The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, dating to 16 June 1917, when it was organized atKelly Field, Texas. It deployed to England as part of theAmerican Expeditionary Forces, being engaged as an aircraft repair squadron duringWorld War I. The squadron saw combat duringWorld War II, and became part of theStrategic Air Command (SAC) during theCold War.
Originally organized atCamp Kelly, Texas on 16 June 1917 as the18th Aero Squadron but redesignated the23rd Aero Squadron six days later. Arriving in late July, 1918, in Britain, it started training before going to France, where it arrived on Armistice day. It was stationed at the Air Service Replacement Concentration BarracksSt. Maixent Replacement Barracks until c. 29 January 1919, then moved toSaint-Nazaire, from where it sailed back to US on 20 February. The squadron arrived at the port of embarkation in March and was demobilized there.
The23rd Bombardment Squadron was born in 1921 and in April 1924 was consolidated with the World War I23rd Aero Squadron. It spent the decades of the 1920s and 1930s stationed in Hawaii. There, the squadron flew a number of bomber types, most notably the Keystone bomber series and later theDouglas B-18 Bolo. It was during the squadron's stay in Hawaii that the event signified by the squadron emblem took place. On 27 December 1935, theMauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii erupted, threatening the city ofHilo. Six Keystones of the 23rd used precision bombing tactics to drop twenty 600-pound bombs in the path of the volcano's lava flow, thus saving the city of Hilo by diverting the lava away from the city.
Part of the 5th Bombardment Group, the 23rd fought its way across the Southwest Pacific during World War II. The 23rd initially flewBoeing B-17E Flying Fortresses into combat, replacing those withConsolidated B-24 Liberators by early 1943. Long-range over-water missions were the squadron's forte, and in April 1944 the squadron won its first of twoDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC)s for flying the longest over-water bombing mission ever flown to date, some 1,300 miles each way, to bomb the Japanese base atWoleai Island. After winning a second DUC for another long range strike against oil refineries on Borneo on 30 September 1944, the 23rd found itself in the Philippines at the close of the war.
AMartin B-10 of the 23d Bombardment Squadron taken in 1941 over Oahu, Hawaii.
After a brief period in the Far East after the war, the23rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron relocated toTravis Air Force Base, Calif ornia, in 1949. There, the squadron flew global strategic reconnaissance missions withBoeing RB-29 Superfortresses from 1949 to 1951,Convair RB-36F Peacemakers from 1951 to 1953, and RB-36Hs from 1953 to 1955. On 1 October 1955, the squadron was again redesignated the23rd Bombardment Squadron and reverted to training for long range nuclear strike missions with the same RB-36Hs. On 13 February 1959, the 23rd entered the jet age when it received its firstBoeing B-52G Stratofortress and also entered the missile age, as the B-52Gs were equipped with theAGM-28 Hound Dogstandoff missile and theADM-20 Quail decoy missile. The squadron flew the B-52G from Travis until July 1968.
A B-52H with a Navy EA-6B Prowler and Japanese F-2-fighters during exercise Cope North 09–1 in February 2009 over Andersen Air Force Base
On 25 July 1968, the 23rd moved, without personnel or equipment, toMinot Air Force Base, North Dakota, where it absorbed the personnel, equipment, and B-52H bombers of the inactivating720th Bombardment Squadron. The 23rd has been combat ready in B-52Hs since that time, continuously adding improvements in avionics, weapons, and tactics to its arsenal. In 1973, the squadron was the first unit to receive theAGM-69 SRAM (Short Range Attack Missile). In 1980, the 23rd gained the offensive avionics system, and led Strategic Air Command's venture into modern conventional war fighting as the lead unit for the Strategic Projection Force, in support of the U.S.Rapid Deployment Force. During the 1980s, the squadron pioneered night vision goggle tactics. The 23rd added theAGM-86BAir Launched Cruise Missile in 1989 and theAGM-129Advanced Cruise Missile in 1994.
The squadron, along with other bomber units provide aircraft and personnel for regular rotational deployments to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam part of the U.S. Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence since 2004.[3]
July 2012 see the 23rd Bomb Squadron deploy aircraft and personnel to Nellis AFB for Exercise Red Flag 12–4.[4]
June 2016 three of the unit's B-52H bombers deployed to RAF Fairford for NATO Maritime exercise "BALTOPS" and for JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) exercise "Saber Strike".[5]
26 March 2019 the 23rd BS assigned to the 23rd Expeditionary Bomber Squadron deployed two B-52 Stratofortresses fromAndersen Air Force Base, Guam, to Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin, Australia to participate in the biennial exercise Diamond Shield 2019.[6]
^Approved 30 September 1931, reinstated 13 January 1994. The unit emblem is a blue disk with a black volcano with red lava flowing from the crater, extending upward as red and yellow rays intermingling with clouds. On the front are five black bombs signifying the 23 BS with three on the dexter (right) side, and two on the sinister (left) side. On 27 December 1935 the unit was tasked to drop twenty 600-pound bombs in the path of the flow of lava fromMauna Loa volcano, thus saving the city ofHilo, Hawaii, from destruction. Although the original emblem was used after the squadron returned to the bombardment mission in 1955, it was not officially restored until 1994.
^Another 18th Aero Squadron was activated atRockwell Field, California on 20 August 1917. Maurer,Combat Squadrons, pp. 499–500. It is not related to the first 18th Aero Squadron, and was last active as the908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron.
Gorrell, Col. Edgar S. (1974).History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919. Series B: Air Service Activities with the French, British, and Italians. Vol. 2 History of the Air Service in Great Britain. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration.OCLC215070705.
Gorrell, Col. Edgar S. (1974).History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919. Series E: Squadron Histories. Vol. 4 History of the 22d-24th Aero Squadron. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration.OCLC215070705.
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United States Air Force
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency