72nd Test And Evaluation Squadron
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The 72d Test and Evaluation Squadron is part of the 53d Wing at
Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...
, Florida. The squadron is geographically separated but is operated from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It conducts testing and evaluation of the
B-2 Spirit The Northrop B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American Heavy bomber, heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth aircraft, stealth technology designed to penetrator (aircraft), penetrate dense anti-aircraft war ...
aircraft.


Mission

The B-2 weapon system, which costs $44.6 billion, is tested and evaluated operationally by the squadron. The squadron assesses the B-2 weapons system's capability to meet all significant requirements and reports weapon system capabilities. The unit provides experienced operations, maintenance, engineering, and analysis personnel who plan and conduct ground and flight tests, and analyze, evaluate, and report on the effectiveness and suitability of B-2 logistics support, tactics and survivability, foreign military exploitation, weapons and mission planning. The squadron reports results and conclusions to support DoD acquisition, deployment and employment decisions.


History


World War I

The squadron was formed in Texas in early 1918. After a period of training and organization, it departed from New York in the late summer of 1918, arriving in France on 4 September. It stayed two weeks at the Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks, St. Maixent, then transited through Delouze Aerodrome before reaching Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome where it worked for the 1st Air Depot as "Advance Section, Serv. of Supply Air Park Squadron". It remained in France after the armistice until June 1919, arriving back in New York and subsequently demobilized in July.


Interwar years

Reorganized in 1923 as a reconnaissance squadron, assigned to 5th Composite Group in Hawaii as part of the islands air defense organization. Assigned to Luke Field on
Ford Island Ford Island () is an islet in the center of Pearl Harbor, Oahu, in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It has been known as Rabbit Island, Marín's Island, and Little Goats Island; its native Hawaiian name is ''Mokuumeume''. The island had an area of ...
. Activities included training, participating in Army-Navy maneuvers, staging aerial reviews and sowing seeds from the air for the Territorial Forestry Division. In 1935, the squadron helped save the city of
Hilo, Hawaii Hilo () is the largest settlement in and the county seat of Hawaii County, Hawaiʻi, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaiʻi, and is a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. I ...
, during the eruption of the Mauna Loa
volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
. Ten Keystone B-3 and Keystone B-4 bombers from the group's 23d and 72d Bombardment Squadrons dropped twenty 600-pound bombs around the volcano to divert molten lava away from the town.


World War II

When the Navy moved its Pacific Fleet from
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
to
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
in 1939, the squadron moved to Hickam Field. Was equipped with a mixture of
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 early B-17C/D Flying Fortresses in 1941 when the Japanese attacked Hawaii. The group suffered devastating personnel and aircraft losses in the Pearl Harbor Attack, remaining in Hawaii until September 1942 re-equipping. Deployed to the South Pacific, engaging in long-range bombing of enemy targets in the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
and Central Pacific using Very Long-Range
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. participating in MacArthur's island-hopping campaign in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies. Participated in the Philippines Campaign, earning a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in combat, 1944–1945. Inactivated at Clark Field, 1947 although most personnel had already returned to the United States.


Strategic reconnaissance

Reactivated at Ladd Field, Alaska in 1947 assuming the mission, personnel and equipment of the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron with a mission to conduct strategic reconnaissance operations over the
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
. The squadron's reconnaissance missions included electronic and weather monitoring flights used to track Soviet activities in the area. Between 1948 and 1949 the Boeing RB-29 Superfortresses of the 72d conducted numerous photographic reconnaissance and ELINT missions over the Soviet Arctic and Far East. Equipped with cameras that enabled then to remain in international airspace, whilst photographing targets deep inside Soviet territory, the aircraft searched for evidence of Soviet military activity, but unsurprisingly, found little going on in the inhospitable Arctic wastes but nobody knew what was happening further inland. To investigate activity deeper inside the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, some RB-29s were stripped of all unnecessary equipment, allowing them to increase their operating ceiling, and began overflying Soviet territory.Wack, Fred J. The Secret Explorers: Saga of the 46th/72nd Reconnaissance Squadrons. N.p., 1990 President
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
, authorized the first overflight on 5 August 1948 when an RB-29 took off from Ladd AFB and, after routing over
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
and spending over 19 hours in the air, eventually landed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. Even longer flights soon became routine with aircraft operating up to 35,000 ft, covering 5000 miles and remaining airborne for occasionally up to 30 hours. Although the Soviet Military was equipped rudimentary radar, copied from World War II US supplied equipment, large gaps existed in their radar coverage, particularly over the vast Arctic region. These gaps were soon identified and exploited by the RB-29s as they penetrated deeper inside the Soviet Union. Although they were detected on many occasions, none of the RB-29s was ever intercepted because the early MiG-15 was the only fighter with sufficient performance to reach these high-flying aircraft and none of the new fighters were then stationed in Siberia. The most significant of these missions included one on 3 September 1949 which identified the first evidence of a successful explosion of a Soviet nuclear weapon in the Semipalatinsk test site in Eastern Kazakhstan on 29 August 1949.


