946, and transferring its personnel to another squadron, which was simultaneously activated. The squadron was activated as the 417th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in January 1953, when it replaced an Air National Guard squadron that had been mobilized for the Korean War. It soon moved to Europe with its North American F-86 Sabres, which it flew until upgrading to North American F-100 Super Sabres in 1958. In 1966 the unit transitioned to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II as the 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron and was engaged in combat during the Vietnam War, being part of two combat deployments. Although kept on the record as an active squadron until September 1987, all personnel were withdrawn from the unit in November 1978. In 1989 as the 417th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, it was responsible for the replacement training of new Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter pilots until inactivating in 1993. (en)
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