11th Bomb Squadron | |
|---|---|
 11th Bomb Squadron commander's B-52H | |
| Active | 1917–1927; 1928–1945; 1954–1958; 1982–1991; 1994–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Strategic Bombing |
| Part of | Global Strike Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. |
| Nickname(s) | Jiggs Squadron or Bewilderment Group (World War I)[citation needed] |
| Colors | Gold and Black[citation needed] |
| Mascot(s) | Mr. Jiggs |
| Engagements |
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| Decorations |
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| Insignia | |
| 11th Bomb Squadron emblem[a][1] |  |
| 11th Tactical Missile Squadron emblem[b] | .png) |
| 11th Aero Squadron emblem[c][2] |  |
| Tail Code | LA |
The11th Bomb Squadron is a unit of theUnited States Air Force,2d Operations Group,2d Bomb Wing located atBarksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The 11th is equipped with theBoeing B-52H Stratofortress.[1]
The 11th is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force, first being organized as the11th Aero Squadron on 26 June 1917 atKelly Field, Texas. The squadron deployed to France and fought on theWestern Front duringWorld War I as a Day Bombardment squadron. It took part in theSt. Mihiel offensive and theMeuse-Argonne offensive.[3]
DuringWorld War II the unit served in thePacific Theater of Operations as aBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy of theFifth Air Force from 14 January to 1 March 1942, it operated against the Japanese advancing through the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies. The reorganizedNorth American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber squadron resumed combat from bases in India underTenth Air Force (May 1942 to 11 March 1942) and bases in China under theFourteenth Air Force (11 March 1943 to Aug 1945) against targets in Burma, China and South China Sea. During theCold War it was both a tacticalMartin TM-61 Matador andBGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile squadron as part of theUnited States Air Forces in Europe.[4][5]
"Provide frontline units with the highest quality B-52 aviators capable of maintaining the highest standards of conduct and performance required to assume the nation’s special trust and responsibility for the world’s most powerful weapons".[6]
After training in the United States, thesquadron sailed for Europe on theRMS Orduna on 18 December 1917. The 11th saw combat as a day bombardment unit withFirst Army, 14 September 1918, which was a bloody baptism of fire. But an attempted raid the following day practically devastated the fledgling squadron. "Out of a formation of six planes which crossed the lines," remembered surviving veteran Paul S. Green, "only one succeeded in staggering back in a riddled condition." Henceforward, the 11th Squadron, earlier designated the "Jiggs Squadron" was unkindly referred to throughout the U.S. Air Service as the "Bewilderment Group."[citation needed] Jiggs was a cartoon character invented five years before by an 11th Squadron officer,George McManus, whose comic strip,Bringing Up Father, was the first of its kind to attract a worldwide readership. The Bewilderment Group's emblem featured the famous Jiggs with a bomb tucked under his arm.[citation needed] The 11th flew combat from then to 5 November 1918.
With the end of World War I, the 11th Aero Squadron returned to New York Harbor. It arrived in about 30 April where it transferred to Camp Mills, Long Island the next day. There most of the men of the 11th Aero Squadron were demobilized and returned to civilian life.
On 26 May 1919, the 11th transferred toEllington Field, Texas, where it was manned and equipped with war surplusDayton-Wright DH-4s. Its mission was to take part in theUnited States Army Border Air Patrol along the Mexican Border. Between August and November 1919, it operated fromMarfa Field, and flew a border patrol along the Rio Grande betweenLajitas, Texas toEl Paso, Texas. It moved toKelly Field, Texas on 8 November 1919 and again became part of the1st Day Bombardment Group, although it remained on standby if needed along the Mexican Border.
In 1921 the squadron was redesignated11th Squadron (Bombardment), and in 1922 as the11th Bombardment Squadron. Transferred on 30 June 1922 toLangley Field, Virginia, and conducted bombing tests on obsolete warships off Chesapeake Bay. The squadron was assigned to theAir Corps Training Center and transferred on 3 June 1927 toMarch Field, California, where it was inactivated on 31 July 1927 and its personnel transferred to the54th School Squadron.[1][7]
The squadron was reactivated on 1 June 1928 atRockwell Field, California, and assigned to the7th Bombardment Group. It moved on 29 October 1931 to March Field. The squadron conducted food relief airdrop missions to native Americans snowed-in on reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah during 16–21 January 1932; and for marooned miners north ofLas Vegas, New Mexico on 13 February 1933; it was awarded theMackay Trophy for the 1932 relief flights.
