578th Strategic Missile Squadron

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578th Strategic Missile Squadron
Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
578th Strategic Missile Squadron emblem
World War II fuselage code[1]EC
World War II group tail code[1]Circle D

The 578th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive

96th Strategic Aerospace Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, where it served from July 1961 until it was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the SM-65F Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile
on 25 March 1965.

The

V-E Day, but was inactivated in September 1945. From 1947 to 1949, the squadron was active in the reserve
, but was apparently not fully manned or equipped with operational aircraft.

History

World War II

Organization and training

The

European Theater of Operations a week later, while the air echelon ferried their Liberators across the Atlantic.[4]

Combat in the European Theater

392d Bombardment Group Liberators

The squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Wendling on 1 August 1943 and flew its first combat mission on 9 September.[2][3]

The ground echelon arrived in the United Kingdom on 30 July and arrived at

Osnabruck, a railway viaduct at Bielefeld, steel plants at Braunschweig an armored vehicle factory at Kassel and gas works at Berlin.[2][3][4]

The squadron participated in the heavy attacks against the German aircraft manufacturing industry during

wing in the attack. It began to experience heavy fighter opposition soon after crossing the coast in the Netherlands. Although the trailing elements of the first wing to attack had missed the target when a wounded lead bombardier collapsed and inadvertently toggled the plane's bombs, the 392d Group did not follow that formation, but attacked the Gotha factory with an extremely accurate bomb run with 98% of its bombs falling within 2000 feet of the aiming point. Despite losses, the plant was put out of commission for an estimated six to seven weeks.[3][6]

The squadron was sometimes diverted from its strategic mission to perform

lines of communication. It supported airborne attacks by dropping supplies, both near Arnhem in the Netherlands for Operation Market Garden in September 1944 and during Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.[3]

Return to the United States and inactivation

The squadron flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945.

Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina, to perform airlift duties, but apparently was not fully manned or equipped before inactivating on 13 September 1945.[2][3][4]

Air Force reserve

On 9 September 1947, the squadron was activated in the

Barksdale Field, Louisiana,[2] where its training was supervised by the 174th AAF Base Unit (later the 2509th Air Force Reserve Training Center).[8] It is not clear whether or not the squadron was fully staffed or equipped at this time.[9] In 1948 Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.[10]

The May 1949 Air Force Reserve program called for a new type of unit, the Corollary unit, which was a reserve unit integrated with an active duty unit. The plan called for corollary units at 107 locations. It was viewed as the best method to train reservists by mixing them with an existing regular unit to perform duties alongside the regular unit.

Douglas B-26 Invaders.[12] However, President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,[13] and the 47th Wing was inactivated in October 1949.[12] As a result, the 578th was also inactivated on 10 November 1949.[2]

Intercontinental ballistic missile squadron

The squadron was redesignated the 578th Strategic Missile Squadron and organized in July 1961 at

96th Bombardment Wing.[a] The squadron was assigned twelve missiles, with twelve independent widely dispersed launch sites.[citation needed] The Atlas F used all inertial guidance and had more powerful engines and improved reentry vehicles than earlier models.[14] The Atlas Fs were stored in a silo lift launcher. The missile was stored on its launcher in a hardened silo, but was lifted along with its launcher above ground before launch.[15] The SM-65F was designed for long term storage of liquid fuel and shortened countdown [16]

Missile sites
578th Atlas Missile Sites
Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

578–1 1.5 mi SE of Lake Fort Phantom Hill, Texas 32°36′09″N 099°38′59″W / 32.60250°N 99.64972°W / 32.60250; -99.64972
578–2 1.5 mi S of Albany, Texas 32°42′23″N 099°17′51″W / 32.70639°N 99.29750°W / 32.70639; -99.29750
578–3 2.5 mi SE of Clyde, Texas 32°22′54″N 099°27′37″W / 32.38167°N 99.46028°W / 32.38167; -99.46028
578–4 9.6 mi SSW of Clyde, Texas 32°16′25″N 099°32′28″W / 32.27361°N 99.54111°W / 32.27361; -99.54111
578–5 1.5 mi SE of Lake Coleman, Texas 32°09′42″N 099°33′10″W / 32.16167°N 99.55278°W / 32.16167; -99.55278
578–6 2.7 mi E of Lawn, Texas 32°08′25″N 099°42′12″W / 32.14028°N 99.70333°W / 32.14028; -99.70333
578–7 3.4 mi NE of Bradshaw, Texas 32°07′51″N 099°51′18″W / 32.13083°N 99.85500°W / 32.13083; -99.85500
578–8 4.9 mi ENE of Winters, Texas 31°58′24″N 099°52′48″W / 31.97333°N 99.88000°W / 31.97333; -99.88000
578–9 11.9 mi NW of Bradshaw, Texas 32°12′37″N 100°03′03″W / 32.21028°N 100.05083°W / 32.21028; -100.05083
578–10 13.1 mi S of Trent, Texas 32°18′05″N 100°09′11″W / 32.30139°N 100.15306°W / 32.30139; -100.15306
578–11 3.2 mi SSW of Anson, Texas 32°42′40″N 099°54′34″W / 32.71111°N 99.90944°W / 32.71111; -99.90944
578–12 7.52 mi N of Anson, Texas 32°51′37″N 099°53′29″W / 32.86028°N 99.89139°W / 32.86028; -99.89139

