30th Bombardment Squadron

The squadron's history dates to 13 June 1917 when the 30th Aero Squadron was organized at Camp Kelly (later Kelly Field, Texas, less than a month after the United States' entry into World War I. Most of the men of the squadron arrived at Kelly Field when it was nothing but a sand heap and a few tents and their first job was to dig trenches around the field for water and utility lines. The men received their indoctrination into the Army as soldiers, standing guard duty and other rudimentary duties. The lack of sanitary facilities and uniforms meant most men worked in the civilian clothing they arrived in and slept in them without bathing until latrines and washing facilities were constructed.[3][4]

On 11 August 1917, the squadron received orders for overseas duty, and it traveled by train to Fort Totten, New York in preparation for service in France. On 22 August they were transported to the port of embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey, and boarded the RMS Baltic. The next day, they left for Halifax, Nova Scotia where the Baltic anchored awaiting for a convoy. On 5 September, the convoy was formed and the trans-Atlantic journey began.[3]

On the night of 14 September, an accompanying destroyer spotted a submarine periscope and fired two red rockets as a warning. As the destroyer dropped depth charges, the Baltic made a sudden turn to port that caused both men and anything loose aboard the ship to move. A large explosion was heard and everyone on board was ordered to report to their assigned lifeboats. A torpedo had struck the ship, but it had only made a glancing blow on the bow. The ship's emergency pumps were working and there was no danger.[3]

Issodun Aerodrome, France, September 1917

The next morning the ship arrived at Liverpool, England, the squadrons on the Baltic being the first American airmen to land there. The 30th boarded a train to Southampton, where it was stationed at a rest camp. At Southampton, fifty men of the squadron were detached to the Royal Flying Corps for three months training as aircraft mechanics. The remainder of the squadron proceeded to France. The squadron arrived at Le Havre, then continued by train to the Etampes aerodrome, France, arriving on the 18th. At Étampes, ten more men of the squadron were taken out and sent to Lyons, where they took a ten-week course in Le Rhone and Hispano-Suiza aircraft engines.[3]

On 23 September, the remainder of the squadron moved to Issoudun Aerodrome, France, for the construction of an American school and several airfields. What became the Third Aviation Instruction Center would be the largest airfield in the world at the time, its mission was to train American pursuit pilots to enter combat over the front against German aviators. As was the case at Kelly Field earlier, the men went to work in various construction tasks, and were joined by several other squadrons in their work. A power grid was installed along with various water and telephone lines. Streets were laid down and various wooden buildings were erected.[3]

The squadron began to work on what was later the largest machine shops of the American Expeditionary Forces. The shop began as a simple hangar. As various equipment and specialized tools arrived the shop expanded until it could accommodate the large number of aircraft engines that were arriving. Members of the 30th Squadron worked in most of the shops of the school, assembling newly arrived aircraft, working on engines, machine guns and in the warehouses, stocking and receiving parts and other supplies. By the time of the Armistice on 11 November, the men of the squadron held responsible positions in many of the support areas of the center.[3]

The 30th remained at Issodun until the end of December 1918 when orders were received to proceed to the 1st Air Depot at Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome, France. From Colombey, the squadron was moved to a staging camp under the Services of Supply at Bordeaux, France, in January waiting for a date to report to a base port for transportation home. In mid-March, the squadron boarded a troop ship, arriving in New York on 5 April. From there, the 30th moved to Mitchel Field, New York where the men were demobilized and returned to civilian life.[3][5][4]

19th Bombardment Group Martin B-12 at March Field, California

The squadron was reconstituted as the 30th Bombardment Squadron on 24 March 1923 and assigned to the 7th Bombardment Group in inactive status. In June 1926, it was organized as a Regular Army Inactive (RAI) unit,[note 1] at Langley Field, Virginia, with its personnel serving as associates of the 20th Bombardment Squadron there. This organization lasted only a few months, and in February 1927, the reservists were withdrawn from the unit, and it was reassigned from Third Corps Area to Ninth Corps Area. On 15 January 1930, it was again organized as an RAI unit, training at Kelly Field.[6]

