340th Weapons Squadron

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340th Weapons Squadron
Latin for 'Let Us Then Be Prepared')[1]
EngagementsWorld War II

  • American Antisubmarine Theater

  • EAME Theater
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (7x)
Insignia
340th Weapons Squadron emblem[a][1]
340th Bombardment Squadron emblem[b][2]
340th Bombardment Squadron emblem (World War II)[3]

The 340th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the USAF Weapons School. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The 340th is assigned to the 57th Wing, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The mission of the squadron is to provide Boeing B-52 Stratofortress instructional flying.

The squadron was activated on as the 340th Bombardment Squadron. a

V-E Day
, it was inactivated in Italy.

The squadron was again activated as an element of

Operation Desert Storm
.

History

World War II

Organization and training

The

antisubmarine patrols. After a brief training period the squadron left Sarasota on 16 May.[1]

The ground echelon sailed on the

Eighth Air Force.[5]

Combat in Europe

Operations from Great Britain
P-38 Lightning
escorts' contrails above them.

The haste with which the squadron had trained and deployed resulted in deficiencies in its training. Most pilots had not flown at high altitudes on oxygen; some gunners had never operated a turret, much less fired at a moving target. Crews had flown together for only a few weeks in training. The squadron's first weeks in England were devoted to intensive training, with numerous specialists attending

Abbeville/Drucat Airfield.[7] It attacked naval installations, airfields and industrial and transportation targets in France and the Low Countries.[4]

In September, the 97th Group and its squadrons were transferred to

group at Polebrook.[1][4][8]

Operations in the Mediterranean Theater
Squadron B-17Gs head north for Austria in the late summer of 1944. [c]

Following the Operation Torch landings at

Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria near the end of November.[4][5]

Through May 1943, the squadron engaged in the campaign to cut German supply lines in North Africa by striking shipping in the Mediterranean Sea and bombing docks, harbors, airfields and marshalling yards in North Africa,

Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, and Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy.[4]

From November 1943, the squadron was primarily involved with the

Ploesti, Romania on 18 August 1944.[4]

The group also flew

advance through the Po Valley.[4]

Following

V-E Day, the squadron moved to Marcianise Airfield, Italy, where it was inactivated on 29 October 1945.[1]

Cold War

Reactivated at

Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas in August 1946 under Strategic Air Command (SAC), taking over the personnel and equipment of the 828th Bombardment Squadron, which was inactivated. Equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and participated in numerous exercises, operational readiness inspections, and overseas deployments. Became part of SAC nuclear deterrent force. Began upgrading to the new Boeing B-50 Superfortress
, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1949. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary.

By 1951, the emergence of

MiG-15 interceptor in the skies of North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. Received Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bombers in 1955 and despite initial difficulties, the Stratojet became the mainstay of the medium-bombing strength of SAC all throughout the 1950s, deployed frequently to North Africa and England for Operation Reflex
exercises. Began sending its B-47s to AMARC at Davis-Monthan in 1959 when the aircraft was deemed no longer capable of penetrating Soviet airspace.

Moved to

Boeing B-52G Stratofortress strategic bombers in 1960. Stood nuclear alert with the B-52G, although deployed aircrew to forward bases in the Western Pacific during the Vietnam War which flew Operation Arc Light and Linebacker I combat missions over Indochina; aircrews participated in the December 1972/January 1973 Linebacker II missions over the Hanoi-Haiphong
area of North Vietnam. On 15 August 1973, after months of committing most of the wing's people and resources to the conflict, crew E-21 had the distinction of flying the last B-52 mission over a target in Cambodia. This marked the end of the United States' strategic bombing in Southeast Asia. Crews returned to the United States to training and alert status.

Deployed aircraft and crews to the 806th Bombardment Wing (Provisional) at

Operation Desert Storm. Inactivated in early 1992 after the end of the Cold War
.

Bomber training

The Air Force Chief of Staff directed the creation of the 'B-52 Division, USAF Weapons School' on 1 October 1989 as the Strategic Weapons School, graduating the first class in April 1990. In 1992, with the activation of Air Combat Command, the B-52 Division was reborn as part of the USAF Weapons School, eventually becoming Detachment 2, USAF Weapons School. The 340th Bombardment Squadron was reactivated as the 340th Weapons Squadron, USAF Weapons School on 3 February 2003, replacing the detachment.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 340th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 3 February 1942
Redesignated 340th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 6 March 1944
Inactivated on 29 October 1945
  • Redesignated 340th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 15 July 1946
Activated on 4 August 1946
Redesignated 340th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948
Redesignated 340th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 October 1959
Redesignated 340th Bomb Squadron on 1 September 1991
Inactivated on 7 January 1992
  • Redesignated 340th Weapons Squadron on 24 January 2003
Activated on 3 February 2003[1]

Assignments

  • 97th Bombardment Group, 3 February 1942 – 29 October 1945
  • 97th Bombardment Group, 4 August 1946 (attached to
    97th Bombardment Wing
    after 10 February 1951)
  • 97th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952
  • 97th Operations Group, 1 September 1991 – 7 January 1992
  • USAF Weapons School, 3 February 2003 – present[1]

Stations

Detachments at RAF Lakenheath, England, and Yokota Air Base, Japan, April 1954 – 1 April 1955
  • Blytheville Air Force Base (later Eaker Air Force Base), Arkansas, 1 July 1959 – 7 January 1992
  • Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, 3 February 2003 – present[10]

Aircraft

  • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1945
  • Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1946–1950
  • Boeing B-50 Superfortress, 1950–1954
  • Boeing KB-29 Superfortress, 1954–1955
  • Boeing ERB-29 Superfortress, 1954–1955
  • Boeing RB-50 Superfortress, 1954–1955
  • Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1955–1959
  • Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 1960–1991[1]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Modified from emblem approved on 16 March 1956.
  2. proper
    , hilt and pommel Air Force yellow, through a stylized bolt of fire, center red, flames of the third [color mentioned], all between two red lighting flashes radiating in base.
  3. ^ The aircraft closest to the camera, Boeing B-17G-60-BO Flying Fortress, serial 42-102938, Mouse (later Elaine P) was lost in a collision with B-17G 44-8406 while landing at Amendola on 2 January 1945. Baugher, Joe (19 January 2023). "1942 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bailey, Carl E. (22 August 2008). "Factsheet 340 Weapons Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 421
  3. ^ Watkins, pp. 72-73
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 166-168
  5. ^ a b c Freeman,p. 246
  6. ^ Freeman, p. 11
  7. ^ Freeman, p. 16
  8. ^ a b Anderson, p. 5
  9. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 20.
  10. ^ Station information in Bailey, Factsheet, except as noted

Bibliography

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

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