343d Bomb Squadron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1942–1946; 1947–1966; 2010–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Bombardment |
| Part of | Air Force Reserve Command |
| Motto(s) | Heed the Avengers (1957–1966) |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation[1] |
| Insignia | |
| 343 Bomb Sq emblem[b][1] |  |
| 343d Bombardment Squadron emblem (World War II) |  |
The343d Bomb Squadron is aUnited States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the307th Operations Group. It is stationed atBarksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
The squadron was first activated duringWorld War II as the343d Bombardment Squadron. It saw combat in theMediterranean Theater of Operations, participating in the low level attack onoil refineries nearPloiești, Romania. It earned twoDistinguished Unit Citations for its combat operations. AfterVE Day the squadron returned to the United States and trained withBoeing B-29 Superfortresses until inactivating in spring 1946.
The squadron was reactivated in 1947 with Superfortresses. During theKorean War, it was deployed to Japan and earned another Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat operations. The squadron returned to the United States and converted to theBoeing B-47 Stratojet, which it flew until inactivating in 1966 when the B-47 was withdrawn from service andLincoln Air Force Base closed. It was activated in thereserve in 2010 as aBoeing B-52H Stratofortress squadron.
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Thesquadron was first activated atMacDill Field, Florida as one of the original four squadrons assigned to the98th Bombardment Group. The 343d soon moved toBarksdale Field, Louisiana, where it began to train as aConsolidated B-24 Liberatorheavy bomber squadron underThird Air Force.[1][2]
The squadron's training was short and it deployed to Egypt in July 1942[1] over theSouth Atlantic Ferrying Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean Sea to Brazil. It made the Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia, then transited east across central Africa to Sudan. The air echelon of the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by theSSPasteur around theCape of Good Hope, joining with the air echelon of the squadron, the344th Bombardment Squadron and groupheadquarters atSt Jean d'Acre Airfield, in Palestine.[3]
Upon arrival in the Near East, the squadron became part of United States Army Middle East Air Force, which was replaced byNinth Air Force in November. It entered combat in August, attacking shipping and harbor installations to cutAxis supply lines to North Africa. It also bombedairfields and rail transit lines inSicily and mainland Italy. The squadron moved forward with Ninth Air Force to airfields in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia supporting theBritish Eighth Army[citation needed] in theWestern Desert Campaign. Its support of this campaign earned the squadron theDistinguished Unit Citation.[1]
On 1 August 1943, the squadron participated inOperation Tidal Wave, the low-level raid onoil refineries nearPloiești, Romania. Alerted to the vulnerability of the Ploiești refineries by a June 1942 raid by theHALPRO project, the area around Ploiești had become one of the most heavily defended targets in Europe.[4] The squadron pressed its attack on the Asta Romana Refinery through smoke and fire from bombing by another group's earlier attack and heavyflak defenses. The squadron's actions in this engagement earned it a second Distinguished Unit Citation.[1] The squadron lost half of its B-24s on the Ploiești Raid.[5]
1st Lt. Donald D Pucket was posthumously award theMedal of Honor for trying to save the crew of his severely damagedB-24 Liberator bomber after an attack on the heavily defendedoil refineries nearPloiești, Romania on 9 July 1944.
