532d Training Squadron

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532d Training Squadron
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[1]
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt Col Frank "Fonix" Scopa
Insignia
532d Training Squadron emblem[a][1]
532d Bombardment Squadron emblem[b][2]
World War II fuselage code[3]VE

The 532d Training Squadron is a

Distinguished Unit Citations. It returned to the United States after the war and was inactivated. The squadron was activated briefly in the reserves
from 1947-1949, but was not fully manned or equipped.

From 1963 to 1986, the squadron stood alert with LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missiles as the 532d Strategic Missile Squadron. It assumed its current training mission in 1994.

Mission

The mission of the unit is to conduct training for the nation's space and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) operations and ICBM and air launched cruise missile (ALCM) maintenance forces. It trains electronic, electro- and missile-mechanical, facility, and spacelift maintenance technicians.[citation needed]

History

World War II

Training in the United States

B-17s of the 532d Bombardment Squadron[c]

The

North Atlantic Ferry Route on 15 May.[1][5][6]

Combat in the European Theater

The air echelon of the squadron arrived at

Heroya, Norway, stopping production for over three months.[5][8]

The squadron also flew deeper penetration missions into Germany. It hit oil refineries at

Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[5] All squadron bombers that returned from this mission[d] received battle damage.[9] It received a second DUC for attacks on aircraft plants in Germany on 11 January 1944. In late February 1944, the unit participated in Big Week, the intensive attacks on the German aircraft industry.[5]

The squadron was occasionally taken off strategic operations to perform

lines of communications and airfields near the battle zone during the Battle of the Bulge. It also supported the Allied crossing of the Rhine and push through central Germany in March 1945.[5]

Return to the United States and inactivation

The squadron flew its last mission on 26 April 1945 and the majority of the unit's aircraft departed the theater on 24 May 1945. Ground personnel sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 24 June, arriving in the US by the end of the month. The squadron was located at

Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota a few days later and was inactivated on 24 August 1945.[6][5]

Air Force reserve

The squadron was activated in the

Beechcraft AT-11 training aircraft.[1] In 1948 Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.[10] President Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget also required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,[11] and the 532d was inactivated In June 1949.[1]

Strategic missile operation

Titan II missile in its silo

The unit was redesignated the 532d Strategic Missile Squadron and organized at

alert for over 20 years during the Cold War.[citation needed
]

In October 1981, President

533d Strategic Missile Squadron was inactivated and its remaining active missiles were transferred to the 532d.[13] The squadron became nonoperational in May 1986, and the squadron was inactivated on 8 August 1986.[1]

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.[citation needed]

Missile training

The squadron was redesignated the 532d Training Squadron and activated at

LGM-30G Minuteman III, and AGM-86 ALCM air-launched cruise missile systems.[citation needed] Following the creation of the United States Space Force
, the 381st Training Group was inactivated and the 532d Training Squadron was reorganized as a geographically separated unit under the 82d Training Group, Sheppard AFB, Texas.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 532d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 October 1942
Activated on 3 November 1942
Redesignated 532d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 28 August 1945
  • Activated in the reserve on 20 December 1946
Redesignated 532d Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 27 December 1946
Inactivated on 27 June 1949
  • Redesignated 532d Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and activated on 26 February 1962
Organized on 1 March 1962
Inactivated on 8 August 1986

Assignments

  • 381st Bombardment Group, 3 November 1942 – 28 August 1945
  • Second Air Force, 20 December 1946
  • 381st Bombardment Group, 30 September 1947 – 27 June 1949
  • Strategic Air Command, 26 February 1962 (not organized)
  • 381st Strategic Missile Wing, 1 August 1962 – 8 August 1986
  • 381st Training Group, 1 October 1994 – 7 December 2020[1]
  • 82nd Training Wing, 7 December 2020 – present[4]

Stations

  • Gowen Field, Idaho, 3 November 1942
  • Ephrata Army Air Base
    , Washington, 1 December 1942
  • Pyote Army Air Field, Texas, 27 December 1942
  • Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, 6 April–10 May 1943
  • RAF Ridgewell (AAF-167),[14] England, 2 June 1943 – 24 June 1945
  • Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, 3 July–28 August 1945
  • Offutt Field (later Offutt Air Force Base), Nebraska, 27 April 1947 – 27 June 1949
  • McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, 1 August 1962 – 8 August 1986
  • Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, 1 October 1994 – present[15]