Strategic bombardment

Moved to the Continental United States in 1951, being re-equipped with Very Long Range RB-36H Peacemaker strategic reconnaissance bombers and assigned to the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California. The aircraft were equipped with four J47 jet engines and with fourteen K-17C, K-22A, K-38, and K-40 cameras. It also received some advanced electronics. Its normal crew was 22, which included 5 gunners to man the 16 M-24A-1 20-mm cannon. Conducted global strategic reconnaissance until 1955, conducting ELINT and Ferret missions along the east Asian coastline. Gradually shifting to bombardment training mission beginning in 1954 as the 72d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, on 1 October 1955. Flew B-36Js heavy bombers until their phaseout in 1958, being reassigned to the 4134th Strategic Wing, being re-equipped with Boeing B-52F Stratofortress intercontinental heavy bombers. Was reassigned to
Mather Air Force Base Mather Air Force Base (Mather AFB) was a United States Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993 pursuant to a post-Cold War BRAC decision. It was located east of Sacramento, on the south side of U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento County, Californ ...
, California by SAC to disperse its heavy bomber force. Conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and providing nuclear deterrent. Was inactivated in 1963 when SAC inactivated its strategic wings, replacing them with permanent Air Force Wings. Squadron was inactivated with its aircraft, personnel and equipment being transferred to the 441st Bombardment Squadron. Reactivated as a B-52H heavy bomb squadron at
Minot Air Force Base Minot Air Force Base ( ; ) is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation in Ward County, North Dakota, north of the city of Minot via U.S. Route 83. In the 2020 census, the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 5 ...
, North Dakota in late 1994, but inactivated on 1 July 1996.


Test and evaluation

Reactivated as a
B-2 Spirit The Northrop B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American Heavy bomber, heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth aircraft, stealth technology designed to penetrator (aircraft), penetrate dense anti-aircraft war ...
stealth bomber evaluation squadron in 1998.


Lineage

; 72d Aero Squadron * Organized as the 72d Aero Squadron on 18 February 1918 : Demobilized on 11 July 1919 * Reconstituted and consolidated with the 72d Bombardment Squadron as the ''72d Bombardment Squadron on 8 April 1924Clay, p. 1424 ; 72d Test and Evaluation Squadron * Constituted as the 72d Bombardment Squadron on 6 February 1923 * Activated on 1 May 1923 : Consolidated with the 72d Aero Squadron on 8 April 1924 : Redesignated 72d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 6 December 1939 : Redesignated 72d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940 : Redesignated 72d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 6 March 1944 : Redesignated 72d Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 30 April 1946 : Inactivated on 10 March 1947 * Redesignated 72d Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Long Range, Photographic on 16 September 1947 : Activated on 13 October 1947 : Redesignated 72d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic on 23 February 1949 : Redesignated 72d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Heavy on 14 November 1950 : Redesignated 72d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 October 1955 : Discontinued, and inactivated on 1 February 1963 * Redesignated 72d Bomb Squadron on 30 November 1994 : Activated on 1 December 1994 : Inactivated on 1 July 1996 * Redesignated 72d Test and Evaluation Squadron on 1 November 1998 : Activated on 20 November 1998