When the forces driving East from Egypt and Libya met up with those moving westward from Algeria and Morocco in Tunisia in September 1943, Ninth Air Force was transferred to England to become the tactical air force for the invasion of the European Continent.[6] The squadron, along with allArmy Air Forces units in North Africa became part ofTwelfth Air Force. In November 1943, the squadron moved toBrindisi Airport, Italy, where it became part ofFifteenth Air Force, which assumed control of strategic operations in theMediterranean Theater of Operations, while Twelfth became a tactical air force.[2][7]
The squadron continued strategic bombardment raids on targets in occupied France, southern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and targets in the Balkans. These included industrial sites, airfields, harbors andlines of communication. Although focusing on strategic bombing, the squadron was sometimes diverted to tactical operations, supportingOperation Shingle, the landings atAnzio and theBattle of Monte Cassino. In the summer of 1944, the squadron supportedOperation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France.[2] The unit also assisted theSoviet advance into the Balkans,[2] and supportedYugoslav Partisans andguerillas in neighboring countries.[citation needed]
The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945. Upon arrival it was redesignated as a very heavyBoeing B-29 Superfortress squadron and began training for deployment to the Pacific to joinstrategic bombing campaign against Japan. In November 1945, the 98th Group was inactivated and the squadron moved toMarch Field, California, where it was assigned to the40th Bombardment Group. B-29 training continued until the unit was inactivated in March 1946.[1]
_attacking_target_in_Korea_1951.jpg)
The squadron was reactivated in 1947 as aStrategic Air Command (SAC) Superfortress unit atSpokane Army Air Field, Washington. The squadron performed strategic bombardment training missions until theKorean War broke out.[1]
In the summer of 1950, when theKorean War began, the19th Bombardment Wing was the onlymedium bomber unit available for combat in the Pacific. In August, SAC dispatched the squadron and other elements of the 98th Bombardment Group toYokota Air Base, Japan to augment FEAF Bomber Command, Provisional. The group flew its first combat mission on 7 August againstmarshalling yards nearPyongyang, capital of North Korea. The squadron's missions focused oninterdiction of enemy lines of communications, attacking rail lines, bridges and roads. The squadron also flew missions that supportedUnited Nations ground forces.[1][8]
SAC's mobilization for the Korean War highlighted that SAC wing commanders were not sufficiently focused on combat operations. Under a plan implemented for most wings 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.[9] This reorganization was implemented in April 1951 for the 98th Wing, when wingheadquarters moved on paper to Japan, taking over the personnel and functions of the 98th Group, which became a paper organization, and the squadron began operating under wing control.[10]
Starting in January 1952, the threat posed by enemyinterceptors forced the squadron to fly only night missions. The unit flew its last mission, a propaganda leaflet drop, on the last day before thearmistice was signed.[11] The squadron remained in combat ready status in Japan until July 1954 when it moved toLincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska.[1][10]
The squadron disposed of its B-29s to storage atDavis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. At Lincoln, the squadron was equipped with newBoeing B-47E Stratojets. it engaged in strategic bombardment training with the B-47 throughout the rest of the 1950s, into the early 1960s. From November 1955 through January 1966, the squadron deployed toRAF Lakenheath as part of Operation Reflex, standingalert at the forward deployment site.[1]
From 1958, the 343d began to assume an alert posture at its home base, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases to meet GeneralThomas S. Power's initial goal of maintaining 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.[12] The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.[13]
Soon afterdetection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, on 22 October 1962 the squadron's B-47s dispersed.[14] On 24 October the 343d went toDEFCON 2, placing all its aircraft on alert. Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with AF Reserve orAir National Guard units. The unit's B-47s were configured for execution of the Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersing. On 15 November 1/6 of the squadron's dispersed B-47s were recalled to Lincoln.[15] The remaining B-47s and their supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned its bomber units to normal alert posture.[16] The squadron was inactivated in June 1966 with the phaseout of the B-47 and closure of Lincoln.[1]
The squadron was reactivated at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana as anAir Force Reserve Command B-52 Stratofortress squadron in January 2010.[1] The squadron routinely deployed aircrew and maintainers for B-52 missions fromAl Udeid Air Base, Qatar forOperation Inherent Resolve andOperation Freedom's Sentinel.[17]
On 19 April 2013, the 343rd Bomb Squadron participated in their first nuclear readiness exercise. As the only B-52 squadron in the Air Force Reserve, the 343rd BS is also the only nuclear certified squadron in the Air Force Reserve.[18]
The 343rd Bomb Squadron received the Mitchell Trophy for most accurate munition drop during the Global Strike Challenge 2017.[19] Global Strike Challenge is a Bomber, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, Helicopter Operations and Security Forces competition with units from Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard.
During Global Strike Challenge 2019, the 343rd Bomb Squadron consecutively earned the Mitchell Trophy for most accurate munitions drop. They were also awarded with the Linebacker Trophy for best B-52 Squadron and the LeMay Trophy for Best Bomber Operations, becoming the top performing unit within Air Force Global Strike Command.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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