The 403d Bombardment 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. It was last assigned to the

43rd Bombardment Wing The 43rd Airlift Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit last stationed at Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where it was inactivated in March 2011. The wing performed en route operations support at Pope Field to include ...

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

, Texas, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1961. The squadron was first activated in January 1941 as the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the

43rd Bombardment Group The 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group is an active duty air mobility unit aPope Army Airfield(formerly Pope AFB), Fort Bragg, North Carolina and is part of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) under the USAF Expeditionary Center. The unit is compose ...

. Following the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, the squadron participated in

antisubmarine Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations a ...

patrols until January 1942, when it moved to Australia and the

Southwest Pacific Theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, its mandate Territory of New Guin ...

. Shortly after it arrived in Australia, the squadron was redesignated the 403d Bombardment Squadron. It moved forward with US forces through New Guinea and the Philippines, moving to

Ie Shima , previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...

shortly before

V-J Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

for operations against Japan. It earned a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed e ...

and a

Philippine Presidential Unit Citation The Philippine Presidential Unit citation BadgeThe AFP Adjutant General, ''Awards and Decorations Handbook'', 1997, OTAG, p. 65. is a unit decoration of the Republic of the Philippines. It has been awarded to certain units of the United States ...

for combat operations. The squadron was inactivated in the Philippines in April 1946. The squadron was reactivated as a

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 ...

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 ...

unit in Arizona from 1958 to 1960. It was activated again at Carswell in 1960 to begin conversion to the

Convair B-58 Hustler The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...

, but was inactivated before becoming operational.

History

World War II

Initial organization and training

The squadron was first activated at

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 as the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, one of the original four squadrons of the

43d Bombardment Group The Poor Relief Act 1601 ( 43 Eliz. 1. c. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England. The act, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, the "43rd Elizabeth", or the "Old Poor Law", was passed in 1601 and created a poor law system for Engl ...

, in the buildup of the United States military forces prior to the American entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Since a reorganization of

General Headquarters Air Force The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in September 1936, each bombardment group of the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(AAF) had an assigned or attached reconnaissance squadron, which operated the same aircraft as that group's assigned bombardment squadrons.Maurer (1987), p. 340 It was equipped with a variety of aircraft, not only the

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 ...

that it would fly in combat, but also

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 ...

s and Lockheed A-29 Hudsons. The squadron moved to Army Air Base Bangor, Maine at the end of August. Following the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

, the squadron conducted

patrols off the Atlantic coast, primarily with its Bolos and Hudsons until January 1942, when it began moving to reinforce American forces in the

.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 99-101

Combat in the Pacific

403d Bombardment Squadron - B-24 Liberator

The squadron reached Australia via

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in February 1942, the first of the 43d Group's four squadrons to arrive in the theater. In April 1942, the

(AAF) ended its practice of assigning or attaching reconnaissance squadrons to medium and heavy bombardment groups, and the squadron became the 403d Bombardment Squadron. It was originally equipped with B-17s for combat operations. It was not until September 1942 that the squadron reached an operational complement of aircraft and personnel. The squadron operated from bases in Australia until November 1942, when it moved to New Guinea. Between May and September 1942 the squadron replaced its B-17s with

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, believed to be more suited to the long ranges of many Pacific missions. It returned to Australia from January to May 1943, when it resumed operations from New Guinea, attacking Japanese shipping in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago. It experimented with

skip bombing Skip bombing was a low-level bombing technique independently developed by several of the combatant nations in World War II, notably Italy, Australia, Britain, Soviet Union and the United States. It allows an aircraft to attack shipping by skippi ...

. It used this technique during the

Battle of the Bismarck Sea The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying tro ...

in March 1943. During this battle, it made repeated attacks against an enemy convoy bringing reinforcements to Japanese forces in New Guinea. For this action, the squadron was awarded a

. During this period, the squadron also provided

air support Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as Strafing, strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS r ...

for ground forces in New Guinea. It attacked

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

s and enemy installations in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago,

Celebes Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archi ...

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

Yap Yap (, sometimes written as , or ) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federate ...

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

, and the southern Philippines. In November 1944 the squadron moved to the Philippines, helping the ground campaign on

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

as well as conducting bombing missions against airfields, industrial installations and enemy installations in China and Formosa. In July 1945 it moved to

Ie Shima Airfield is a training facility, managed by the United States Marine Corps and a former World War II airfield complex on Ie Shima, an island located off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island in the East China Sea. The airfield as such was inactivated ...

, from which it flew missions over Japan, attacking railroads and airfields, as well as shipping in the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

until

. After ceasing operations, the squadron sent its aircraft to the Philippines for reclamation and relocated to

Fort William McKinley Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Taguig, Philippines. The camp is named after Andres Bonifacio, the revolutio ...

as a paper unit. It was finally inactivated in April 1946.

