The 326th Aeronautical Systems Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force. It was last assigned to the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated in 2008. The wing was first activated as the 326th Fighter Group in August 1942 during World War II and participated in the air defense of the Northeast until 1943, flying from Bradley Field, Connecticut. It moved to the Southeastern US where it was an operational and replacement training unit until it was disbanded in 1944 in a major reorganization of Army Air Forces units not programmed for overseas deployment. The group was reconstituted in 1955 as part of an Air Defense Command program to revive fighter units that had participated in World War II. The group provided air defense of the Northwestern United States until 1961 when it was replaced by the 57th Fighter Group, which assumed its personnel, equipment and mission. It was redesignated as the 326th Tactical Fighter Group in 1985 but remained inactive. In 2006, the group was consolidated with the Long Range Strike Systems Wing, which had been activated a year earlier at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Ohio and the consolidated unit became the 326th Aeronautical Systems Wing. The wing conducted systems testing of advanced strike weapons for another two years before inactivating in 2008 when Air Force Materiel Command returned to its traditional directorate system of organization. History World War II The 326th Fighter Group was activated at Mitchel Field, New York in August 1942 and moved the next month to Bradley Field, Connecticut. It was initially assigned the 320th, 321st, and 322d Fighter Squadrons and equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. The 326th performed the air defense mission for First Air Force in the northeast during 1942 and 1943 while also conducting operational training. As an operational training unit, it was an oversized parent unit which provided cadres to "satellite groups." It later became a replacement training unit, remaining an oversized unit, but preparing individual pilots for combat duty in the Thunderbolt. In the replacement role it added the 442d Fighter Squadron in February 1943. In the fall of 1943, the 320th Squadron returned to Mitchel, while the 442d Squadron moved to Bedford Army Air Field, Massachusetts. In October 1943, the group provided the cadre to form the 402d Fighter Group. The 326th then moved to Seymour Johnson Field, North