The 355th Tactical Airlift Squadron is an inactive
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
unit. Its last assignment was with
906th Tactical Airlift Group stationed at
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation at Rickenbacker International Airport near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie R ...
, Ohio. It was inactivated on 1 July 1982.
History
Activated in early 1942 as a
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...
Operational Training Unit (OTU), later becoming a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for deployed combat units, assigned to
II Bomber Command
The II Bomber Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was established in September 1941, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor to command heavy bomber units assigned to Second Air Force. Following the entry of the United St ...
. Inactivated in April 1944 when heavy bomber training ended.
Re-dgesignated as a
B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...
very heavy bombardment Squadron under
Second Air Force
The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...
1 April 1944 at
Dalhart Army Airfield
Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945.
The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...
, Texas. Initially equipped with
B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
es for training, due to shortage of
B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...
es. Moved to
Harvard Army Airfield, Nebraska, in August 1944 and equipped with B-29B limited production aircraft.
After completion of training deployed to Central Pacific Area (CPA), assigned to
XXI Bomber Command
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II.
The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization and ...
,
Northwest Field (Guam)
Northwest Field (NWF; historically Northwest Guam Air Force Base) is a military airfield on the West Pacific island of Guam. Originally built during World War II, Northwest Field was closed as an airfield in 1949 but has been used for other mi ...
for operational missions. B-29Bs were standard production aircraft stripped of most defensive guns to increase speed and bomb load, The tail gun was aimed and fired automatically by the new AN/APG-15B radar fire control system that detected the approaching enemy plane and made all the necessary calculations.
Mission of the squadron was the strategic bombardment of the
Japanese Home Islands
The is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and cons ...
. Dntered combat on 16 June 1945 with a bombing raid against an airfield on
Moen. Flew first mission against the Japanese home islands on 26 June 1945 and afterwards operated principally against the enemy's petroleum industry. Flew primarily low-level, fast attacks at night using a mixture of high-explosive and incendiary bombs to attack targets.
Flew last combat mission on 15 August 1945, later flew in "Show of Force" mission on 2 September 1945 over
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...
during formal Japanese Surrender. Inactivated on Guam 15 April 1946, personnel returned to the United States and aircraft sent to storage in Southwest United States.
It trained for C-54 airlift operations from 1949 to 1950 and for troop carrier missions from 1952 to 1959. Reactivated in 1963 to organize, recruit and train Air Force Reserve personnel to provide tactical airlift of airborne forces, their equipment and supplies and delivery of these forces and materials by airdrop, landing or cargo extraction systems. Initially equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars for Tactical Air Command airlift operations.
Replaced C-119s with
C-123 Provider
The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve a ...
assault transport in 1967, began training with special operations forces when parent 302d Tactical Airlift Wing was redesignated as a Special Operations Wing in 1970. Inactivated in 1975 as part of post-
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
drawdown.
Reactivated in 1981 as a
UC-123K Provider reserve squadron at
Rickenbacker ANGB
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation at Rickenbacker International Airport near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Ri ...
, Ohio for aerial spraying operations. Inactivated in 1982 when host unit was realigned into a fighter group at
Wright-Patterson AFB
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...
.
Operations
* Campaigns: Air Offensive; Japan; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific.
Lineage
* Constituted as the 355 Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
: Activated on 1 June 1942
: Inactivated on 10 April 1944
* Redesignated 355 Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 27 June 1944
: Activated on 7 July 1944
: Inactivated on 15 April 1946
* Redesignated 355th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 16 May 1949
: Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949
: Redesignated 355th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 28 January 1950
: Ordered to active service on 1 June 1951
: Inactivated on 8 June 1951
* Redesignated 355th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 26 May 1952
: Activated in the reserve on 14 June 1952
: Ordered to active duty on 28 October 1962
: Released from active duty on 28 November 1962
[Lineage information, including aircraft, assignments and stations, through March 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 440-41]
: Redesignated 355th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 July 1967
: Redesignated 355th Special Operations Squadron on 25 January 1970
: Redesignated 355th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 25 July 1971
: Inactivated on 1 July 1982
Assignments
*
302d Bombardment Group
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
, 1 June 1942 – 10 April 194
*
331st Bombardment Group 331st may refer to:
*331st Air Expeditionary Group, inactive United States Air Force unit
* 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, former unit of the United States Air Force
* 331st Guards Airborne Regiment, formation of the Russian Airborne Troops, ...