Strategic Air Command

From 1958, the

wings of

(SAC) began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the time spent on alert at overseas bases. The SAC alert cycle divided itself into four parts: planning, flying, alert and rest to meet General Thomas S. Power’s initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.Schake, p. 220 (note 43) To implement this new system B-47 wings reorganized from three to four squadrons.Schake, p. 220 (note 43) The 403d was activated at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base as the fourth squadron of the

43d Bombardment Wing The 43rd Airlift Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit last stationed at Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where it was inactivated in March 2011. The wing performed en route operations support at Pope Field to include ...

. In March 1960, the 43rd Wing moved to

, Texas to become the Air Force's first

wing, and the squadron was discontinued. Two months later, on 15 May, he squadron was organized at Carswell, but it was inactivated on 1 January 1961, before becoming operational.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940 : Activated on 15 January 1941 : Redesignated 403d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942 : Redesignated 403d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 21 September 1943 : Inactivated on 29 April 1946 * Redesignated 403d Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 20 August 1958 : Activated on 1 December 1958 : Discontinued on 15 March 1960 : Organized on 15 May 1960 : Discontinued and inactivated on 1 January 1961

Assignments

* 43rd Bombardment Group, 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946 * 43rd Bombardment Wing, 1 December 1958 – 15 March 1960 * Strategic Air Command, 12 April 1960 (not organized) * 43rd Bombardment Wing, 15 May 1960 – 1 January 1961

Stations

* Langley Field, Virginia, 15 January 1941 * Army Air Base, Bangor, Maine, 30 August 1941 – 18 January 1942 *

Essendon Airport Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarin ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, Australia, 27 February 1942 * RAAF Laverton, Victoria, Australia, 14 March 1942 *

Longreach Airport Longreach Airport is situated in Longreach, Queensland, Australia. The airport is northeast of the city. The Royal Flying Doctor Service has one of its nine Queensland bases at Longreach Airport. History Longreach has played a major part i ...

Torrens Creek Torrens Creek is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Flinders, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Torrens Creek had a population of 46 people. Geography The town is on the Flinders Highway, north-west of the state capita ...

, Queensland, Australia, 27 August 1942 *

Iron Range Airfield Lockhart River Airport (also known as Iron Range Airport) is an airport in Lockhart River, Queensland, Lockhart River, Queensland, Australia, located approximately north of Cairns on the eastern coast of Cape York Peninsula. Being so remote ...

, Queensland, Australia, c. 17 October 1942 *

Gurney Airfield Gurney Airport is an airport serving Alotau in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The airport is a single runway general aviation facility. In December 2008, the PNG Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Don Polye announced ...

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...

, Papua New Guinea, 23 November 1942 *

Mareeba Airfield Mareeba Airfield is an airfield located south of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. Built in 1942 as a US Army Air Force base during World War II, the airfield had two runways, with a complement of taxiways, hardstands and a containment area. Af ...

, Queensland, Australia, c. 21 January 1943 * Jackson Airfield,

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, Papua New Guinea, c. 11 May 1943 *

Dobodura Airfield Girua Airport is an airport serving Popondetta, a city in the Oro (or Northern) province in Papua New Guinea. History Girua Airport is located near Dobodura, to the north-east of the Embi Lakes, north-east of Inonda. To the south is Mt. Laming ...

, Papua New Guinea, c. 13 December 1943 * Nadzab Airfield, Papua New Guinea, 12 March 1944 *

Owi Airfield Owi Airfield is a former World War II airfield located on Owi Island in the Schouten Islands, Indonesia. The airfield was ordered built by General MacArthur on 6 June 1944. It was constructed by the 864th Engineer Aviation Battalion with B Compa ...

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

, Netherlands East Indies, 28 July 1944 * Tacloban Airfield,

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

, Philippines, C. 19 November 1944 *

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

, Luzon, Philippines, c. 15 March 1945 *

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, Ryuku Islands, 22 July 1945 * Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippines, 11 December 1945 – 29 April 1946 * Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, 1 December 1958 – 15 March 1960 * Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, 15 May 1960 – 1 January 1961Station information in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 493, except as noted.

Aircraft

* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941, 1942–1943 * Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1941–1942 * Lockheed A-29 Hudson, 1941–1942 * Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945 * Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1958–1960 * Convair B-58 Hustler, 1960

Awards and campaigns

References

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{USAAF 1st Air Force World War II Bombardment squadrons of the United States Air Force Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces Strategic bombing squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations established in 1941 Units and formations of Strategic Air Command Military units and formations of the United States in the Cold War