The squadron moved on 5 December 1934 toHamilton Field, California. The 11th furnished thecadre to activate the22d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 October 1939. These future "Flying Falcons" operated theDouglas B-18 Bolo bomber and theNorthrop A-17 attack aircraft. After gathering personnel and equipment at Hamilton Field and conducting training, the units then re-equipped with theBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress, moving on toFort Douglas, Utah (laterSalt Lake City Army Air Base) on 7 September 1940. Both squadrons performed rescue and patrol duties from Fort Douglasc. 21 Jun − 13 November 1941.
In November 1941 the squadrons prepared for reassignment to the Philippines. The ground echelons sailed from San Francisco on 21 November with the air echelons expected to remain in the States until the ground echelon arrived in the Philippines. Before their arrival, however, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December and shortly thereafter began the campaign against the Philippines.
Following theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the air echelons of the 11th conductedantisubmarine patrols along the California coast fromMuroc Army Air Field, California from 8 to 12 December 1941 before moving on out into the Pacific Theater. Assigned to detached duty to theUnited States Navy atBrisbane, Australia on 22 December 1941, the squadron flew combat while operating fromHickam Field, Hawaii between 18 December 1941 and 5 January 1942.
Japanese forces attacked the Netherlands East Indies at about the same time the air echelon of the 11th arrived, beginning a battle that ended in the withdrawal of United States forces in early March. During the unsuccessful defense of the Indies, the main body of the squadron flew fromHollandia, meanwhile a detachment operated under Navy control from the Fiji Islands and then from Australia.
MajorAustin A. Straubel (4 September 1904 – 3 February 1942) was commander of the 11th Bombardment Squadron and acting commander of the 7th Bombardment Group when he died from burns received in the crash of a B-18 Bolo nearSurabaya,Java.[8][9][e]
In early March 1942, the 11th withdrew to Melbourne, Australia, remaining there for about a month. In April 1942 the squadron transferred all of its equipment and personnel to the19th Bombardment Group.
The squadron returned to the United States in mid-1942, leaving B-17s in Australia and being re-equipped under theThird Air Force as aNorth American B-25 Mitchell medium bombardment squadron. With the cadre units in place atColumbia Army Air Base, South Carolina, other personnel began to arrive from various parts of the U.S., by far the biggest contingent coming in fromKeesler Field, Mississippi.
While this build-up was going on an advance cadre of the ground element of the 11th were establishing the organization in theChina-Burma-India Theater (CBI). That cadre arrived atKarachi Airport, India (now Pakistan) on 20 May 1942, working their way to their staging base atAllahabad Airfield, India, by 27 May, and moving on toKunming Airport, China by 14 June. The unit was among the first few bomber units in the CBI. The aircraft were readied for flight operations by Air Technical Service Command at Karachi Air Depot and dispatched toChakulia Airfield, India (now Bangladesh) in December.
In the middle of April 1942, the air element of the 11th, consisting of trained B-25 combat crews, began to arrive atMorrison Field, Florida, as part of Project 157. Each crew was assigned an aircraft. Some two weeks were spent outfitting the B-25s, testing all the apparatus, and getting the crews accustomed to working together. The night of 2 May 1942, the first crews left for overseas, flying along theSouth Atlantic Ferry Route initially bound forNatal, Brazil. The B-25s were not only completely fitted and ready for immediate combat, but were loaded with a great variety of extra ground equipment for maintaining aircraft and crews. Every one of the aircraft had at least 500 pounds over themaximum weight overload for safe flight and this route had never been flown over by combat crews before, asAir Corps Ferrying Command pilots had flown Mitchells along the route only with gasoline in the fuel tanks carrying little else.
Once reaching Natal, the ferrying route toAccra in the Gold Coast was taken, then across southern Africa toKhartoum, Sudan. The aircraft were then flown throughAden and followed the old BritishImperial Airways route around the southern part of Arabia and Iran to Karachi. At Accra, several B-25s picked up formations of six to eightCurtiss P-40 Warhawks which had landed from anaircraft carrier. Many of these same P-40s and pilots later flew escort on missions in China. Three aircraft never reached India and some arrived several months after the others. By the end of May 1942 most of the other crews of Project 157 arrived in Karachi and were assigned to the 11th Bombardment Squadron.
