Those units received the Beaufighter Mk. VIF (the night fighter variant, equipped with an Al Mk. VIII radar) during the summer of 1943, deployed to the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations (MTO). Of those squadrons, both 414th and 415th were re-equipped with the Northrop P-61 during late 1944/early 1945. The 416th was re-equipped with Mosquitoes just before the end of the war, but most of the night interceptor role in the MTO by the USAAF was carried out by the Beaufighter.
More than 100 Beaufighters Mk. VIFs were transferred to the USAAF during March-April 1943, equipped all of them with either Al Mk. I radar in the standard nose, or the Mk. VII/VIII inside a radome.
Initial night fighter training was carried out with RAF's Beaufighters in the United Kingdom, as many of the American personnel were fresh from basic training in the United States.
The Beaufighter was previously tested in US mainland, but few of the future crews were familiarized with the aircraft.
Relevant personnel of the four night fighter squadrons left the United Kingdom during the spring of 1943 and headed to Algeria, where, on 10th May 1943, the 414th NFS (Night Fighter Squadron), based at La Senia (Oran) was the first to become operational.
The 415th NFS became operational just two days later, in the same airfield, while both 416th NFS and 417th NFS didn't become operational until 8th August and operated from Algiers and Tafaraoui, respectively.
Just like it happened to their British counterpart, some American pilots found the Beaufighter hard to fly. As they were used to the tricycle landing gear of the Douglas P-70 (the night fighter variant of the A-20 bomber) on which they were trained in the US, some individuals found difficult to allow for the take-off swing and many Beaufighters were damaged in accidents. However, other pilots liked the Beaufighter and appreciated the type, specially its rugged construction.
The 12th Air Force night fighter crews found relatively little action as far as the night interception action went. The major aerial war had moved on to mainland Europe and they were rebased various time before ending up in Italy, making the American Beaufighter kill-list relatively low. In total the four squadrons were credited with 32 confirmed victories while flying the Beaufighters. Of those, eight were for the 414th NFS, eleven for the 415th NFS, four for the 416th NFS and nine for the 417th NFS.
The first American Beaufighter victory took place on 24th July 1943 when a German Heinkel He. 115 floatplane was shot down by Captain Nathaniel Lindsay and Flight Officer Austin Petty of the 415th NFS, while the last claim was achieved by the 417th NFS when 1st Lieutenant Malcolm Campbell and 2nd Lieutenant Robert McCullen shot down a Junkers Ju. 290 on 28th December 1944. Many other enemy aircraft were claimed as damaged or probable but, as was the nature of night fighting in general, many rounds were fired at targets with inconclusive results.
Summing it up, the relationship between the USAAF and the Beaufighter wasn't as successful as it could have been; most of the aircraft passed on by the RAF suffered from wear and tear and the airfields they operated from were far from ideal. It should be considered that in 1943 there was not other type available and the night fighter crews gained many experience on the Beaufighters, learning much of value while the war lasted.
Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Beaufighter
2nd Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 153 - Bristol Beaufighter in Action
3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bristol_Beaufighter_operators
4th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/414th_Combat_Training_Squadron
5th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/415th_Special_Operations_Squadron
6th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/416th_Fighter_Squadron
7th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/417th_Test_and_Evaluation_Squadron
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