On 24 June 1932 the reservists assigned to the squadron were withdrawn and it was activated at Rockwell Field, California and assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group. At Rockwell, the squadron was equipped with a variety of amphibious aircraft and light bombers.[1] The squadron moved on 25 October 1935 to March Field, California when the Army and the Navy executed an agreement that transferred Rockwell and two other Army fields to the Navy.[7] At March, the squadron transitioned to the Martin B-10 bomber.[1] It participated in 1st Wing maneuvers in 1935 and 1938 and General Headquarters Air Force maneuvers in 1938. It also participated in joint exercises, including coastal defense exercises in 1937, an antiaircraft exercise in Pennsylvania in 1939 and an amphibious landing exercise near Fort Ord, California in 1940.[8]

Boeing B-17B Flying Fortresses at March Field, 1941

The 30th became a heavy bombardment squadron in December 1939 when it received its first Boeing B-17B Flying Fortresses. The B-17B was the first production version of the Flying Fortress, and the squadron was upgraded to the faster and better-armed B-17C in late 1940, and to the B-17D in 1941. Its primary mission was to train pilots and navigators in heavy bomber operations. In May 1941 the squadron ferried Flying Fortresses to Hickam Field, Hawaii to transfer them to the 11th Bombardment Group. The squadron remained in Hawaii for two weeks to train the 11th's aircrews on their new planes. This mission also provided the squadron with experience in long range overwater flights that would prove valuable in a few short months.[9]

In October, the squadron, along with the 93d Bombardment Squadron and headquarters of the 19th Group undertook the first mass flight across the Pacific, as they flew to reinforce American forces in the Philippines. The 30th was in the lead for this movement, with all but one of the group's planes in place at its new station, Clark Field, on Luzon by 10 November. The 10,000-mile trip had been conducted almost entirely over water. The squadron's ground echelon was already at Clark, having sailed on the USAT Willard A. Holbrook on 6 October.[10] When the 19th Bombardment Group arrived in the Philippines, it absorbed the two bomber squadrons already there, the 14th and 28th Bombardment Squadrons. The 28th was equipped with obsolescent planes and the decision was made to evenly distribute the group's B-17s among its squadrons. As a result, in November, the squadron lost two of its Flying Fortresses and absorbed aircrews with no experience on the B-17.[11]

A B-17D being loaded with bombs[note 2]

The 30th Bombardment Squadron had its B-17D aircraft on the line at Clark Field on 8 December 1941 when word was received at headquarters from Hawaii about 0400 of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.[note 3] A little before 0800, the radar at Iba Airfield informed the Air Warning Service at Nielson Field that at least 30 Japanese aircraft were flying south over Luzon apparently headed for Clark Field.[12] Immediate orders were to prepare the squadron's planes for attack, but that no offensive action could be taken until they were fired upon. In order to prevent them from being destroyed on the ground by a Japanese air attack, at about 0800, the 30th's planes began to launch, with orders to remain in the area on the Clark tower radio frequency. By 1030 Japanese bombers had attacked Philippine Air Force bases, and the airborne B-17s returned to Clark.[13]

By 1200, orders had finally arrived for the squadron to prepare to attack targets on Formosa.[14] By 1230, plans for the attack on Formosa were being made and the squadron's planes were nearly loaded with bombs. At about this time, high altitude Japanese bombers struck Clark, followed shortly by strafing fighters. Although the bombers did little damage to the squadron's planes, the strafing fighters destroyed or damaged all of the B-17s on the field.[15] Some of the squadron's enlisted men worked the guns on parked bombers in an attempt to use them against the strafing fighters. Within the next few days ground crews were able to patch together two or three B-17s from damaged and destroyed Flying Forts.[16]

On 10 December, the 19th Group's B-17s from its two squadrons at Del Monte Airfield staged through Clark to attack Japanese shipping. A B-17C flown by one of the squadron's pilots, Captain Colin P. Kelly dropped bombs from high altitude on what the crew thought to be a Japanese battleship. Hits were recorded, and an explosion was observed. Kelly's plane was immediately attacked by Mitsubishi A6M Zeroes, one of which was flown by Saburo Sakai, who was later to become a famous ace. Kelly guided his heavily damaged plane back towards Clark Field. He ordered the crew to parachute to safety, but before Kelly himself could leave, the aircraft exploded and Kelly was killed. Capt Kelly was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for this mission.[17] The mission of 10 December would be the last flown from Clark. Only two more would be flown from Del Monte before the squadron withdrew to Batchelor Airfield, about 45 miles south of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.[1]

