Force. The 139th Army Air Force Base Unit, I Fighter Command became the host unit. and pilots were sent to Shaw for fighter transition training in Republic P-47 Thunderbolt single-engined fighters. For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp. The first group of German POWs arrived on 1 March 1945. Eventually, 175 of them lived in an encampment just off the main base, on Peach Orchard Road (also known as South Carolina Highway 441) across from Shaw's (side) hospital (currently closed) gate and worked on local farms in the area. They departed in the early months of 1946 for the rebuilding of European cities and towns that were devastated during the war. Those prisoners were eventually repatriated to Germany around 1947, with some returning to the Shaw and Sumter area and obtaining their U.S. citizenship. Postwar era Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent USAAF installation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945. After a period of reorganization, jurisdiction was transferred to Air Defense Command on 1 March 1946. From July 1946 until May 1947 Shaw was the home of the 414th and 415th Night Fighter Squadrons. The squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities. The 414th was transferred to Caribbean Air Force at Río Hato Army Air Base, Panama in March 1947 to perform an air defense mission of the Panama Canal. The 415th was reassigned to Alaska Air Command at Adak Island, Alaska in May 1947 also to perform an air defense mission, over the Aleutian Islands and the territorial waters of western Alaska. United States Air Force 20th Fighter Group Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC) on 23 March 1946. The 20th Fighter Group was reassigned to Shaw on 20 October 1946 from Biggs Army Airfield, Texas which was transferred to Strategic Air Command. The 20th FG came under Ninth Air Force. After the establishment of the United States Air Force (USAF) as a separate military branch in September 1947, Shaw Army Airfield was renamed Shaw Air Force Base, on 13 January 1948 and the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated on 15 August 1947 with the implementation of the Hobson Plan. The 20th Fighter Group was first equipped with