11th Bomb Squadron
11th Bomb Squadron | |
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Garrison/HQ | Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. |
Nickname(s) | Jiggs Squadron or Bewilderment Group (World War I) |
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 (approved 3 March 1924)[1] | |
11th Aero Squadron emblem (approved by AEF 18 November 1918)[2] | |
Tail Code | LA |
The 11th Bomb Squadron is a unit of the
The 11th is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force, first being organized as the 11th Aero Squadron on 26 June 1917 at
During
Mission
"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]
History
World War I
After training in the United States, the
Intra-War period
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 to
In 1921 the squadron was redesignated 11th Squadron (Bombardment), and in 1922 as the 11th Bombardment Squadron. Transferred on 30 June 1922 to
The squadron was reactivated on 1 June 1928 at
The squadron moved on 5 December 1934 to
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.
World War II
Netherlands East Indies campaign
Following the
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 from Hollandia, meanwhile a detachment operated under Navy control from the Fiji Islands and then from Australia.
Major Austin 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 near Surabaya, Java.[8][9][note 2]
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 the
China Air Task Force
The squadron returned to the United States in mid-1942, leaving B-17s in Australia and being re-equipped under the
While this build-up was going on an advance cadre of the ground element of the 11th were establishing the organization in the
In the middle of April 1942, the air element of the 11th, consisting of trained B-25 combat crews, began to arrive at
Once reaching Natal, the ferrying route to Accra in the Gold Coast was taken, then across southern Africa to Khartoum, Sudan. The aircraft were then flown through Aden and followed the old British Imperial Airways route around the southern part of Arabia and Iran to Karachi. At Accra, several B-25s picked up formations of six to eight Curtiss P-40 Warhawks which had landed from an aircraft 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 across the Hump into Southern China. At 0600 hours the next morning the flights took off for Kunming, China, detouring by way of Lashio, 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 the American Volunteer Group (AVG) was flying combat missions.
Operating under the provisional
On 15 September 1942 the 11th was transferred from the 7th Bombardment Group to the
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 the
In July 1945, selected pilots, navigators and engineer-gunners were sent to Fenni, India for transition training in the Douglas 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 at Newark, New Jersey.[10]
Cold War
The 11th Pilotless Bomber Squadron was activated in 1954 as a
On 18 June 1958, the 11th was inactivated and replaced with the
The 11th was reactivated in 1982 as a BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile squadron at RAF Greenham Common, England. Just before activation, it was consolidated with the 11th Bombardment Squadron. The squadron was inactivated in 1991 with the elimination of GLCMs from Europe as a result of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
Return to bombardment operations
The 11th was redesignated as a
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.
Lineage
- 11th Bombardment Squadron
- Organized as the 11th Aero Squadron on 26 June 1917[citation needed]
- Redesignated 11th Aero Squadron (Day Bombardment) on 26 August 1918[citation needed]
- Redesignated 11th Aero Squadron on 22 June 1919
- Redesignated 11th Squadron (Bombardment) on 14 March 1921
- Redesignated 11th Bombardment Squadron on 25 January 1923
- Inactivated on 31 July 1927
- Activated on 1 June 1928
- Redesignated 11th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 6 December 1939
- Redesignated 11th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 15 September 1942
- Redesignated 11th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 9 October 1944
- Inactivated on 2 November 1945
- Consolidated with the 11th Tactical Missile Squadron as the 11th Tactical Missile Squadron on 11 January 1982[1]
- 11th Bomb Squadron
- Constituted as the 11th Pilotless Bomber Squadron, Light on 17 June 1954
- Activated on 1 September 1954
- Redesignated 11th Tactical Missile Squadron on 8 June 1955
- Inactivated on 18 June 1958
- Consolidated with the 11th Bombardment Squadron on 11 January 1982
- Activated on 1 October 1982
- Inactivated on 31 May 1991
- Redesignated 11th Bomb Squadron on 24 June 1994
- Activated on 1 July 1994[1]
Assignments
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Stations
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Aircraft and missiles
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See also
- List of American aero squadrons
- List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force
- List of United States Air Force missile squadrons
- United States Army Air Forces in Australia
References
Notes
- Explanatory notes
- ^ Note "Mr Jiggs" on each fuselage, Maulan Airdrome, France, November 1918.
- Austin Straubel International Airport, near Green Bay, Wisconsin, is named after Austin Straubel.
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h Robertson, Patsy (17 March 2015). "Factsheet 11 Bomb Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ^ "World War I Aero Squadrons". Cross and Cockade Journal. 5 (2). Society of World War I Aero Historians: 145. 1964.
- ^ Gorrell [page needed]
- ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, [failed verification]
- ^ Rogers, [page needed]
- ^ "11TH BOMB SQUADRON". Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ a b Clay, p. 1378
- ^ Time (magazine)
- ^ Time (magazine)
- ^ a b c d Group Records and Squadron History Reports, AFHRA, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
- ^ Web Home of the 341st Bomb Group: Forward
Bibliography
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Clay, Steven E. (2011). US Army Order of Battle 1919–1941 (PDF). Vol. 3 The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops 1919–1941. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. OCLC 637712205. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- Gorrell, Col. Edgar S. (1974). History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917–1919. Vol. 3 History of the 11th–13th Aero Squadrons. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. OCLC 215070705.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- Mindling, George; Bolton, Robert (2008). U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, 1949-1969: The Pioneers. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press, Inc. LCCN 2008908364.
- Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
- War Department (1920). Battle Participation of Organizations of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, Belgium and Italy, 1917–1919. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. OCLC 118250. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
External links
- Grier, Peter (2002). "The Short, Happy Life of the Glick-Em" (PDF). Vol. 85, no. 7. Air Force Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2016.