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The 374th Strategic Missile 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, last assigned to the 308th Strategic Missile Wing at
Little Rock Air Force Base Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. The facility covers 6,217 acres (2,516 ha) with a resident population of over 3,300 and working population of approximate ...
, Arkansas. The squadron was equipped with the
LGM-25C Titan II The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier HGM-25A Titan I, Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a Med ...
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
(ICBM), with a mission of nuclear deterrence. It was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan II ICBM on 15 August 1986. The squadron was responsible for Launch Complex 374–7, site of the 1980 explosion of a Titan II ICBM in Damascus, Arkansas. The squadron was first activated in April 1942 as the 374th 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 two Distinguished Unit Citations for its operations in China and its attacks on Japanese shipping. At the end of 1945 it returned to the United States for inactivation. The squadron was redesignated the 374th Reconnaissance Squadron and activated in California in 1947. It was inactivated in 1949. It returned to its bombardment designation in 1951 and operated
Boeing B-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long- range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...
s for
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
. 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 374th 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 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 ...
s, 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 Palm Beach International Airport – also known as PBI Airport and historically as Morrison Field & Palm Beach Air Force Base – is a public airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States located just west of ...
, while the ground echelon moved by ship across the Pacific.


Combat operations

In late March 1943, the squadron arrived at Chengkung Airfield, China. In order to prepare for and sustain combat operations in China, the squadron had to conduct numerous flights over
the Hump The Hump was the name given by Allies of World War II, Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from British Raj, India to Republic of China (1912- ...
transporting gasoline, lubricants, ordnance, spare parts and the other items it needed. The 374th 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 Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
, Burma and attacked Japanese shipping in the East China Sea, Formosa Straits, South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin. On 21 August 1943, the squadron conducted an unescorted bombing attack on docks and warehouses at Hankow, China, pressing its attack despite heavy flak and fighter opposition. For this mission it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). Its operations interdicting Japanese shipping in 1944 and 1945 earned it a second (DUC). On 26 October 1944, Major Horace S. Carswell, the squadron's operations officer, attacked a Japanese
convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
in the South China Sea, meeting with heavy antiaircraft fire, badly damaging his plane. Because of the damage, once he was over land, he ordered the crew to bail out. One crewmember could not bail out because his parachute had been shredded by the enemy fire. Major Carswell remained at the controls to attempt a crash landing, but his Liberator struck a mountain and crashed in the attempt. He was awarded the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
for his actions. Carswell Air Force Base, Texas was named in his honor.Mueller, p. 63 The squadron moved to Rupsi Airfield, Assam, India in June 1945. Its mission again was primarily air transport as it ferried gasoline and supplies from there back into China. The unit sailed for the United States in October 1945, and it was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation on 6 January 1946.


Weather reconnaissance

The squadron was reactivated at Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Field, California on 15 October 1947 as the 374th Reconnaissance Squadron, an Air Weather Service weather reconnaissance squadron, assuming the personnel and
Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined 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 its predecessor, the Bo ...
es of the 55th Reconnaissance Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. (reproducing Haulman, Daniel L. (15 Jul 1998), Lineage & Honors History 55 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Air Force Historical Research Agency.) The squadron performed weather reconnaissance, deploying elements to England and Saudi Arabia. In October 1949, the squadron moved to
McClellan Air Force Base McClellan Air Force Base (1935–2001) is a former United States Air Force base in California, located in the North Highlands, California, North Highlands area of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, northeast of Sacramento, Califo ...
, California, where it was inactivated in February 1951 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.


Strategic Air Command


Bomber operations

It was reactivated a few months later in October with new B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers, which were capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. By the late 1950s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. B-47s began the transition to
AMARC The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (, AMARC) is the international umbrella organization of community radio Broadcasting, broadcasters founded in 1983, with nearly 3,000 members in 110 countries. Its mission is to support and c ...
(also known as the
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) at Davis-Monthan in July 1959 and the squadron became non-operational. It was inactivated on 25 June 1961.


Intercontinental ballistic missile squadron

The squadron was reactivated and redesignated as the 374th Strategic Missile Squadron, a SAC
LGM-25C Titan II The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier HGM-25A Titan I, Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a Med ...
intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...
missile squadron in 1962. It operated nine Titan II underground silos, construction of which began in 1960; the first (374–9), being operationally ready on 28 Oct 1963. The nine missile silos controlled by the 374th Strategic Missile Squadron remained on alert for over 20 years during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. The 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion is a ' Broken Arrow' incident occurred at site 374–7 on 19 September 1980 which killed one airman and injured twenty-one personnel in the immediate vicinity (see below). In October 1981, President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
announced that as part of the strategic modernization program, the Titan II systems were to be retired by 1 October 1987. Inactivation of the sites began on 17 March 1985 with 374-8 being the first; the last was on 15 Aug 1986 involving 374–1, 374–4 and 374–2. The squadron was inactivated the same day. 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 through aerial imagery, in various states of use or dereliction.