The ground crews of the squadron at Clark were no longer needed to support the few planes left and were transferred to 5th Interceptor Command, and fought as infantry during Battle of Bataan. After their surrender, they were subjected to the Bataan Death March, although some did escape to Australia and some presumably fought on as unorganized guerrilla forces during the Japanese occupation.[18]

B-17s of the 19th Bombardment Group attacking Japanese-held Lae Airfield, New Guinea on 26–27 June 1942[note 4]

The decimated 19th Bombardment Group in Australia considered itself fortunate to launch eight or nine planes, less than the strength of a single squadron from Australia. In January 1942, the heavy bomber force began to grow, as it was reinforced by the four squadrons of the 7th Bombardment Group for attacks from Singosari Airfield near Malang, Java, in the Netherlands East Indies.[19] The squadron officially moved to Singosari on the last day of 1941. Operating with whatever bombers were available, the squadron probably operated with B-24 and LB-30 Liberators during its time in Java. Its attacks on Japanese forces moving forward through the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies earned it two Distinguished Unit Citations to add to the one it had been awarded for its actions in the Philippines and the one the squadron ground echelon was earning at Bataan. However, by late February, the position of Allied forces in Java had become untenable, and the squadron was evacuated on 2 March back to Australia when the Japanese defeated Allied ground forces in the Dutch East Indies.[1]

The 30th was sent to Northern Queensland where it operated from Cloncurry and Longreach Airports. From Longreach, the squadron participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, and raided enemy transportation and communications targets as well as troop concentrations during the Japanese invasion of Papua New Guinea. Moving to Mareeba Airfield, along the coast of the Coral Sea in Queensland, the squadron bombed enemy airdromes, ground installations, and shipping near Rabaul, New Britain in August 1942. The squadron earned another DUC for these operations.[20]

By late 1942, the Army Air Forces decided that no more B-17s would be sent to the Pacific, and that units would be withdrawn or re-equipped with the longer-ranged B-24 Liberator.[21] The men of the 30th Bombardment Squadron left Mareeba Airfield on 10 November 1942, and returned to the United States after nearly a year of continuous combat.[1]

The squadron arrived at its new base at Pocatello Army Air Field, Idaho, where it became a B-17 Replacement Training Unit (RTU). The RTU was an oversized unit to train individual pilots and aircrews for combat units.[22] The squadron continued its training mission when it moved to Pyote Army Air Base, Texas in January 1943. However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units, which were organized based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[23] The squadron was inactivated on 1 April 1944 and its assets and those of other units at Pyote were transferred to the 236th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Unit, Bombardment), which was organized the same day.[1]

19th Bombardment Group B-29 Superfortresses 1945

The squadron was activated with new personnel at Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas the same day it was inactivated at Pyote. At Great Bend, the squadron began training as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron. It completed training by the end of the year and deployed to North Field, Guam, arriving in January 1945. The squadron flew its first combat mission on 12 February 1945 against a Japanese airfield on Rota and began participating in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan with a mission to Tokyo on 25 February.

The squadron initially conducted high altitude daylight raids against strategic targets in Japan such as aircraft factories, chemical plants, and oil refineries.[20] The results of high altitude B-29 raids on Japan, however, were disappointing. More than a month after a raid on 19 January 1945, no mission had been able to bomb visually, and radar bombing results were unsatisfactory. Low altitude night area attacks with incendiaries promised better results, and the squadron began the switch with the launch of a raid against Tokyo on 9 March 1945.[24] On 11 March, the squadron attacked Nagoya. Six high altitude raids on aircraft production facilities there had failed to inflict significant damage. Although no aircraft factories were taken out of production by this attack, the Aichi plant was damaged enough to reduce its production.[25] A raid on Osaka followed on 13 March. Cloud cover forced the squadron to use radar bombing, but over 100 manufacturing facilities were destroyed in the raid.[26][note 5] Kobe was attacked on the 13th and a return to Nagoya occurred on the 19th.[27] Its participation in these raids earned the squadron another DUC.[20] The squadron earned another DUC for a low altitude daylight attack against Kobe on 5 June, which was heavily opposed by Japanese fighters. This attack eliminated Kobe as a target for future incendiary attacks.[20][28]

