412th Flight Test Squadron
412th Flight Test Squadron – C-135C Speckled Trout 61-2669
Active1994–2015
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeSquadron
RoleFlight Testing
Part ofAir Force Materiel Command
Motto(s)Speckled Trout[1]
DecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award[2]
Insignia
412th Flight Test Squadron emblem (approved 23 October 1995)[1]
Tail CodeED

The 412th Flight Test Squadron was a United States Air Force squadron. It was assigned to the 412th Operations Group, Air Force Materiel Command, stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Overview

Speckled Trout is the official name of a combined SAF/CSAF support mission and concurrent test mission. It was also the official nickname given to a modified C-135C, serial number 61-2669, that was used by the Secretary and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force for executive transport requirements. Fully equipped with an array of communications equipment, data links and cryptographic sets, the aircraft served a secondary role as a testbed for proposed command and control systems and was also used to evaluate future transport aircraft design. The 412th Flight Test Squadron (412 FLTS) of the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) at Edwards AFB, California operated the C-135 Speckled Trout airframe and managed its test mission.

The name Speckled Trout applies to both the organization and the aircraft. The name was chosen in honor of an early program monitor, Faye Trout, who assisted in numerous phases of the project. The word "speckled" was added because Trout apparently had "a lot of freckles."

Speckled Trout acquired the C-135C, serial number 61-2669, in 1974 and retired the aircraft on 13 January 2006. An interim aircraft was in use for the Speckled Trout mission until the 2008 delivery of the current aircraft, a modified KC-135R Stratotanker serial number 63-7980 with a more modern communications architecture testbed. The current KC-135R Speckled Trout also supports additional tests and air refueling requirements that the C-135C could not.[3]

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 412th Flight Test Squadron on 22 December 1993
Activated on 1 January 1994
Inactivated on 15 May 2015[1]

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

  • C-135 61-2669 1992–2006
  • KC-135E 57-2589 "Casey 01" 2004–2007
  • KC-135R 63-7980 2007–2015
  • C-20E/K 70139 "Speckled Minnow" 2008–2009

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Factsheet 412 Flight Test Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "Air Force Personnel Services: Unit Awards". Air Force Personnel Center. Retrieved 9 January 2017. (search
  3. ↑ Carrano, SRA Francesca (10 February 2006). "'Speckled Trout' – Air Force bids farewell to unique plane". U.S. Air Force Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2017.

Bibliography

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

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