366th Bombardment Squadron
The 366th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was as part of the 305th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Grissom Air Force Base, Indiana. It was inactivated on 1 January 1970.
| 366th Bombardment Squadron | |
|---|---|
 Alert crew of a B-58 Hustler scrambling | |
| Active | 1942–1946; 1947–1948; 1951–1970 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Bombardment |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations[1] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[1] |
| Insignia | |
| 366th Bombardment Squadron emblem[note 1][1] |  |
| World War II fuselage code[2] | KY |
History
World War II
Established in June 1942 as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron, the squadron trained under the Second Air Force; it deployed to the European Theater of Operations in September 1942, being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England. It began flying long-range strategic bombardment missions on 17 November 1942 and attacked such targets as submarine pens, docks, harbors, shipyards, vehicle factories and marshalling yards in France, Germany and the Low Countries. It continued attacks on enemy cities, manufacturing centers, transportation links and other targets until the German capitulation in May 1945.
After combat missions ended, the squadron moved to Sint-Truiden Air Base in Belgium in July 1945 where it conducted photo-mapping and intelligence-gathering flights called Project Casey Jones over Europe and North Africa. On 15 December 1945, it moved to Lechfeld Airfield, Germany which it had bombed on 18 March 1944 and now used as an occupation base. The squadron was inactivated on December 1946 in Germany.
Strategic Air Command
The squadron was reactivated under Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1951 with Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium jet bombers, originally B-47As,then B-47Bs. It began flying operational strategic bombardment and refueling missions from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. In 1955, SAC upgraded the squadron to the B-47E, the major production version of the Stratojet. The squadron, still with B-47s, moved to Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana in May 1959.
B-58 operations
The squadron began training crews on the Convair B-58 Hustler in 1961, replacing its Stratojets. The squadron also was equipped with training models of the Hustler.[1]
At the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Only six B-58s in the entire SAC inventory were on alert. Even these aircraft were "second cycle" (follow on) sorties. Training was suspended, and the squadron, along with SAC's other B-58 squadrons, began placing its bombers on alert. By the first week of November, 84 B-58s were standing nuclear alert, and as SAC redeployed its Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, 20 of these were "first cycle" sorties.[note 2] Within a short time, this grew to 41 bombers. By 20 November, SAC resumed its normal alert posture, and half the squadron's aircraft were kept on alert.[3][4]
In December 1965, Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense announced a phaseout program that would further reduce SAC’s bomber force. This program called for the mid-1971 retirement of all B-58s and some Boeing B-52 Stratofortress models.[5] With the removal of the B-58 from SAC's bomber force, the squadron was inactivated in January 1970.
Lineage
- Constituted as the 366th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 June 1942
- Activated on 1 March 1942
- Redesignated 366th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
- Inactivated on 25 December 1946
- Redesignated 366th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 11 June 1947
- Activated on 1 July 1947
- Inactivated on 6 September 1948
- Redesignated 366th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 20 December 1950
- Activated on 2 January 1951[6]
- Inactivated on 1 January 1970
Assignments
- 305th Bombardment Group, 1 March 1942 – 25 December 1946
- 305th Bombardment Group, 1 Jul 1947 – 6 Sep 1948
- 305th Bombardment Group, 2 January 1951 (attached to 305th Bombardment Wing after 10 February 1951)[7]
- 305th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 1 January 1970[8][7]
Stations
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Aircraft
- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1946
- Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1951-1953
- Boeing B-47A Stratojet, 1952-1953
- Boeing B-47B Stratojet, 1953–1955
- Boeing B-47E Stratojet, 1955–1961
- Convair B-58 Hustler, 1961–1970[6][14]
References
Notes
- Explanatory notes
- Approved 17 July 1944. Description: A yellow orange disc within a grayed blue annulet, piped back and bordered orange, surmounted by a white death's head with stylized wings of the sane, shaded blue, above a red aerial bomb, falling to dexter base, all casting deep drop shadow black.
- The availability of KC-135s to refuel the B-58s was the main factor in relegating them to the second cycle of the war plan. KC-135s were primarily dedicated to refueling B-52s. See Kipp et al. p. 30 and following for SAC bomber actions during the Cuban Crisis.
- Citations
- Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp.452-453
- Watkins, p. 54
- Kipp et al. , pp. 57-58, 61
- "Abstract (Unclassified), History of the Strategic Bomber since 1945 (Top Secret, downgraded to Secret)". Air Force History Index. 1 April 1975. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- Knaack, p. 248 n.41
- Lineage information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp.452-453.
- Ravenstein, pp. 150-151
- Assignment information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp.452-453, except as noted.
- Station number in Anderson, p.19.
- Station number in Johnson, p. 23.
- Station number in Johnson, p. 40.
- Station information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp.452-453, except as noted.
- See Ravenstein, pp. 150-151 (assignment to 305th Wing while wing at Grissom).
- See Ravenstein, pp. 150-151 (305th aircraft).
Bibliography
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. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- 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.
- 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.
- Knaack, Marcelle Size (1988). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5.
- 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.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- 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.
