510th Missile Squadron

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510th Missile Squadron
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
510th Missile Squadron emblem (approved 20 April 1976)
510th Bombardment Squadron emblem (approved 9 December 1943)[1]
World War II fuselage code[2]TU

The 510th Missile Squadron is an inactive

LGM-30F Minuteman II Intercontinental ballistic missile with a mission of nuclear deterrence. With the end of the Cold War
, the 510th was inactivated on 15 November 1993.

The squadron was first activated during

V-E Day
, the squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in August 1945.

From 1947 to 1949, the squadron was active as a

Emergency Rocket Communication System
.

History

World War II

The

European Theater of Operations.[1][4] The air echelon began ferrying its B-17s about 1 April, while the ground echelon left for the New York Port of Embarkation on 12 April.[3]

510th Squadron B-17G Flying Fortress[note 1]

The ground and air echelons had arrived at the unit's combat station,

airfields, harbor installations, and submarine pens.[4]

On 9 October 1943, the squadron attacked the

VIII Bomber Command against the German aircraft industry in late February.[4][5]

The squadron was occasionally withdrawn from strategic missions to provide

Saint Lo. In September, it supported Operation Market Garden, an unsuccessful airborne attack attempting to obtain a bridgehead across the Rhine at Arnhem. From December 1944 through January 1945, it attacked front line positions during the Battle of the Bulge. In March 1945, it flew missions to support Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in Germany.[4]

Following

Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, and was inactivated there on 28 August 1945.[1][3]

Medal of Honor

Two members of the squadron, Second Lieutenant Walter E. Truemper and Sergeant Archibald Mathies, were awarded the Medal of Honor. During the Big Week attacks, on 20 February 1944, their B-17 received a direct hit by a cannon shell that exploded in the cockpit and killed the copilot and severely wounded the pilot, rendering him unconscious. The plane's bombardier, assuming the plane was out of control and doomed, immediately bailed out. Carl Moore, the top turret gunner and flight engineer, made his way forward and leaned over the pilots' bodies to control the plane and pull it out of a nosedive. He later received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. Moore, Truemper, the Navigator, and Mathies, the Ball Turret Gunner, took turns flying the plane as crewmembers removed the pilots. Despite the freezing cold winds blowing through the damaged cockpit, they managed to fly the plane back to England. There, they held the plane steady, while the rest of the crew bailed out over friendly territory. The wounded pilot, however, could not parachute from the damaged Flying Fortress, so Truemper and Mathies decided to try to land the plane despite orders to bail out and save themselves. On their third landing attempt, the plane crashed and they were killed.[4][6] The crew received two Medals of Honor, one Distinguished Service Cross, one Silver Star, and seven Purple Hearts, which made them the most decorated B-17 crew of the 8th Air Force in World War Two.

Air Force reserve

The squadron was activated again in September 1947 in the

381st Bombardment Group at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.[1][9]

Although nominally a very heavy bomber unit, it is not clear whether or not the squadron was fully staffed or equipped.

440th Troop Carrier Wing at Wold Chamberlain.[12]

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron

The squadron was redesignated the 510th Strategic Missile Squadron in 1962

alert
with a complement of 50 missiles.

LGM-30 Minuteman Missile Alert and Launch Facilities

510th Missile Squadron Launch Facilities (K-O flights, each controlling 10 missiles) were located as follows:[14]

F-01 6.0 mi SW of Windsor, MO 38°48′00″N 093°43′33″W / 38.80000°N 93.72583°W / 38.80000; -93.72583 (F-01)
I-01 7.3 mi N of Clinton, MO 38°28′49″N 093°44′57″W / 38.48028°N 93.74917°W / 38.48028; -93.74917 (I-01)
M-01 32.6 mi NE of Holden, MO 38°43′30″N 093°56′40″W / 38.72500°N 93.94444°W / 38.72500; -93.94444 (M-01)
N-01 3.9 mi SE of Odessa, MO 38°58′14″N 093°53′32″W / 38.97056°N 93.89222°W / 38.97056; -93.89222 (N-01)
O-01 on Whiteman AFB, MO[note 2] 38°43′14″N 093°33′56″W / 38.72056°N 93.56556°W / 38.72056; -93.56556 (N-01)

Beginning in May 1966, the squadron began an upgrade to LGM-30F Minuteman II missiles. The conversion to the newer model of the Minuteman was completed in October 1967.

