| 545th Bombardment Squadron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1942–1946; 1947–1949; 1955–1964 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | medium bomber |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 545th Bombardment Squadron emblem(B-47 era)[a] | .png) |
| 545th Bombardment Squadron emblem(World War II)[1] | .png) |
| World War II fuselage code[1] | JD |
The545th Bombardment Squadron is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the384th Bombardment Wing atLittle Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, where it was inactivated on 1 September 1964.
Thesquadron was first activated duringWorld War II as aheavy bomber unit. After training in the United States, it moved to England, where it participated in thestrategic bombing campaign against Germany. It earned twoDistinguished Unit Citations during combat over Europe. It remained in Europe afterV-E Day, and was inactivated in France in 1946. The squadron was again active in thereserve from 1947 to 1949, but does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped.
The squadron was activated byStrategic Air Command at Little Rock in 1955, and served as part of SAC's strategic deterrent force until inactivating as SAC phased out theBoeing B-47 Stratojet.
The squadron was first organized atGowen Field, Idaho on 1 December 1942 as one of the original foursquadrons of the384th Bombardment Group. It moved the next month toWendover Field, Utah, where it began training with theBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress. It completed training in May 1943, and began its move to theEuropean Theater of Operations.[2][3] The ground echelon departedSioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, for the port of embarkation atCamp Kilmer, New Jersey, on 10 May and sailed on theRMS Queen Elizabeth on 23 May 1943. The air echelon staged throughKearney Army Air Field Nebraska starting on 3 May and ferried their B-17s via the northern ferry route. The first planes arrived atRAF Grafton Underwood on 25 May 1943.[4]
The squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Grafton Underwood on 6 June 1943.[2] It flew its first mission on 23 June, a diversionary strike against theFord andGeneral Motors plants atAntwerp.[4] The squadron primarily flew missions in thestrategic bombing campaign against Germany, strikingair bases and industrial targets in France and Germany. Targets includedOrleans/Bricy andNancy/Azelot Airfields, an engine manufacturing factory atCologne, acoke distillation facility atGelsenkirchen, an aircraft component plant atHalberstadt, weapons manufacturers atSolingen, a steel manufacturing plant atMagdeburg andthe ball bearing factory at Schweinfurt.[3]
The squadron participated in a raid on aircraft factories in Germany on 11 January 1944 for which it was awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC). This was a prelude toBig Week, a concentrated series of raids byEighth Air Force, aimed at destroying Germany's aircraft manufacturing industry in late February. On 24 April 1944, the 384th Group, although crippled by heavy losses, led the41st Bombardment Wing, in an attack on theDornier Flugzeugwerke aircraft manufacturing plant atOberpfaffenhofen, pressing the attack through almost overwhelming opposition. Onegroup commander described the opposition on this mission as the heaviest he had seen during the war.[5] This mission resulted in the award of a second DUC to the squadron. Other strategic targets included communications centers, oil refineries and storage facilities atLeipzig andBerlin,marshalling yards atDuren andMannheim, and port facilities.[3]
The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign to flyair support andinterdiction missions. It attacked targets along the coast of Normandy to supportOperation Overlord, continuing these attacks throughD-Day, when it attacked airfields and communications facilities beyond the beachhead. On 24 and 25 July 1944, it supportedOperation Cobra, the breakout atSaint Lo with attacks on strong points just beyond enemy lines. It hit armor and artillery concentrations nearEindhoven to supportOperation Market Garden, the attempt to seize a bridgehead across theRhine in the Netherlands during September 1944. It attacked enemy fortifications and communications during theBattle of the Bulge from December 1944 through January 1945. When theAllies attacked across the Rhine in Germany in March 1945, it attacked rail facilities, including marshalling yards and bridges to cut enemy supply lines.[3]
The squadron flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945.[4] AfterV-E Day the squadron remained in Europe as part ofUnited States Air Forces in Europe. It assistedAir Transport Command in the Green Project by flying soldiers toCasablanca, French Morocco for transport back to the United States. From its continental base atIstres Air Base, France, it flew Greek military back to their homeland, and transporteddisplaced persons. The squadron transported American troops to Germany to serve in themilitary occupation forces there, but was gradually drawn down. It was inactivated in France in February 1946 and its remaining personnel and equipment were absorbed by the306th Bombardment Group.[2][3][4]
The squadron was activated in thereserve atNashville Municipal Airport, Tennessee in July 1947.[2] The unit's training was initially supervised byAir Defense Command. In 1948Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve andAir National Guard units from ADC.[6] Although it does not appear that the unit was fully manned or equipped at this time,[7] PresidentTruman’s reduced 1949 defense budget also required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,[8] and the 545th was inactivated,[2] as reserve flying operations at Nashville ceased
The squadron was activated atLittle Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas in August 1955. However, it was minimally manned and did not begin to receive itsBoeing B-47 Stratojets until the following year. The squadron began to train in its intercontinental bombing mission in February 1956. As part ofOperation Reflex, the squadron deployed toRAF Brize Norton from 3 January to 5 April 1957.[9] Reflex placed Stratojets andBoeing KC-97s at bases closer to the Soviet Union for 90 day periods, although individuals rotated back to home bases during unit Reflex deployments[10]
From 1958, the Stratojet wings ofStrategic Air Command (SAC) began to assume analert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. GeneralThomas S. Power’s initial goal was to maintain one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.[11] The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.[12]
During the 1962Cuban Missile Crisis, The squadron's B-47s dispersed on 22 October.[13] Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with reserve orAir National Guard units. The B-47s were configured for execution of theEmergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersal.[14] On 24 October SAC went toDEFCON 2, placing all the squadron's aircraft on alert.[15] As tensions began to ease, on 15 November 1/6 of the dispersed B-47s were recalled to their home bases.[16] On 21 November SAC relaxed its readiness status to DEFCON 3. The squadron's remaining dispersed B-47s were recalled to home base on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned to normal alert posture.[17]
However, SAC was phasing the B-47 out of its nuclear delivery forces and the squadron was inactivated along with its parent wing on 1 September 1964.[18]
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Distinguished Unit Citation | Germany, 11 January 1944 | [2] |
| Distinguished Unit Citation | Germany, 24 April 1944 | [2] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 14 February 1957-31 December 1957 | [2] |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Offensive, Europe | 3 June 1943 – 5 June 1944 | [2] |
| Air Combat, EAME Theater | 3 June 1943 – 11 May 1945 | [2] |
| Normandy | 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 | [2] |
| Northern France | 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 | [2] |
| Rhineland | 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 | [2] |
| Ardennes-Alsace | 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 | [2] |
| Central Europe | 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 | [2] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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