Assignments

* Unknown, 18 February–September 1918 * 1st Air Depot, September 1918 – June 1919 * Unknown, June-11 July 1919 * 5th Composite Group, 1 May 1923 * 19th Bombardment Group (attached to 5th Composite Group after 24 June 1932) * 5th Bombardment Group (later 5th Reconnaissance Group), 12 October 1938 – 10 March 1947 * Alaskan Air Command, 13 October 1947 * 311th Air Division, 1 April 1949 * 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Group, 28 June 1949 (attached to 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing after 10 February 1951) * 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (later 5th Bombardment Wing), 16 June 1952 * 4134th Strategic Wing, 1 July 1958 – 1 February 1963 * 5th Operations Group, 1 December 1994 – 1 July 1996 *
53d Test and Evaluation Group The 53rd Test and Evaluation Group is a Group (air force), group of the United States United States Air Force, Air Force. It is a part of the 53rd Wing, and is headquarters, headquartered at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The Group was originally activate ...
, 20 November 1998 * 753rd Test and Evaluation Group, 1 October 2021 – present


Stations

*
Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...
, 18 February 1918 * Rich Field, Texas, 23 February 1918 *
Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...
, 16 July-13 August 1918 * St. Maixent Replacement Barracks, France, 4 September 1918 * Delouze Aerodrome, France, 20 September 1918 * Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome, France, 30 September 1918 – June 1919 : Detachment at: Behonne Aerodrome, France, 4 October-1 December 1918 (Advance Air Park) * Mitchel Field, New York, c. 29 June-11 July 1919 * Luke Field, Hawaii, 1 May 1923 * Hickam Field, Hawaii, 4 January 1939 * Bellows Field, Hawaii, 11 December 1941 – 18 September 1942 * Pallikulo Bay Airfield,
Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...
, New Hebrides, 24 September 1942 : Operated from: Henderson Field (Guadalcanal), Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 4 October 1942 – 8 August 1943; 7 October-15 November 1943; 13 December 1943 – 27 January 1944 * Munda Airfield,
New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been par ...
, Solomon Islands, 9 January 1944 * Momote Airfield, Los Negros, Admiralty Islands, 15 April 1944 * Wakde Airfield, Netherlands East Indies, c. 19 August 1944 * Kornasoren (Yebrurro) Airfield, Noemfoor, Schouten Islands, 27 September 1944 * Wama Airfield, Morotai, Netherlands East Indies, 24 October 1944 * Guiuan Airfield,
Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
, Philippines, 20 March 1945 * Clark Field,
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 ...
, Philippines, December 1945-10 March 1947 * Ladd Army Airfield, Alaska, 13 October 1947 * Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, 28 June 1949 * Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base (later Travis Air Force Base), California, 9 November 1949 : Deployed at: RAF Sculthorpe, England, 31 May −15 November 1950 : Deployed at: Andersen Air Force Base,
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 ...
, 14 January-12 April 1955 * Mather Air Force Base, California, 1 July 1958 – 1 February 1963 * Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, 1 December 1994 – 1 July 1996 * Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, 20 November 1998 – present


Aircraft

* DH-4 (1923–1929) * NBS-1 (1923–1929) * LB-5 (1927–1929) * Keystone B-4 (1929–1936) * Keystone B-5 (1929–1936) *
LB-6 The Keystone LB-6 and LB-7 were 1920s United States, American light bombers, built by the Keystone Aircraft company for the United States Army Air Corps, called Panther by the company, but adoption of the name was rejected by the U.S. Army. Des ...
(1929–1936) * B-12 (1936–1938) * B-18 Bolo (1938–1942) * Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1941, 1942–1943) * Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1943–1945) * Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1947–1951) * Boeing F-13 (RB-29) Superfortress (1947–1948) * Convair RB-36 Peacemaker (1951–1958) * Convair B-36 Peacemaker (1955–1958) * Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (1958–1963, 1994–1996) * B-2 Spirit (1998–present)


Operations

*
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
*
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 ...


See also

* List of American Aero Squadrons * List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force * Kee Bird


References


Notes


Bibliography

* *


External links

* http://www.footnote.com/image/#19955883 * http://www.footnote.com/image/#19067086 * http://www.footnote.com/image/#21599334 1st air depot {{DEFAULTSORT:72d Test And Evaluation Squadron Military units and formations in Missouri 0072