, 7 July 1944 – 15 April 1946
* 302d Troop Carrier Group, 27 June 1949 – 8 June 1951
* 302d Troop Carrier Group, 14 June 1952
*
302d Troop Carrier Wing
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
, 14 April 1959
*
906th Troop Carrier Group (later 906th Tactical Airlift Group, 906th Special Operations Group, 906th Tactical Airlift Group), 11 February 1963
[
* 302d Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 September 1975
* 906th Tactical Airlift Group, 1 April 1981 – 1 July 1982
]
Stations
* Geiger Field
Spokane International Airport is a commercial airport in Spokane, Washington, United States, located approximately west-southwest of Downtown Spokane. It is the primary airport serving the Inland Northwest, which consists of 30 counties and ...
, Washington, 1 June 1942
* Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 23 June 1942
* Wendover Field
Wendover is a town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along t ...
, Utah, 30 July 1942
* Pueblo Army Air Base
Pueblo Memorial Airport is a public airport located six miles east of Pueblo, in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. It is primarily used for general aviation.
Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 4,345 passenger boar ...
, Colorado, 30 September 1942
* Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 1 December 1942
* Clovis Army Air Field
Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operations Wing (27 SOW) also known as "The Steadfast Line". It is under the jurisdic ...
, New Mexico, 29 January 1943
* Langley Field Langley may refer to:
People
* Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name
* Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer
* Langley Wakeman Collyer (1885–1947), one ...
, Virginia, 17 December 1943
* Chatham Army Air Field, Georgia, 27 Jan-10 Apr 1944
* Dalhart Army Air Field
Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945.
The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...
, Texas, 7 July 1944
* McCook Army Air Field
McCook Army Airfield was activated on 1 April 1943. It is located northwest of McCook, a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States and is southwest of North Platte, Nebraska. It was constructed in 1943. The site is bordered on all si ...
, Nebraska, 22 Nov 1944 – 8 Apr 1945
* Northwest Field
Northwest Field (NWF; historically Northwest Guam Air Force Base) is a military airfield on the West Pacific island of Guam. Originally built during World War II, Northwest Field was closed as an airfield in 1949 but has been used for other mi ...
, Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
, Northern Mariana Islands, 12 May 1945 – 15 Apr 1946
* Clinton County Air Force Base
Wilmington Air Park, effective 2009-08-27. is a public-use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) southeast of the central business district of Wilmington, a city in Clinton County, Ohio, United States. While DHL had privately owned ...
, Ohio, 14 June 1952 – 14 April 1959; 11 February 1963
* Lockbourne Air Force Base
Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation at Rickenbacker International Airport near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Ric ...
(later Rickenbacker Air Force Base), Ohio, 2 August 1971 – 1 July 1982[
]
Aircraft
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...
(1942–1944)
* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
(1944)
* Boeing B-29B Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a United States Army Air Forces long range, strategic heavy bomber that was produced in many experimental and production models from 1943 to 1946.
XB-29
: ''Section source: Baugher''
The XB-29, Boeing Model 345 ...
(1945–1946)
* Curtiss C-46 Commando
The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company p ...
(1952–1957)
* Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) is an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, Litter (rescue basket), litte ...
, 1956–1967
* Fairchild C-123 Provider
The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve a ...
, 1967–1982[
]
References
Notes
; Explanatory notes
; Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last=Rogers, first=Brian., title=United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978, date=2005, publisher=Midland Publications, location=Hinkley, UK, isbn=1-85780-197-0
Airlift squadrons of the United States Air Force