Aircraft and missiles

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

LGM-25C Titan II Sites
  • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1945
  • North American AT-6 Texan
    , 1947–1949
  • Beechcraft AT-11
    , 1947–1949
  • LGM-25C Titan II, 1962–1986[1]
Missile sites:
532-1 (21 Nov 1963 – 8 Jan 1985), 2.2 mi NN of Rome, KS 37°11′04″N 097°24′31″W / 37.18444°N 97.40861°W / 37.18444; -97.40861 (532-1)
532-2 (29 Nov 1963 – 16 Nov 1985), 0.6 mi ESE of Mayfield, KS 37°15′16″N 097°32′03″W / 37.25444°N 97.53417°W / 37.25444; -97.53417 (532-2)
532-3 (4 Dec 1963 – 17 Sep 1984), 1.9 mi SSE of Conway Springs, KS 37°21′48″N 097°37′59″W / 37.36333°N 97.63306°W / 37.36333; -97.63306 (532-3)
532-4 (13 Nov 1963 – 20 Feb 1986), 3.9 mi WSW of Viola, KS 37°28′04″N 097°42′41″W / 37.46778°N 97.71139°W / 37.46778; -97.71139 (532-4)
532-5 (10 Nov 1963 – 10 Aug 1984), 3.5 mi W of Norwich, KS 37°27′51″N 097°54′40″W / 37.46417°N 97.91111°W / 37.46417; -97.91111 (532-5)
532-6 (31 Oct 1963 – 16 Jan 1986), 8.8 mi WSW of Belmont, KS 37°25′31″N 098°04′08″W / 37.42528°N 98.06889°W / 37.42528; -98.06889 (532-6)
532-7 (14 Nov 1963 – 29 Oct 1984), 1.6 mi ENE of Murdock, KS 37°37′17″N 097°54′13″W / 37.62139°N 97.90361°W / 37.62139; -97.90361 (532-7)
532-8 (23 Oct 1963 – 29 Jan 1986), 2.3 mi SW of Varner, KS 37°41′47″N 098°04′03″W / 37.69639°N 98.06750°W / 37.69639; -98.06750 (532-8)
532-9 (15 Oct 1963 – 25 Mar 1986), 1.9 mi W of Saint Joe, KS 37°45′08″N 097°45′55″W / 37.75222°N 97.76528°W / 37.75222; -97.76528 (532-9)

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Distinguished Unit Citation
 8 October 1943 Bremen, 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Distinguished Unit Citation 11 January 1944 Germany, 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
 1 January 1966-30 June 1967 532d Strategic Missile Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1971-30 June 1972 532d Strategic Missile Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1971-30 June 1972 532d Strategic Missile Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1974-30 June 1975 532d Strategic Missile Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1984-30 June 1986 532d Strategic Missile Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1998-30 June 2000 532d Training Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 2000-30 June 2001 532d Training Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 2002-30 June 2003 532d Training Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 2005-30 June 2006 532d Training Squadron[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 2008-30 June 2010 532d Training Squadron[1]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Air Offensive, Europe 2 June 1943 – 5 June 1944 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Air Combat, EAME Theater 2 June 1943 – 11 May 1945 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Normandy 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Northern France 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Rhineland 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Ardennes-Alsace 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]
Central Europe 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 532d Bombardment Squadron[1]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Approved 23 April 1963.
  2. ^ Approved 4 October 1943. Description: On a scarlet disc, a white flying Trojan horse, outlined in black, winged with Fortress wings ultramarine blue, edged white, having a golden lance spike on the knees of each foreleg. eyes red, and breathing jagged golden orange lightning flash from each nostril.
  3. ^ Aircraft in the foreground is Boeing B-17G-70-BO Flying Fortress, serial 43-37675, VE-N, Patches/Flak Magnet (after October 1944, Trudie's Terror). It survived the war and was transferred to Kingman, Arizona on 17 December 1945. It was sold for scrap in July 1946. Baugher, Joe (10 April 2023). "1943 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  4. ^ Eight of the 17 bombers dispatched by the 381st Group were shot down on this mission. Freeman, p. 75.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Robertson, Patsy (6 September 2012). "Factsheet 532Training Squadron (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  2. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 639
  3. ^ Freeman, p. 288
  4. ^ a b "532nd TRS officially realigns under 82nd TRG". aetc.af.mil. 11 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 268-269
  6. ^ a b c Freeman, p. 253
  7. ^ Freeman, p. 52
  8. ^ Freeman, pp. 53, 63
  9. ^ Freeman, p. 75
  10. ^ "Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command". Air Force History Index. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  11. ^ Knaack, p. 25
  12. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 206-207
  13. ^ a b "Vandenberg AFB Fact Sheets: 381st Training Group". 30th Space Wing Public Affairs. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  14. ^ Station number in Anderson.
  15. ^ Station information in Robertson, except as noted.

Bibliography

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

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