373d Strategic Missile Squadron

373d Strategic Missile Squadron
373d Strategic Missile Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
373d Strategic Missile Squadron emblem[citation needed]
Patch with 373d Bombardment Squadron emblem
373d Bombardment Squadron emblem (World War II)

The 373d Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive

308th Strategic Missile Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. The 373rd was equipped with the LGM-25C Titan II Intercontinental ballistic missile

in 1962, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. The squadron was inactivated for the last time as part of the phaseout of the Titan II ICBM on 18 August 1987.

The

Distinguished Unit Citation

for its attacks on Japanese shipping. At the end of 1945 it returned to the United States for inactivation.

The squadron was redesignated the 373d Reconnaissance Squadron and activated in Bermuda in 1947, assuming the personnel of another unit. It transferred its personnel and equipment itself when it was inactivated in 1949. It returned to its bombardment designation in 1951 and operated Boeing B-47 Stratojets for Strategic Air Command. In 1959 it moved as part of a test of a "super wing" concept, but was not operational until in inactivated in 1961.

History

World War II

Initial organization and training

The

330th Bombardment Group.^[5]

The following month, a fresh

Morrison Field, while the ground echelon moved by ship across the Pacific.^[4]^[5]

Combat operations

B-24D Liberator at Kwanghan Airfield, China^[b]

In late March 1943, the squadron arrived at

Distinguished Unit Citation.^[4]

On 15 September 1943, seven squadron B-24s, based at Yangkai Airfield, were dispatched to attack a cement plant in Haiphong, a major port on the Gulf of Tonkin, but only one survived the mission. Two B-24s broke down while attempting to take off. The five remaining planes continued the mission. Over Haiphong, they were attacked by Japanese fighters. One plane went down, forcing the other planes to abandon the mission as they were continuously attacked. After that, two more planes were shot down. The Japanese pilots then attacked the parachuting aircrew, killing three and wounding three others. The other two planes escaped severe damage and returned to Yangkai Airfield, but one crashed at the airfield, killing the entire crew.^[6]

The squadron moved to

V-J Day. It also struck airfields in China and Korea. The unit also participated in incendiary raids and dropped propaganda leaflets over urban areas of Kyūshū. After the war's end, the unit transported personnel and supplies from Manila to Tokyo. In December, the 373d returned to the United States, where it was inactivated at the Vancouver Barracks Port of Embarkation on 6 January 1946.^[1]^[7]

Weather reconnaissance

The squadron was reactivated at

hurricanes^[9] until it was inactivated in February 1951^[1] and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 53d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.^[8]

Strategic Air Command

Bomber operations

B-47 Stratojets

as flown by the squadron

In October 1951, the 373rd Bombardment Squadron was reactivated again with new

Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis–Monthan in July 1959 and the squadron became non-operational.^{[citation needed]} It was inactivated once more on 25 June 1961.^[1]

Intercontinental ballistic missile squadron

In 1962, the squadron was reactivated and redesignated as the 373d Strategic Missile Squadron, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile strategic missile squadron. It operated nine Titan II underground silos whose construction began in 1960; the first site (373-5) was operationally ready on 15 June 1963. The 9 missile silos controlled by the 373d Strategic Missile Squadron remained on alert for over 20 years during the Cold War. On 8 August 1965, at launch site 373-4, 53 contractor workers died in a flash fire while installing modifications to the launch silo. The cause of the accident was believed to be a rupture in a high-pressure line, which spewed hydraulic fluid on the floor. Ignited by sparks from a nearby welder, the resulting fire consumed most of the oxygen in the space, suffocating the workers.^{[citation needed]}

The squadron operated nine missile sites:

373-1 (15 Nov 1963 – 5 January 1987), 1.2 mi S of Mount Vernon, AR 35°12′34″N 092°07′27″W / 35.20944°N 92.12417°W

373-2 (29 Nov 1963 – 4 May 1987), 3.7 mi E of Rose Bud, AR 35°18′54″N 092°01′09″W / 35.31500°N 92.01917°W

373-3 (19 Oct 1963 – 18 March 1987), 4.4 mi SE of Heber Springs, AR 35°26′31″N 091°58′57″W / 35.44194°N 91.98250°W

373-4 (16 May 1963 – 18 February 1987)*, 2.1 mi ENE of Letona, AR 35°22′14″N 091°47′39″W / 35.37056°N 91.79417°W

373-5 (15 Jun 1963 – 20 October 1986), 1.5 mi E of Center Hill, AR 35°15′38″N 091°51′25″W / 35.26056°N 91.85694°W

373-6 (23 Nov 1963 – 20 June 1985), 4.9 mi WNW of McRae, AR 35°08′33″N 091°54′03″W / 35.14250°N 91.90083°W

373-7 (26 Jun 1963 – 3 April 1986), 6.1 mi W of Russell, AR 35°26′08″N 091°34′05″W / 35.43556°N 91.56806°W

373-8 (18 Dec 1963 – 20 October 1986), 2.5 mi NNW of Judsonia, AR 35°18′15″N 091°39′08″W / 35.30417°N 91.65222°W

373-9 (28 Oct 1963 – 3 October 1985), 2.1 mi SSE of Holland, AR 35°08′41″N 092°15′17″W / 35.14472°N 92.25472°W^{[citation needed]}

In October 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the strategic modernization program, Titan II systems were to be retired by 1 October 1987.^{[citation needed]} Inactivation of the sites began when site 373-6 was inactivated on 20 June 1985, with the last site (373–2) inactivated on 4 May 1987. The squadron was inactivated on 18 August.^{[citation needed]}

Disposition of missile sites

After removal from service, the silos had reusable equipment removed by Air Force personnel, and contractors retrieved salvageable metals before destroying the silos with explosives and filling them in. Access to the vacated control centers was blocked off. Missile sites were later sold off to private ownership after demilitarization. Today, the remains of the sites are still visible in aerial imagery, in various states of use or abandonment. Titan II ICBM Launch Complex 373-5 Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.^[10]

Lineage

Constituted 373d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

Activated on 15 April 1942

Redesignated 373d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1944

Inactivated on 7 January 1946

Redesignated: 373d Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Long Range, Weather on 16 September 1947.