=Launch Complex 374-7 incident

= On 18 September 1980 at Titan II Launch Complex 374–7, a 308th Missile Maintenance Squadron airman was adding pressure to the second stage oxidizer tank. During an incorrect application of a 9-pound socket wrench to the pressure cap, the airman accidentally dropped the socket, which fell down the silo, glanced off the thrust mount and punctured the pressurized first stage fuel tank containing
aerozine 50 __NOTOC__ Aerozine 50 is a 50:50 mix by weight of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), developed in the late 1950s by Aerojet General Corporation as a storable, high-energy, hypergolic fuel for the Titan II ICBM rocket engines ...
. Aerozine 50 is
hypergolic A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. The ...
with the Titan II's oxidizer,
nitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russian rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...
; i.e., they spontaneously ignite on contact with each other. Eventually, the crew evacuated the launch control center as military and civilian response teams arrived to tackle the hazardous situation. Early in the morning of 19 September, a two-man investigation team entered the silo. Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere, the two were ordered to evacuate. At about 0300 hours, a tremendous explosion rocked the area. One possible trigger for the explosion was the collapse of the now-empty first stage fuel tank, allowing the rest of the missile (including the full oxidizer tank of the first stage) to fall and rupture, allowing the oxidizer to contact the fuel already in the silo. The initial explosion catapulted the 740-ton silo door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and warhead. Once clear of the silo, the second stage exploded. The warhead safety devices performed as designed and it did not explode. Twenty-one personnel in the immediate vicinity of the blast were injured. One member of the two-man silo reconnaissance team who had just emerged from the portal sustained fatal injuries. At daybreak, the Air Force retrieved the warhead and took it to Little Rock AFB. During the recovery, the Missile Wing Commander received strong support from other military units as well as Federal, state, and local officials. Arkansas's governor,
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, played an important role in overseeing the proper deployment of state emergency resources. The wing received some of its greatest accolades in the wake of the disaster. Perhaps realizing the public confidence had suffered a blow, wing personnel made a stronger effort to reach out to local communities. This effort won Air Force recognition in 1983, when the wing became the first missile wing ever to win the General Bruce K. Holloway humanitarian service trophy for the year 1982. The unit also earned the Omaha trophy for 1982, recognizing it as the best in SAC.


Lineage

* Constituted as the 374th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942 : Activated on 15 April 1942. : Redesignated 374th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943 : Inactivated on 6 January 1946 * Redesignated 374th Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Long Range, Weather) on 16 September 1947. : Activated on 15 October 1947 : Inactivated on 21 February 1951 * Redesignated 374th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 4 October 1951 : Activated on 10 October 1951. : Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1961 * Redesignated 374th Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and activated 1 Sep 1962Lineage information, including assignments and stations, through March 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadron'', pp. 462-463 : Inactivated on 15 Aug 1986


Assignments

* 308th Bombardment Group, 15 April 1942 – 6 January 1946 * 7th Weather Group (later 2107th 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 (not operational after 15 July 1959) * 308th Strategic Missile Wing, 1 September 1962 – 15 August 1986


Stations

* Gowen Field, Idaho, 15 April 1942 * Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 18 June 1942 * Alamogordo Army Airfield, New Mexico, 24 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 * Chengkung Airfield, China, 20 March 1943 * Kwanghan Airfield, China, 18 February 1945 * Rupsi Airfield, India, 27 June – 14 October 1945 * Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 5–6 January 1946 * Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Field (later Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base), California, 15 October 1947 (one flight operated from Lincolnshire, England, 22 November 1948 – 15 May 1949) * McClellan Air Force Base, California, 25 October 1949 – 21 February 1951 (flights operated from Dhahran Airfield, Saudi Arabia, 8 May 1948 – 4 December 1950; and Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, 3 July – 28 September 1950) * Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, 10 October 1951 * Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, 17 April 1952 *
Plattsburgh Air Force Base Plattsburgh Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC) base covering 3,447 acres (13.7 km) in the extreme northeast corner of New York, located on the western shore of Lake Champlain opposite Burl ...
, New York, 15 July 1959 – 25 June 1961 * Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, 1 Sep 1962 – 15 Aug 1986


Aircraft and missiles

*
Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Airc ...
, 1942 * Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945 * Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951, 1951–1952 * Boeing WB-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951 * Boeing RB-29 Superfortress, 1947–1951 *
Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...
, 1947–1951 * Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1953–1959 * LGM-25C Titan II, 1962–1986 :The squadron operated nine missile sites: :: 374-1 (23 Dec 1963 – 15 Aug 1985), 1.1 mi ENE of Blackwell, Arkansas :: 374-2 (19 Dec 1963 – 15 Aug 1986), 2.0 mi NNE of Plummerville, AR :: 374-3 (19 Dec 1963 – 5 Aug 1986), 3.9 mi ENE of Hattieville, AR :: 374-4 (28 Dec 1963 – 15 Aug 1986), 1.4 mi NNE of Springfield, AR :: 374-5 (26 Dec 1963 – 19 May 1986), 3.3 mi ESE of Wooster, AR :: 374-6 (18 Dec 1963 – 25 Jun 1986), 3.8 mi SW of Guy, AR :: 374-7 (18 Dec 1963 – 21 Sep 1980)*, 3.3 mi NNE of Damascus, AR :: 374-8 (20 Dec 1963 – 17 Mar 1985), 4.3 mi SSW of Quitman, AR :: 374-9 (28 Oct 1963 – 3 Oct 1985), 2.5 mi SSW of Pearson, AR


See also

* Titan II ICBM Launch Complex 374-5 Site * List of United States Air Force missile squadrons


References


Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * ; Further reading * {{Strategic Air Command 374 Military units and formations disestablished in 1986