324th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron

The squadron was first activated on 15 April 1942 at Harding Field as the 324th Bombardment Squadron, one of the three original bombardment squadrons of the 91st Bombardment Group.[note 3] It was equipped with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. It completed First Phase training at MacDill Field under Third Air Force, with Second and Third Phase training at Walla Walla Army Air Field under Second Air Force in Washington.[4][5] The squadron's ground echelon left for Fort Dix in early September 1942, then boarded the RMS Queen Mary for transport to England. The air echelon moved to Gowen Field, Idaho on 24 August 1942, and began receiving new B-17s there. It becan flying them from Dow Field, Maine in September, although it was not fully equipped with new aircraft until October.[1][5]

91st Bombardment Group B-17 at RAF Bassingbourn

The ground echelon was established temporarily at RAF Kimbolton by 13 September 1942. However, the runways at Kimbolton were not up to handling heavy bombers,[6] and the unit moved to what would be its permanent station in the European Theater of Operations, RAF Bassingbourn, on 14 October 1942.[1] Bassingbourn had been a prewar Royal Air Force station, so the squadron found itself in more comfortable quarters than most of its contemporaries.[6] The squadron primarily engaged in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, and flew its first mission on 7 November, an attack against submarine pens at Brest, France.[5][7]

Until the middle of 1943, The squadron concentrated its attacks on naval targets, including submarine pens, dockyards, ship construction facilities and harbors, although it also struck airfields, factories, and communications facilities. On 27 January 1943, the unit attacked the Kriegsmarine yard at Wilhelmshaven as part of the first penetration by bombers of VIII Bomber Command to a target in Germany. On 4 March 1943, it attacked marshalling yards at Hamm, Germany despite adverse weather and heavy enemy opposition. For this action, it was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[7]

From the middle of 1943 to the end of the war, the squadron concentrated on attacks on German aviation, including attacks on aircraft factories, including ones at Oranienburg and Brussels; airfields at Oldenburg and Villacoublay; the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt; chemical plants at Leverkusen and Peenemunde; and industrial facilities in Ludwigshafen, Frankfurt am Main and Wilhemshaven. As part of this attack on the German aircraft industry, on 11 January, the squadron penetrated into central Germany, despite bad weather, poor fighter cover, and strong attacks by enemy interceptor aircraft, the unit succeeded in bombing its target, earning a second DUC.[7]

The squadron also performed interdiction and air support missions. It helped prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area. It aided Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo, in July 1944 by attacking enemy troop positions. It supported troops on the front lines near Caen in August 1944 and attacked lines of communications near the battlefield during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. It attacked airfields, bridges, and railroads to support Operation Lumberjack, the push across the Rhine in Germany, in 1945.[7]

Following V-E Day, the squadron evacuated prisoners of war from German camps. The first B-17 left Bassingbourn for the United States on 27 May 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 24 June 1945. The squadron was reestablished at Drew Field, Florida in early July, with the intention of deploying it to the Pacific, but it was not fully manned or equipped, and inactivated on 7 November 1945.[5][7][1]

The squadron was reactivated in 1947 as a Strategic Air Command long-range strategic reconnaissance squadron, although it was not manned or equipped until July 1948. It used B-17 and B-29 bombers refitted for reconnaissance missions. The squadron deployed to Japan in 1950, and performed strategic reconnaissance missions over Korea and the Northern Pacific coast of People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The 324th re-equipped with North American RB-45 Tornado jet reconnaissance aircraft, flying reconnaissance and mapping combat missions over Korea until returning to the United States in mid-1952. The squadron re-equipped with RB-47E Stratojets and performed various reconnaissance missions on a worldwide scale until inactivation in 1957.

In 2009, the squadron was converted to provisional status as the 324th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron and assigned to United States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed. It was active at Ramstein Air Base, Germany from July to December 2009 and again from March to June of 2010. It was active agan at Naval Station Rota, Spain from July to October 2010. It was most recently activated at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy in March 2011, and has been part of the 409th Air Expeditionary Group since 2012.[1] It performs launch and recovery operations supporting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft; first with the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and currently the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. The 324th provides the Commander of Air Forces Africa with real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and kinetic strike in support of counter-terrorism campaign plans through MQ-9 launch, recovery and maintenance.[8]

• 91st Bombardment Group, 15 April 1942 – 7 November 1945
• 91st Reconnaissance Group (later 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group), 1 July 1947 (attached to 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing after 10 February 1951)
• 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 28 May 1952 – 8 November 1957
• 404th Air Expeditionary Group, 2 July 2009 – 9 December 2009
• 404th Air Expeditionary Group, 26 March 2010 – 1 June 2010
• 404th Air Expeditionary Group, 28 July 2010 – 1 October 2010
• United States Air Forces in Europe, 25 March 2011 (attached to Seventeenth Air Force)
• 404th Air Expeditionary Group, 30 March 2010 (attached to 100th Operations Group)
• 409th Air Expeditionary Group, 1 March 2012[8]

Explanatory notes

Citations

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

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
• Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-1987-7.