Activated on 15 October 1947

Inactivated on 21 February 1951

Redesignated 373d Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 4 October 1951

Activated on 10 October 1951

Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1961

Redesignated 373d Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and activated on 29 November 1961 (not organized)

Organized on 1 April 1962^[11]

Inactivated on 18 August 1987^{[citation needed]}

Assignments

308th Bombardment Group, 15 April 1942
494th Bombardment Group, 21 July 1945
11th Bombardment Group
, 11 October 1945 – 7 January 1946
8th Weather Group (later 2108th Air Weather Group), 15 October 1947 – 21 February 1951
308th Bombardment Group, 10 October 1951 (attached to 21st Air Division until 17 April 1952)
308th Bombardment Wing
, 16 June 1952 – 25 June 1961
Strategic Air Command, 29 November 1961 (not organized)
308th Strategic Missile Wing, 1 April 1962^[11] – 18 August 1987^{[citation needed]}

Stations

Gowen Field, Idaho, 15 April 1942
Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 20 June 1942
Alamogordo Army Air Field
, New Mexico, 23 July 1942
Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 28 August 1942
Wendover Field, Utah, 1 October 1942
Pueblo Army Air Base
, Colorado, 30 November 1942 – 2 January 1943
Yangkai Airfield, China, 20 March 1943
Luliang Air Base, China, 14 September 1944

Yontan Airfield, Okinawa, 21 July – 19 December 1945
Vancouver Barracks, Washington, 4–7 January 1946
Kindley Field (later Kindley Air Force Base), Bermuda, 15 October 1947 – 21 February 1951
Forbes Air Force Base
, Kansas, 10 October 1951
Hunter Air Force Base
, Georgia, 17 April 1952
Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, 15 July 1959 – 25 June 1961
Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, 1 April 1962^[11] – 18 August 1987^{[citation needed]}

Aircraft and missiles

Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1942
Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945
Boeing TB-17 Flying Fortress
, 1947–1948
Boeing RB-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951
Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951, 1951–1953
Boeing WB-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951
Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1954–1959
LGM-25C Titan II, 1962–1987^[11]^{[citation needed]}

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

^ Approved 19 May 1953. Description: A brown bear, front view, wearing brown flight boots and green parachute harness with white buckles and carrying a black bomb in his right paw, a blue aerial bomb in his left and cartridge-belt over his right shoulder; all on a white disc.
^ Aircraft is Consolidated B-24D-25-CO Liberator, serial 41-24251, Chug-A-Lug.

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 461–462
^ Watkins, pp. 84–85
^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 461-464, 521-522
^ ^a ^b ^c Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 182-184
^ ^a ^b ^c Strotman, Tony (2012). "308th Bombardment Group: China-Burma-India 1942-1945". Tony Strotman. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
^ "The Tragedy of Mission 19". Retrieved 21 December 2014.
^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 363–364
^ ^a ^b Lahue, Melissa (11 July 2023). "53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
^ Markus et al., p. 140
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 9 July 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft, through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 461–462

Bibliography

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

Markus, Rita M.; Halbersen, MSG Nicholas F.; Fuller, John F. (1987). Matthews, James K.; Gustin, Joylyn I. (eds.). Air Weather Service: Our Heritage 1937-1987 (PDF). Scott AFB, IL: Air Weather Service.
OCLC 18406969
. Retrieved 10 June 2017.

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
.

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
.

Watkins, Robert A. (2017). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II. Vol. VI, China-Burma-India & The Western Pacific. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 978-0-7643-5273-7
.

[2] Approved 19 May 1953. Description: A brown bear, front view, wearing brown flight boots and green parachute harness with white buckles and carrying a black bomb in his right paw, a blue aerial bomb in his left and cartridge-belt over his right shoulder; all on a white disc.

[7] Aircraft is Consolidated B-24D-25-CO Liberator, serial 41-24251, Chug-A-Lug.

[Maurer373BS-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 461–462

[3] Watkins, pp. 84–85

[4] Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 461-464, 521-522

[Maurer308BG-5] Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 182-184

[Strotman-6] Strotman, Tony (2012). "308th Bombardment Group: China-Burma-India 1942-1945". Tony Strotman. Retrieved 17 December 2023.

[8] "The Tragedy of Mission 19". Retrieved 21 December 2014.

[Maurer494BG-9] Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 363–364

[53WRSfacts-10] Lahue, Melissa (11 July 2023). "53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 19 December 2023.

[11] Markus et al., p. 140

[nris-12] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 9 July 2010.

[Maurer373BS2-13] Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft, through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 461–462

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373d Strategic Missile Squadron
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award^[1]
Insignia
373d Strategic Missile Squadron emblem^{[citation needed]}
Patch with 373d Bombardment Squadron emblem^[a]^[1]
373d Bombardment Squadron emblem (World War II)^[2]