On 2 June 1942, six B-25s left Allahabad on a secret mission of 15 days' duration. Each aircraft carried one extra crewman to act as relief during the expected two weeks' activity. This was to be the first tactical mission of the 11th Bombardment Squadron as a B-25 squadron. That night saw them at Dinjan, India, in the Assam Valley and the western end of the ferry route acrossthe Hump into Southern China. At 0600 hours the next morning the flights took off for Kunming, China, detouring by way ofLashio, Burma. By 10 June, eight B-25s had reached their base at Kunming. The 11th Bombardment Squadron was the first United States air combat unit in China. Until their arrival, only theAmerican Volunteer Group (AVG) was flying combat missions.
Operating under the provisionalChina Air Task Force (CATF) at Kunming, the first combat mission in China was on 1 July 1942, against shipping in theHankow area, with AVG fighters flying escort. No opposition of any kind was found. The next day, three B-25s made a return trip to Hankow, this time concentrating on the warehouse and docking facilities.
On 15 September 1942 the 11th was transferred from the 7th Bombardment Group to the341st Bombardment Group. The 341st Group usually functioned as if it were two groups, with its headquarters and three of its squadrons, the 22d, 490th and491st Bombardment Squadrons operating under theTenth Air Force in India and flying missions against the Japanese in Burma until January 1944; when the 341st was redeployed, the 490th was attached to the Tenth AF while the remainder of the Group joined the 11th in China. Throughout 1942–43, the 11th was attached to and received its operational orders from the CATF, which later became theFourteenth Air Force.[10][11]
From several airfields in China the group engaged primarily in attacking enemy concentrations and storage areas and in conducting sea sweeps and attacks against inland shipping. They also bombed and strafed such targets as trains, harbors and railroads in French Indochina (now Vietnam) and theCanton-Hong Kong area of China. The 341st Bomb Group received aDistinguished Unit Citation for special success in applying 'Glip' bombing technique (modified from Skip / Glide) against enemy bridges in the Hanoi region of French Indochina.[10]
In July 1945, selected pilots, navigators and engineer-gunners were sent to Fenni, India for transition training in theDouglas A-26 Invader. After completing training, they flew their A-26s to China and were involved in a move from Yangkai to Laohwangping Airfield when the Pacific War ended before they could fly any combat missions. Three missions to drop leaflets announcing the war's end were performed before the squadron was ordered to India.[10]
The 11th's A-26 crews remained to ferry their aircraft to Germany, where they would get caught up flying transports moving American personnel headed home to ports of embarkation. The rest of the squadron's personnel sailed back to the United States. The 11th Bombardment Squadron (M) was inactivated on 2 November 1945, the day after the squadron personnel disembarked atNewark, New Jersey.[10]
The11th Pilotless Bomber Squadron was activated in 1954 as aMartin B-61 Matador tactical missile squadron underNinth Air Force. It was subsequently redesignated the11th Tactical Missile Squadron on 8 June 1955, and on 1 July 1956 the 11th deployed to Europe attached to the 7382nd Guided Missile Group (Tactical) atHahn Air Base, West Germany, assigned toUnited States Air Forces in Europe. It was reassigned to the587th Tactical Missile Group, which replaced the 7382d at Hahn.
On 18 June 1958, the 11th was inactivated and replaced with the822d Tactical Missile Squadron, with the activation of the38th Tactical Missile Wing and the inactivation of the701st Tactical Missile Wing.
The 11th was reactivated in 1982 as aBGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile squadron atRAF Greenham Common, England. Just before activation, it was consolidated with the11th Bombardment Squadron. The squadron was inactivated in 1991 with the elimination of GLCMs from Europe as a result of theIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
The 11th was redesignated as aheavy bomber squadron and equipped with Boeing B-52Hs at Barksdale AFB in 1994 as part ofAir Combat Command; it was reassigned toGlobal Strike Command in 2010.
Since 1994, it has trained B-52 combat crews, maintained readiness to deploy in support of national objectives, and maintained ability to sustain heavy firepower in global situations.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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