373d Strategic Missile Squadron

The 373d Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit that was last assigned to the 308th Strategic Missile Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. The 373rd was equipped with the LGM-25C Titan II Intercontinental ballistic missile in 1962, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. The squadron was inactivated for the last time as part of the phaseout of the Titan II ICBM on 18 August 1987.

The squadron was first activated in April 1942 as the 373d Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States, the squadron deployed to China in early 1943. It engaged in combat, primarily in China and Southeast Asia until June 1945, when it assumed a mainly transport role. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its attacks on Japanese shipping. At the end of 1945 it returned to the United States for inactivation.

The squadron was redesignated the 373d Reconnaissance Squadron and activated in Bermuda in 1947, assuming the personnel of another unit. It transferred its personnel and equipment itself when it was inactivated in 1949. It returned to its bombardment designation in 1951 and operated Boeing B-47 Stratojets for Strategic Air Command. In 1959 it moved as part of a test of a "super wing" concept, but was not operational until in inactivated in 1961.

History

World War II

Initial organization and training

The squadron was activated at Gowen Field, Idaho on 15 April 1942 as the 373d Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 308th Bombardment Group.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 182-184 As the squadron was forming and beginning its training in Consolidated B-24 Liberators, at Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico in August 1942, almost all its personnel were transferred to the 330th Bombardment Group.

The following month, a fresh cadre taken from the 39th Bombardment Group joined the group. In addition to its own training activities, at the beginning of October, the unit was briefly designated as an Operational Training Unit The squadron began its movement to the China Burma India Theater in January 1943. The air echelon ferried its Liberators across the Atlantic and Africa, leaving from Morrison Field, while the ground echelon moved by ship across the Pacific.

Combat operations

In late March 1943, the squadron arrived at Kunming Airport, China. In order to prepare for and sustain combat operations in China, the squadron had to conduct numerous flights over the Hump transporting gasoline, lubricants, ordnance, spare parts and the other items it needed. The 373d supported Chinese ground forces and attacked airfields, coal yards, docks, oil refineries and fuel dumps in French Indochina. It attacked shipping, mined rivers and ports and bombed maintenance shops and docks at Rangoon, Burma and attacked Japanese shipping in the East China Sea, Formosa Straits, South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin. For its operations interdicting Japanese shipping it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.

On 15 September 1943, seven squadron B-24s, based at Yangkai Airfield, were dispatched to attack a cement plant in Haiphong, a major port on the Gulf of Tonkin, but only one survived the mission. Two B-24s broke down while attempting to take off. The five remaining planes continued the mission. Over Haiphong, they were attacked by Japanese fighters. One plane went down, forcing the other planes to abandon the mission as they were continuously attacked. After that, two more planes were shot down. The Japanese pilots then attacked the parachuting aircrew, killing three and wounding three others. The other two planes escaped severe damage and returned to Yangkai Airfield, but one crashed at the airfield, killing the entire crew.

The squadron moved to Okinawa in June 1945, where it was assigned to the 494th Bombardment Group. From its base at Yontan Airfield it engaged primarily in attacks against enemy airfields on Kyūshū and around the Inland Sea of Japan until V-J Day. It also struck airfields in China and Korea. The unit also participated in incendiary raids and dropped propaganda leaflets over urban areas of Kyūshū. After the war's end, the unit transported personnel and supplies from Manila to Tokyo. In December, the 373d returned to the United States, where it was inactivated at the Vancouver Barracks Port of Embarkation on 6 January 1946.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 363–364

Weather reconnaissance

The squadron was reactivated at Kindley Field, Bermuda on 15 October 1947 as the 373d Reconnaissance Squadron, an Air Weather Service weather reconnaissance squadron, assuming the personnel and Boeing B-29 Superfortresses of the 53d Reconnaissance Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. The squadron performed weather reconnaissance, including monitoring areas of the Atlantic for developing hurricanesMarkus ''et al''., p. 140 until it was inactivated in February 1951 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 53d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.

Strategic Air Command

Bomber operations

In October 1951, the 373rd Bombardment Squadron was reactivated again with new Boeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. In the early late 1950s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and began phasing out of SAC's strategic arsenal. B-47s were sent to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis–Monthan in July 1959 and the squadron became non-operational. It was inactivated once more on 25 June 1961.

