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72d Test and Evaluation Squadron | |
|---|---|
 B-2 Spirit landing atWhiteman AFB | |
| Active | 1918–1919; 1923–1947; 1947–1963; 1994–1996; 1998–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Weapon system testing and evaluation |
| Part of | Air Combat Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Whiteman Air Force Base |
| Engagements | World War I World War II |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Navy Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Philippine Presidential Unit Citation |
| Insignia | |
| 72d Test and Evaluation Squadron emblem(approved 14 February 1924)[1] |  |
The72d Test and Evaluation Squadron is part of the53d Wing atEglin Air Force Base, Florida. The squadron is geographically separated but is operated fromWhiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It conducts testing and evaluation of theB-2 Spirit aircraft.
The B-2 weapon system, which costs $44.6 billion, is tested and evaluated operationally by the squadron. The squadron assesses the B-2 weapons system's capability to meet all significant requirements and reports weapon system capabilities.
The unit provides experienced operations, maintenance, engineering, and analysis personnel who plan and conduct ground and flight tests, and analyze, evaluate, and report on the effectiveness and suitability of B-2 logistics support, tactics and survivability, foreign military exploitation, weapons and mission planning. The squadron reports results and conclusions to support DoD acquisition, deployment and employment decisions.[2]
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The squadron was formed in Texas in early 1918. After a period of training and organization, it departed from New York in the late summer of 1918, arriving in France on 4 September. It stayed two weeks at the Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks,St. Maixent, then transited throughDelouze Aerodrome before reachingColombey-les-Belles Airdrome where it worked for the 1st Air Depot as "Advance Section, Serv. of Supply Air Park Squadron". It remained in France after the armistice until June 1919, arriving back in New York and subsequently demobilized in July.[1]
Reorganized in 1923 as a reconnaissance squadron, assigned to5th Composite Group in Hawaii as part of the islands air defense organization. Assigned toLuke Field onFord Island. Activities included training, participating in Army-Navy maneuvers, staging aerial reviews and sowing seeds from the air for the Territorial Forestry Division. In 1935, the squadron helped save the city ofHilo, Hawaii, during the eruption of theMauna Loavolcano. TenKeystone B-3 andKeystone B-4 bombers from the group's23d and72d Bombardment Squadrons dropped twenty 600-pound bombs around the volcano to divert molten lava away from the town.[1]
When the Navy moved its Pacific Fleet fromSan Diego toPearl Harbor in 1939, the squadron moved toHickam Field. Was equipped with a mixture ofDouglas B-18 Bolos and earlyB-17C/D Flying Fortresses in 1941 when the Japanese attacked Hawaii. The group suffered devastating personnel and aircraft losses in thePearl Harbor Attack, remaining in Hawaii until September 1942 re-equipping.[1]
Deployed to theSouth Pacific, engaging in long-range bombing of enemy targets in theSolomon Islands andCentral Pacific using Very Long-RangeConsolidated B-24 Liberators. participating inMacArthur's island-hopping campaign in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies. Participated in the Philippines Campaign, earning aPhilippine Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in combat, 1944–1945. Inactivated atClark Field, 1947 although most personnel had already returned to the United States.[1]
Reactivated atLadd Field, Alaska in 1947 assuming the mission, personnel and equipment of the46th Reconnaissance Squadron with a mission to conduct strategic reconnaissance operations over theArctic. The squadron's reconnaissance missions included electronic and weather monitoring flights used to track Soviet activities in the area. Between 1948 and 1949 theBoeing RB-29 Superfortresses of the 72d conducted numerous photographic reconnaissance and ELINT missions over the Soviet Arctic and Far East. Equipped with cameras that enabled then to remain in international airspace, whilst photographing targets deep inside Soviet territory, the aircraft searched for evidence of Soviet military activity, but unsurprisingly, found little going on in the inhospitable Arctic wastes but nobody knew what was happening further inland. To investigate activity deeper inside theSoviet Union, some RB-29s were stripped of all unnecessary equipment, allowing them to increase their operating ceiling, and began overflying Soviet territory.[3]
PresidentHarry Truman, authorized the first overflight on 5 August 1948 when an RB-29 took off from Ladd AFB and, after routing overSiberia and spending over 19 hours in the air, eventually landed atYokota Air Base, Japan. Even longer flights soon became routine with aircraft operating up to 35,000 ft, covering 5000 miles and remaining airborne for occasionally up to 30 hours. Although the Soviet Military was equipped rudimentary radar, copied from World War II US supplied equipment, large gaps existed in their radar coverage, particularly over the vast Arctic region. These gaps were soon identified and exploited by the RB-29s as they penetrated deeper inside the Soviet Union. Although they were detected on many occasions, none of the RB-29s was ever intercepted because the earlyMiG-15 was the only fighter with sufficient performance to reach these high-flying aircraft and none of the new fighters were then stationed in Siberia.[3]
The most significant of these missions included one on 3 September 1949 which identified the first evidence of a successful explosion of a Soviet nuclear weapon in theSemipalatinsk test site in Eastern Kazakhstan on 29 August 1949.[3]
Moved to the Continental United States in 1951, being re-equipped with Very Long RangeRB-36H Peacemaker strategic reconnaissance bombers and assigned to the5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing atFairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California. The aircraft were equipped with four J47 jet engines and with fourteen K-17C, K-22A, K-38, and K-40 cameras. It also received some advanced electronics. Its normal crew was 22, which included 5 gunners to man the 16 M-24A-1 20-mm cannon. Conducted global strategic reconnaissance until 1955, conducting ELINT and Ferret missions along the east Asian coastline. Gradually shifting to bombardment training mission beginning in 1954 as the 72d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, on 1 October 1955.[3]
Flew B-36Js heavy bombers until their phaseout in 1958, being reassigned to the4134th Strategic Wing, being re-equipped withBoeing B-52F Stratofortress intercontinental heavy bombers. Was reassigned toMather Air Force Base, California by SAC to disperse its heavy bomber force. Conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and providing nuclear deterrent. Was inactivated in 1963 when SAC inactivated its strategic wings, replacing them with permanent Air Force Wings. Squadron was inactivated with its aircraft, personnel and equipment being transferred to the441st Bombardment Squadron.[1]
Reactivated as a B-52H heavy bomb squadron atMinot Air Force Base, North Dakota in late 1994, but inactivated on 1 July 1996.
Reactivated as aB-2 Spirit stealth bomber evaluation squadron in 1998.[1]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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