UHF transmitters and was to be launched at a very high trajectory to send nuclear orders or "go codes" to bombers in flight and ground-based nuclear forces in its line of sight for up to 30 minutes. Ultimately, twelve of the squadron's silos contained missiles with ERCS transmitters aboard.[17]

In September 1991, the squadron was renamed the 510th Missile Squadron as the Air Force removed the distinction between "tactical" and "strategic" in unit names prior to the combination of SAC and Tactical Air Command into a single Air Combat Command. In the 1990s, President Bush's decided to stand down Minuteman II units. Shutdown of ERCS began in November 1991,[18] and the squadron was inactivated on 15 November 1993.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 510th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 25 September 1942
Activated on 1 October 1942
Redesignated 510th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 11 August 1944
Inactivated on 28 August 1945
  • Redesignated 510th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 25 August 1947
Activated in the reserve on 15 September 1947
Inactivated on 27 June 1949
  • Redesignated 510th Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Minuteman) on 15 November 1962 and activated [19] (not organized)
Organized on 1 July 1963
Redesignated 510th Missile Squadron on 1 September 1991
Inactivated on 15 November 1993

Assignments

  • 351st Bombardment Group, 1 October 1942 – 28 August 1945
  • 351st Bombardment Group, 15 October 1947
  • 381st Bombardment Group, 3 May 1948 – 27 June 1949
  • Strategic Air Command, 15 November 1962 (not organized)[19]
  • 351st Strategic Missile Wing, 1 July 1963[20]
  • 351st Operations Group, 1 September 1991 – 15 November 1993

Stations

Aircraft and missiles

  • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1945[1]
  • LGM-30B Minuteman I, 1963–1967[13]
  • LGM-30F Minuteman II, 1966–1995[13]

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Distinguished Unit Citation
 9 October 1943 Germany, 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Distinguished Unit Citation 11 January 1944 Germany, 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
 1 July 1965-30 June 1966 510th Strategic Missile Squadron[24]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1967-30 June 1968 510th Strategic Missile Squadron[24]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1969-30 June 1971 510th Strategic Missile Squadron[25]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1973-30 June 1974 510th Strategic Missile Squadron[25]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1980-30 June 1982 510th Strategic Missile Squadron[26]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1986-30 June 1987 510th Strategic Missile Squadron[26]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1991-30 June 1993 510th Missile Squadron[27]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Air Offensive, Europe 12 May 1943 – 5 June 1944 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Air Combat, EAME Theater 12 May 1943 – 11 May 1945 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Normandy 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Northern France 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Rhineland 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Ardennes-Alsace 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]
Central Europe 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 510th Bombardment Squadron[1]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Aircraft is Boeing B-17G-85-BO Flying Fortress, serial 43-38465. This aircraft survived the war and returned to the US on 8 June 1945.
  2. ^ Preserved, but not open to the public.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 612-613
  2. ^ Watkins, pp. 62-63
  3. ^ a b c Freeman, pp. 249-250
  4. ^ a b c d e f Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 230-231
  5. ^ Freeman, pp. 104-105
  6. ^ Freeman, pp. 108, 269-270
  7. ^ See Mueller, p. 516
  8. ^ "Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command". Air Force History Index. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  9. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 268-269
  10. ^ See Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 612-613 (no aircraft listed as assigned to the squadron from 1947 to 1949)
  11. ^ Knaack, p. 25
  12. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 237-238 (establishment of 440th Wing in the reserves).
  13. ^ a b c d Ravenstein, p. 186
  14. ^ Kirk, Jim. "Whiteman AFB Minuteman Missile Site Coordinates". University of Wyoming. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  15. ^ Kristensen, Hans; Godsberg, Alicia. "The Nuclear Information Project: LGM 30F Minuteman II". Federation of American Scientists. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  16. ^ "U.S. Air Force History: Milestones: Friday, January 01, 1960 - Wednesday, December 31, 1969". U.S. Air Force Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Fact Sheet: Emergency Rocket Communications System". National Museum of the USAF. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  18. ^ "CINCSAC/CV message 301500Z Apr 91 Subject: Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS) Deactivation". Strategic Air Command. 30 April 1991. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  19. ^ a b Lineage information through March 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 612-613.
  20. ^ Ravenstein, p. 186 (through 1977)
  21. ^ Station number in Anderson.
  22. ^ Station information through March 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 612-613, except as noted.
  23. ^ Mueller, p.589 (through September 1982)
  24. ^ a b AF Pamphlet 900-2, Vol 1, p. 411
  25. ^ a b AF Pamphlet 900-2, Vol 2, p. 78
  26. ^ a b AF Pamphlet 900-2, Vol 3, p. 343
  27. ^ "Air Force Personnel Services: Unit Awards". Air Force Personnel Center. Retrieved 17 January 2020. (search)

Bibliography

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

External links

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