397th Bombardment Squadron

397th Bombardment Squadron 7th Reconnaissance Squadron
Air Force Combat Command
Garrison/HQ	Naval Air Station Sigonella
Engagements	American Antisubmarine Theater
Insignia
7th Reconnaissance Squadron emblem
397th Bombardment Squadron emblem (approved 5 May 1924)[1][note 1]

The 7th Reconnaissance Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 319th Operations Group and is stationed at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy.

The squadron was first established in the

, Panama on 1 November 1946. The squadron was reactivated in 2015, returning to its earlier reconnaissance mission.

History

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The squadron's mission from its inception in 1917 to its inactivation in 1946 was the defense of the Panama Canal. During the 1920s and 1930s it participated in a number of goodwill missions to nations in Central and South America. From its origins in 1917 until 1942, the unit was designated a variation of the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron.

World War I

With the entry of the United States into World War I, the War Department believed it was necessary to establish an air presence along the Atlantic terminus of the Panama Canal as a defensive measure against an enemy seaborne attack.

In advancing its plans for the defense of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, the joint Army-Navy board recommended the establishment of eight aeronautic stations which, with a strength of two

.

The Army selected Captain

Curtiss R-3

's which, oddly, had arrived after the R-4's, in late December 1917.

With the end of World War I most of the 7th Aero Squadron's personnel were transferred back to the United States for demobilization.

Between the wars

After the war, the squadron evolved into the 7th Squadron (14 March 1921), 7th Observation Squadron (25 January 1925), 7th Reconnaissance Squadron (1 September 1937), 7th Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium Range) (6 December 1939) and 7th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) (20 November 1940) before being finally redesignated as the 397th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942. The squadron was assigned to the

.

After World War I, the squadron is credited with having operated numerous aircraft types between 1919 and 1931. These included, the venerable U.S.-built

-1 and HS-2L flying boats. Of the DH-4's, the first six postwar examples, all virtually stock DH-4B's, arrived for duty with the 7th in February 1920, replacing the well-worn Curtiss R-6's and other earlier DH-4's. By 16 February 1922, the squadron had seven "war-built" DH-4's, four DH-4B's, the solitary Curtiss JN-4H, three Curtiss JN-6's. By August, all but one of the "war-built" DH-4's had been scrapped and one of the DH-4B's had been converted to DH-4BP-1 (photographic) configuration.

By June 1927, the squadron, now in a very lean peacetime stance, had but eight aircraft. These consisted of four DH-4M's, a solitary DH-4B, a Loening OA-1 and two Loening OA-1As.

In 1937, the 6th Group, which had been a composite unit since its establishment in 1919, became the 6th Bombardment Group.

.

By 1 February 1940, the assignment to the 6th Bombardment Group was changed to an attachment, as the unit was reassigned to the

on the Pacific side, where it received four additional B-17Bs.

World War II

After the Japanese

) to begin the Pacific patrols in early January 1942. The squadron was redesignated as the 397th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) effective 22 April 1942.

The return to David Field came just in time for deployment of the unit as a whole from David to

of personnel replaced the veterans of the Galapagos and earlier tours there. Three days later, the Squadron moved to Howard Field in the Canal Zone, although this was apparently a mere paper move of its headquarters, as the unit's aircraft and personnel actually remained at Rio Hato.

On 1 January 1944, the squadron received orders to deploy four of its LB-30s to France Field to participate in the search for several marauding German

U-boats

which were causing considerable alarm in the Caribbean. While at France Field, the aircraft also flew navigational and bombing exercises.

All of this was preparatory to the unit's deployment to the

Cartagena airport

, Colombia and elsewhere throughout Central and South America.

In February 1945, the unit was relieved from duty in the Galapagos and returned to Rio Hato, where the unit ended the war, on 1 November 1946 when it was inactivated.

Reactivation in 2015

On 1 May 2015, the unit was redesignated 7th Reconnaissance Squadron. It was reactivated at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy on 15 May, where it replaced Detachment 1, 69th Reconnaissance Group. Initially assigned to the 69th Group,^[3][4][5] it is currently assigned to the 319th Operations Group at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.^[6]

Lineage

• Organized as 7th Aero Squadron on 29 March 1917^[7]

Redesignated: 7th Squadron on 14 March 1921

Redesignated: 7th Observation Squadron on 25 January 1925

Redesignated: 7th Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 September 1937

Redesignated: 7th Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium Range) on 6 December 1939

Redesignated: 7th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940^[7]

Redesignated: 397th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 11 May 1942^[7]

Redesignated: 397th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1944

Inactivated on 1 November 1946^[1]

• Redesignated 7th Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 May 2015

Activated on 15 May 2015^[5]

Assignments

• Panama Canal Department, 29 March 1917
• 3d Observation Group (later 6th Observation Group, 6th Composite Group, 6th Bombardment Group), 30 September 1919
• 19th Composite Wing
  , 1 February 1940 (attached to 6th Bombardment Group)
• 6th Bombardment Group, 25 February 1942
• VI Bomber Command, 1 November 1943 – 1 November 1946
• 69th Reconnaissance Group, 15 May 2015 – June 2019^[5][8]

• 319th Operations Group^[6]

Stations

• Ancon, Panama Canal Zone, 29 March 1917
• Corozal, Panama Canal Zone, 16 April 1917
• Empire, Panama Canal Zone, May 1917
• Fort Sherman, Panama Canal Zone, c. 29 August 1917
• Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, March 1918
• Coco Walk (later
  France Field
  ), Panama Canal Zone, May 1918
• Howard Field, Panama Canal Zone, 26 November 1941
• David Field, Panama, 11 December 1941
• Talara Airfield, Peru, 18 August 1942
• Rio Hato Army Air Base, Panama, c. 4 May 1943
• Seymour Island Army Airfield,
  Baltra
  , Galapagos Islands, c. 7 April 1944
• Rio Hato Army Air Base, Panama, c. 6 February 1945 – 1 November 1946
• Naval Air Station Sigonella, 15 May 2015 – present^[5]

Aircraft

See also

• List of American aero squadrons

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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

• Conaway, William. "VI Bomber Command In Defense Of The Panama Canal 1941 – 45". Planes and Pilots of World War Two.
• 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
  .

Further reading

• Hagdedorn, Dan (1995), Alae Supra Canalem: Wings Over the Canal, Turner Publishing,
  ISBN 1563111535
• Maurer, Maurer (1987). Aviation in the U.S. Army, 1919-1939 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force.
  OCLC 15661556
  . Retrieved 20 July 2013.

External links

• AFHRA Document 00202312 6th Bomber Command 1912-1941
• AFHRA Document 00899478 USAF Southern Command History, 1920–1975
• AFHRA Document 00046226 397th Bombardment Squadron History, 1939–1941
• AFHRA Document 00046227 397th Bombardment Squadron History, 1941–1942