During April and May 1945, the squadron was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japan to support Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa. It struck air bases from which kamikaze attacks were being launched. Many of these bases were located on Kyushu, only 300 miles from Okinawa. The attacks directly impacted kamikaze launches, but also forced the Japanese military to retain fighter aircraft to defend the Japanese Special Attack Units that otherwise might have been used to challenge air superiority over Okinawa.[28][note 6]

After the Japanese surrender, the squadron flew airlift missions, dropping supplies to prisoners of war and participated in show of force missions over Japan.[20]

19th Group B-29 Superfortresses during the Korean War

Following V-J Day, the squadron remained on Guam as part of the 19th Bombardment Group. It was still stationed there when Korean People's Army forces attacked across the 38th Parallel. On 27 June, the squadron along with combat and maintenance elements of the 19th Bombardment Wing to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa as the first B-29 units to participate in the Korean War. It operated under the control of the provisional Far East Air Forces Bomber Command after 8 July, when it combined with B-29 units deployed from Strategic Air Command (SAC). It attacked petroleum storage facilities, and supported ground troops by attacks on the bridges over the Han River. It also struck targets in North Korea, particularly after United Nations troops advanced. Including port facilities at Wonsan, Yonpo Airfield and industrial and hydroelectric facilities, in addition to air interdiction targets.[29] The squadron earned an additional DUC for its actions in the first two months of the war.[1]

In June 1953, 19th Wing headquarters moved on paper from Anderson Air Force Base to Kadena, replacing the 19th Group.[30] The squadron was assigned directly to the wing. The squadron remained on Kadena until 16 May 1954.[1]

B-47 rocket-assisted take off

In 1954, the squadron ferried its B-29s to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona for storage. It continued without aircraft to Pinecastle Air Force Base, Florida, arriving in on 30 May. At Pinecastle, it reformed as a Boeing B-47 Stratojet unit, drawing some of its first aircraft from the 4240th Flying Training Wing, which was inactivated on 1 June, and which had been a training unit for B-47s at Pinecastle. After training with the Stratojets at Pinecastle, the squadron moved to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.[30]

The squadron deployed its B-47s with the entire wing to Morocco twice. It deployed from Pinecastle to Sidi Slimane Air Base from January to April 1956, and from Homestead to Ben Guerir Air Base from May to July 1957. After July 1957 the squadron began to participate in Operation Reflex, which placed Stratojets and Boeing KC-97s on alert at overseas bases for 90-day periods, although individuals rotated back to home bases during unit Reflex deployments[31] The squadron continued to deploy its bombers until 1961.[30][32] Starting in 1958, the squadron also began to assume an alert posture at its home base, reducing the amount of time it spent on alert overseas.[33][34]

In 1961, the 19th Bombardment Wing began converting from the B-47 to the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress. However, Strategic Air Command (SAC) determined to disperse its B-52 force to reduce its vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike[35] SAC bases with large concentrations of bombers made attractive targets. SAC's response was to break up its wings and scatter their aircraft over a larger number of bases.[36] As part of this program, the 30th moved to Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota and became part of the 4133d Strategic Wing to complete its transition to the new bombers.[1] Once it was combat ready, its alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft.[34]

The squadron conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and provided a nuclear deterrent. As tensions heightened during the Cuban Missile Crisis, on 24 October 1962, SAC went to DEFCON 2, placing all its combat aircraft on alert.[37] On 21 November SAC returned to normal airborne alert posture and reduced its readiness status to DEFCON 3. On 27 November SAC returned to normal alert posture.[38] The 4133d Wing was a Major Command controlled wing, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage,[39] and SAC wanted to replace it with a permanent unit. As a result, SAC activated the 319th Bombardment Wing at Grand Forks.[40][41] The 30th inactivated and transferred its mission, personnel and equipment to the 46th Bombardment Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.[42]