On 20 October 1962, after the

alert status.[b] SAC directed that this be done "as covertly as possible", for it was not until 22 October that President John F. Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet the missiles publicly. Atlas F missiles used for operational readiness training would be put on alert as soon as liquid oxygen became available,[17] On 15 November, SAC directed that the squadron would be permitted to remove one of its missiles from alert to perform operational training and "shakedown" testing.[18]

SAC also invoked the SAC/Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) Agreement for Emergency Combat Capability, which called for AFSC to turn over missiles still under its control to SAC to place them on alert. As a result an additional missile was turned over to the squadron to be placed on alert.[19] On 15 November, SAC directed that the squadron would be permitted to remove one of its missiles from alert to perform operational training and "shakedown" testing.[18] From 3 November the number of alert missiles was reduced until on 29 November the number was the same as before the crisis.[20]

On 19 November 1964, Secretary of Defense

Robert S. McNamara announced that, in addition to the phaseout of the SM-65D and SM-65E models, announced earlier, all SM-65F Atlas missiles would be phased out by the end of June 1965, in Project Added Effort. The first missile of the 578th Squadron was removed from alert in December to avoid the necessity for expensive repairs just before inactivation.[21] The squadron was inactivated on 25 March 1965.[22]

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 578th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 15 January 1943
Activated on 26 January 1943
Redesignated 578th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 13 September 1945
  • Redesignated 578th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 13 August 1947
Activated in the reserve on 9 September 1947
Redesignated 578th Bombardment Squadron, Light on 27 June 1949
Inactivated on 10 November 1949
  • Redesignated 578th Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Atlas) and activated, on 25 January 1961 (not organized)
Organized on 1 July 1961
Inactivated on 25 March 1965[23][22]

Assignments

  • 392nd Bombardment Group, 26 January 1943 – 13 September 1945
  • 392nd Bombardment Group, 9 September 1947 – 10 November 1949
  • Strategic Air Command, 25 January 1961 (not organized)
  • 96th Bombardment Wing (later 96th Strategic Aerospace Wing), 1 July 1961 – 25 March 1965[23][24]

Stations

  • Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 26 January 1943
  • Biggs Field
    , Texas, 1 March 1943
  • Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 18 April – 18 July 1943
  • RAF Wendling (AAF-118),[25] England, 1 August 1943 – c. 7 June 1945
  • Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina, 23 June – 13 September 1945
  • Barksdale Field (later Barksdale Air Force Base), Louisiana, 9 September 1947 – 10 November 1949
  • Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 July 1961 – 25 March 1965[26][27]

Aircraft and missiles

  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
  • Convair SM-65F Atlas, 1961–1965[22]

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Distinguished Unit Citation
 24 February 1944 578th Bombardment Squadron Gotha, Germany[2]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Air Offensive, Europe 31 July 1943 – 5 June 1944 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Air Combat, EAME Theater 31 July 1943 – 11 May 1945 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Normandy 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Northern France 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Rhineland 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Ardennes-Alsace 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Central Europe 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 578th Bombardment Squadron[2]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ In February 1963, Strategic Air Command bombardment wings that operated both bombers and missiles were redesignated strategic aerospace wings.
  2. ^ Degraded sorties included missiles withdrawn from alert for modifications and those being used for operational readiness training. Kipp, et al., p. 62.
Citations
  1. ^ a b Watkins, pp. 82-83
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 670-671
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 279-281
  4. ^ a b c Freeman, p. 256
  5. ^ Freeman, pp. 90-91
  6. ^ Freeman, pp. 110-111
  7. ^ Freeman, p. 230
  8. ^ See Mueller, p. 20 (reserve training center at Barksdale 1946-1949).
  9. ^ See Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 670-671 (no aircraft listed as assigned to the squadron during this period)
  10. ^ "Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command". Air Force History Index. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  11. ^ Cantwell, p. 73
  12. ^ a b Ravenstein, pp. 75-77
  13. ^ Knaack, p. 25
  14. ^ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 17
  15. ^ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 24
  16. ^ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 31
  17. ^ Kipp, et al., pp. 62-63
  18. ^ a b Kipp, et al., p. 70
  19. ^ Kipp, et al., pp. 64-65
  20. ^ Kipp, et al., p. 66
  21. ^ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 45
  22. ^ a b c SAC Missile Chronology, p. 47
  23. ^ a b Lineage information, including assignments and aircraft, through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 670-671.
  24. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 134-136
  25. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 20.
  26. ^ Station information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 670-671, except as noted.
  27. ^ Mueller, p. 121

Bibliography

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

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