513th Electronic Warfare Squadron

In early 1942, the Afrika Corps was threatening British forces in Egypt. In response, two contingents of American heavy bombers were diverted to support the British. A flight of Consolidated B-24 Liberators being ferried to India was halted from its travel in June and some Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses from the 9th and 436th Bombardment Squadrons were flown to the Middle East from India. On 20 July 1942, these elements were organized into the 1st Provisional Group at RAF Lydda, Palestine.[5]

376th Group B-24 Liberator taking off from a Libyan base

On 31 October 1942, the 1st Group was dissolved and replaced by a formal Army Air Forces unit, the 376th Bombardment Group.[6] The 513th Bombardment Squadron was activated as one of its four component squadrons.[1][7] The squadron was originally equipped with a mix of Liberators and Flying Fortresses, but by the end of the year, the B-17s were transferred to Twelfth Air Force and the squadron became an all B-24 unit.[8]

Moving forward to bases in Egypt and Libya, the squadron attacked shipping in the Mediterranean and harbor installations in Libya, Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy to cut enemy supply lines to North Africa. After the fall of Tunisia in May 1943, the squadron focused on attacks on aerodromes, marshalling yards, and other objectives in Sicily and Italy, moving forward to Enfidaville Airfield, Tunisia in late September. Its actions during these attacks on enemy targets from its activation through August 1943 earned the squadron its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[1][7]

On 1 August 1943, operating from Benina Airport, Libya, the squadron participated in Operation Tidal Wave, the low level attack on oil refineries near Ploesti, with the squadron's parent group leading the attack formation.[9] As it approached its assigned targets, the lead aircraft realized that an order from the group commander, who had misidentified the initial point, put the group off course.[10] The group attempted an attack on the Romana Americana[11] refinery, its assigned objective from a different direction. By this time, enemy air defenses had been alerted and intense flak forced the unit to attack targets of opportunity. The squadron was awarded its second DUC for this operation.[7]

The squadron moved to San Pancrazio Airfield, Italy in November 1943, where it became part of Fifteenth Air Force and would remain until April 1945. It primarily flew long range strategic bombardment missions to targets in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans to bomb factories, marshalling yards, oil refineries, oil storage facilities, airdromes, bridges, harbors, and other objectives. On 16 June 1944, it received a third DUC for an attack on oil industry targets in Bratislava. The squadron also provided air support for Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio and flew interdiction missions to support the Battle of Monte Cassino between February and March 1944. In the fall of 1944, it assisted the Red Army in its advance through the Balkans, and in early 1945, supported Operation Grapeshot, the spring offensive in Northern Italy. The squadron was withdrawn from combat in April 1945 and left Italy for the United States.[1][7]

The squadron arrived at Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska in May 1945 and began conversion to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. However the war in the Pacific ended before the squadron was fully trained. After it moved to March Field, California on 1 November, the squadron was not fully manned or equipped. It was inactivated on 28 March 1946,[1] and most of its few resources at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida were absorbed by the 498th Bombardment Group.

The squadron was redesignated the 513th Reconnaissance Squadron and activated at Gravelly Point, Virginia in May 1947. Although the squadron was reassigned to Air Weather Service in September, and to the 308th Reconnaissance Group in October, it was not manned before inactivating on 20 September 1948.[1]

Boeing WB-29A

The squadron was reactivated at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California in August 1949. After drawing its cadre and training with the 2078th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron on various models of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the squadron moved to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma in November.[1] Air Weather Service reorganized its weather reconnaissance assets at this time, inactivating the 308th Reconnaissance Group,[12] and the squadron was assigned directly to Air Weather Service headquarters. The squadron was inactivated in February 1951,[1] as Air Weather Service again reorganized its reconnaissance units to focus on overseas operations.

EB-47E Stratojet in 376th Wing markings

The squadron was redesignated the 513th Bombardment Squadron and reactivated at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas in June 1951. The squadron was again equipped with Superfortress bombers and assigned to the 376th Group. It began training in strategic bombardment in August. However, SAC’s mobilization for the Korean War highlighted that SAC wing commanders focused too much on running the base organization and did not spend enough time on overseeing actual combat preparations. To allow wing commanders the ability to focus on combat operations, SAC air base group commanders became responsible for managing the base housekeeping functions. Under the plan implemented in February 1951 and finalized in June 1952, the wing commander focused primarily on the combat units and the maintenance necessary to support combat aircraft by having the combat and maintenance squadrons report directly to the wing and eliminating the intermediate group structures.[13] As a result of this "dual deputy" reorganization, the 376th Group was inactivated and the squadron was assigned directly to the 376th Bombardment Wing in June 1952.[1]

The squadron moved to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana in October. By November 1952, electronic countermeasures (ECM) training began to predominate over bombardment, and by September 1953, ECM had become the unit's primary mission.[1][14] In 1954, the squadron converted to Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet medium bombers. It moved again in 1957, this time to Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio. After 1958, Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-47 units began to assume an alert posture at their home base.[15]

During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, SAC dispersed its B-47s on 22 October. Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with Reserve or Air National Guard units. B-47s were configured for execution of the Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersal.[16] On 24 October SAC went to DEFCON 2, placing all aircraft on alert.[17] On 15 November 1/6 of the dispersed B-47s were recalled to their home bases. The remaining dispersed B-47s and supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned to normal alert posture.[18] The squadron continued to train in electronic warfare techniques until beginning to phase down for inactivation in March 1965 with the retirement of the Stratojet from SAC's inventory.[1][14]

The squadron was designated the 513th Test Squadron and activated at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska on 1 July 1986, when assumed the functions that had been performed by SAC's 4201st Test Squadron, which had been organized at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana on 15 September 1974 and which was assigned directly to Strategic Air Command headquarters. The squadron conducted operational test and evaluation of Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Rockwell B-1 Lancer, and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and support systems. When SAC was disestablished in June 1992, the squadron was transferred to the USAF Air Warfare Center, but continued its mission until inactivated in May 1997.[1]

The squadron was redesignated the 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron and activated at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in April 2010 with an electronic warfare mission, flying the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.[1]

• 376th Bombardment Group, 31 October 1942
• 497th Bombardment Group, 1 November 1945 – 31 March 1946
• 376th Reconnaissance Group, 23 May 1947
• Air Weather Service, 26 September 1947
• 308th Reconnaissance Group, 14 October 1947 – 20 September 1948
• 308th Reconnaissance Group, 10 August 1949
• Air Weather Service, 19 December 1950 – 20 February 1951
• 376th Bombardment Group, 1 June 1951
• 376th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 15 March 1965
• Strategic Air Command, 1 July 1986 – 1 June 1992 (attached to SAC Combat Operations Staff)
• USAF Air Warfare Center, 1 June 1992
• 68th Electronic Combat Group, 15 April 1993 – 31 May 1997
• 53d Electronic Warfare Group, 23 April 2010[1]
• 350th Spectrum Warfare Group, 25 June 2021 – present[19]

Explanatory notes

Citations

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

• Cruickshank, Earl (June 1944). "The Ploesti Mission of 1 August 1943, USAF Historical Study No. 103" (PDF). Assistant Chief of Staff Intelligence, Historical Division. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
• Deaile, Melvin G. (2007). The SAC Mentality: The Origins of Organizational Culture in Strategic Air Command 1946–1962. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
• 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.
• 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.
• Rust, Kenn C. (1967). The 9th Air Force in World War II. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, Inc. LCCN 67-16454.
• 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.