On 19 September 1985 the Air Force consolidated the 30th Bombardment Squadron with the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the USAF Thunderbirds, which had been organized on 25 February 1957.[41]

• Post Headquarters, Kelly Field, 13 June 1917[3]
• Aviation Concentration Center, 11 August–15 September 1917[3]
• Third Aviation Instruction Center, 23 September 1917
• 1st Air Depot, January 1919[3]
• Services of Supply. c. 6 January – c. 18 March 1919[3]
• Eastern Department, c. 5–14 April 1919[3]
• 7th Bombardment Group, 24 March 1923 (inactive)[6]
• Third Corps Area, 30 June 1926[6]
• Ninth Corps Area, 28 February 1927[6]
• Eighth Corps Area, 1 September 1928 – 24 June 1932 (Reserves)[6]
• 19th Bombardment Group, 24 June 1932 – 1 April 1944 (ground echelon attached to 5th Interceptor Command, c. 20 December 1941 – c. 10 May 1942)
• 19th Bombardment Group, 1 April 1944
• 19th Bombardment Wing, 1 June 1953
• 4133d Strategic Wing, 1 January 1962 – 1 February 1963[43]

Explanatory notes

Citations

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

• Cate, James L.; Olson, James C. (1953). "Strategic Bombardment from Pacific Bases, Chapter 19, Urban Area Attacks". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. V, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Clay, Steven E. (2011). US Army Order of Battle 1919–1941 (PDF). Vol. 3 The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops 1919–1941. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-98419-014-0. LCCN 2010022326. OCLC 637712205. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
• Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

  Goss, William A. (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

• Edmonds, Walter D. (1992) [1951]. The Fought With What They Had: The Story of the Army Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific 1941–1942 (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Center for Air Force History. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
• Endicott, Judy G. (1998). Active Air Force Wings as of 1 October 1995 and USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ASIN B000113MB2. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
• Endicott, Judy G., ed. (2001). The USAF in Korea, Campaigns, Units and Stations 1950–1953 (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Air Force Historical Research Agency. ISBN 0-16-050901-7. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Gorrell, Col. Edgar S. (1974). History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919. Series E: Squadron Histories. Vol. 7 History of the 28th, 30th–37th, 41st, and 43d Aero Squadron. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. OCLC 215070705.
• Gorrell, Col. Edgar S. (1974). History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919. Series O: Weekly Statistical Reports of Air Service Activities, October 1918 – May 1919. Vol. 1–31. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. OCLC 215070705.
• Kipp, Robert; Peake, Lynn; Wolk, Herman. "Strategic Air Command Operations in the Cuban Crisis of 1962, SAC Historical Study No. 90 (Top Secret NOFORN, FRD, redacted and declassified)". Strategic Air Command. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Narducci, Henry M. (1988). Strategic Air Command and the Alert Program: A Brief History. Offutt AFB, NE: Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
• Peck, Wallace R. (2006). "Forgotten Air Pioneers; The Army's Rockwell Field at North Island" (PDF). The Journal of San Diego History. San Diego History Center. 52 (3 (Summer)): 101–130. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). A Guide to Air Force Lineage and Honors (2d, Revised ed.). Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Historical Research Center. p. 12.
• Schake, Col Kurt W. (1998). Strategic Frontier: American Bomber Bases Overseas, 1950–1960 (PDF). Trondheim, Norway: Norwegian University of Science and Technology. ISBN 978-8277650241. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
• Warnock, A. Timothy (1990). Air Force Combat Medals, Streamers and, Campaigns. Reference Series. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-66-8. LCCN 90-014246. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Watson, Richard L (1948). "Pearl Harbor and Clark Field". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. I, Plans and Early Operations. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War. Vol. 3, Part 3 Zone of the Interior: Directory of Troops (Reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Center of Military History. 1988 [1949]. Archived from the original on 23 October 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2017.

Further reading

• Bartsch, William H. (2012) [2003]. December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor. Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series (Reprint ed.). College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1603447416.
• Salecker, Gene Eric (2001). Fortress Against The Sun: The B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific. Boston MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-1580970495.
• Anonymous (2000). 19th Bomb Group. Nashville, TN: Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1563116834.