Intercontinental ballistic missile squadron

In 1962, the squadron was reactivated and redesignated as the 373d Strategic Missile Squadron, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile strategic missile squadron. It operated nine Titan II underground silos whose construction began in 1960; the first site ( 373-5) was operationally ready on 15 June 1963. The 9 missile silos controlled by the 373d Strategic Missile Squadron remained on alert for over 20 years during the Cold War. On 8 August 1965, at launch site 373-4, 53 contractor workers died in a flash fire while installing modifications to the launch silo. The cause of the accident was believed to be a rupture in a high-pressure line, which spewed hydraulic fluid on the floor. Ignited by sparks from a nearby welder, the resulting fire consumed most of the oxygen in the space, suffocating the workers.

The squadron operated nine missile sites:

:: 373-1 (15 Nov 1963 – 5 January 1987), 1.2 mi S of Mount Vernon, AR
:: 373-2 (29 Nov 1963 – 4 May 1987), 3.7 mi E of Rose Bud, AR
:: 373-3 (19 Oct 1963 – 18 March 1987), 4.4 mi SE of Heber Springs, AR
:: 373-4 (16 May 1963 – 18 February 1987)*, 2.1 mi ENE of Letona, AR
:: 373-5 (15 Jun 1963 – 20 October 1986), 1.5 mi E of Center Hill, AR
:: 373-6 (23 Nov 1963 – 20 June 1985), 4.9 mi WNW of McRae, AR
:: 373-7 (26 Jun 1963 – 3 April 1986), 6.1 mi W of Russell, AR
:: 373-8 (18 Dec 1963 – 20 October 1986), 2.5 mi NNW of Judsonia, AR
:: 373-9 (28 Oct 1963 – 3 October 1985), 2.1 mi SSE of Holland, AR

In October 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the strategic modernization program, Titan II systems were to be retired by 1 October 1987. Inactivation of the sites began when site 373-6 was inactivated on 20 June 1985, with the last site (373–2) inactivated on 4 May 1987. The squadron was inactivated on 18 August.

Disposition of missile sites

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. Titan II ICBM Launch Complex 373-5 Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Lineage

* Constituted 373d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
: Activated on 15 April 1942
* Redesignated 373d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1944
: Inactivated on 7 January 1946
* Redesignated: 373d Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Long Range, Weather on 16 September 1947.
: Activated on 15 October 1947
: Inactivated on 21 February 1951
* Redesignated 373d Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 4 October 1951
: Activated on 10 October 1951
: Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1961
* Redesignated 373d Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and activated on 29 November 1961 (not organized)
: Organized on 1 April 1962Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft, through May 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 461–462
: Inactivated on 18 August 1987

Assignments

* 308th Bombardment Group, 15 April 1942
* 494th Bombardment Group, 21 July 1945
* 11th Bombardment Group, 11 October 1945 – 7 January 1946
* 8th Weather Group (later 2108th Air Weather Group), 15 October 1947 – 21 February 1951
* 308th Bombardment Group, 10 October 1951 (attached to 21st Air Division until 17 April 1952)
* 308th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 25 June 1961
* Strategic Air Command, 29 November 1961 (not organized)
* 308th Strategic Missile Wing, 1 April 1962 – 18 August 1987

Stations

* Gowen Field, Idaho, 15 April 1942
* Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 20 June 1942
* Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 23 July 1942
* Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 28 August 1942
* Wendover Field, Utah, 1 October 1942
* Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, 30 November 1942 – 2 January 1943
* Yangkai Airfield, China, 20 March 1943
* Luliang Air Base, China, 14 September 1944

* Yontan Airfield, Okinawa, 21 July – 19 December 1945
* Vancouver Barracks, Washington, 4–7 January 1946
* Kindley Field (later Kindley Air Force Base), Bermuda, 15 October 1947 – 21 February 1951
* Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, 10 October 1951
* Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, 17 April 1952
* Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, 15 July 1959 – 25 June 1961
* Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, 1 April 1962 – 18 August 1987

Aircraft and missiles

* Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1942
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945
* Boeing TB-17 Flying Fortress, 1947–1948
* Boeing RB-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951
* Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951, 1951–1953
* Boeing WB-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951
* Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1954–1959
* LGM-25C Titan II, 1962–1987

See also

* List of United States Air Force missile squadrons

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes

; Citations

Bibliography

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{{USAAF 14th Air Force World War II

Strategic missile squadrons of the United States Air Force
1942 establishments in Idaho
1987 disestablishments in Arkansas