394th Combat Training Squadron

The 394th Combat Training Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 509th Operations Group. It is stationed at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The mission of the squadron is to train B-2 Spirit Aircrews.

History

The squadron was originally activated as the 4th Aero Squadron on 5 May 1917 during World War I at Dodd Field Texas. but within a month was transferred to Kelly Field, after training at Kelly Field, it was transferred to Post Field where it operated as an observation school until deactivated on 2-January-1919.

After World War I the unit was reactivated at Hazelhurst Field on the 23-June-1919 and after reorganization was moved to its permanent station in Hawaii on 8-January-1920, and stayed there throughout the 1920s and 1930s as part of the Hawaiian Air Force under GHQAF.

The squadron suffered devastating casualties and equipment damage during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hickam Field and other targets on the island of Oahu on December 7, 1941. Remained in Hawaii during most of 1942 as part of the island's defense forces.

Left Hawaii in November 1942 and, operating in the South Pacific with a mix of B-17C/D Flying Fortresses and early B-24 Liberator (LB-30) aircraft. Converted to very long-range (VLR) Liberators in 1943 when the B-17s were withdrawn from combat in the Pacific and sent to Egypt for use in the Western Desert Campaign. Served in combat during the Allied drive from the Solomons to the Philippines. Flew long patrol and photographic missions over the Solomon Islands and the Coral Sea, attacked Japanese shipping off Guadalcanal, and raided airfields in the northern Solomons until August 1943. Then struck enemy bases and installations on Bougainville, New Britain, and New Ireland.

Raided the heavily defended Japanese base on Woleai during April and May 1944 and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the action. Helped to neutralize enemy bases on Yap and in the Truk and Palau Islands, June–August 1944, preparatory to the invasion of Peleliu and Leyte. Flew missions to the Netherlands Indies. Completed a variety of missions from October 1944 until the end of the war, these operations including raids on enemy bases and installations on Luzon, Ceram, Halmahera, and Formosa; support for ground forces in the Philippines and Borneo; and patrols off the China coast. Moved to Clark Field, and was deactivated on 29 April 1946.

The squadron was reactivated as the 394th Combat Training Squadron on 7-November-1996 at Whiteman Air Force Base and took up the mission of training stealth bomber crews.

Lineage

• Organized as 4 Aero Squadron on 5 May 1917

Redesignated: Squadron B, Post Field, OK, on 22 July 1918

Demobilized on 2 January 1919

• Reconstituted and consolidated (1924) with the 4 Aero Squadron which was organized on 23 June 1919

Redesignated: 4 Squadron (Observation) on 14 March 1921

Redesignated: 4 Observation Squadron on 25 January 1923

Redesignated: 4 Reconnaissance Squadron on 25 January 1938

Redesignated: 4 Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium Range) on 6 December 1939

Redesignated: 4 Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940

Redesignated: 394 Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942

Redesignated: 394 Bombardment Squadron, Heavy by September 1944

Inactivated on 29 April 1946

• Redesignated 394 Combat Training Squadron on 22 October 1996

Activated on 6 November 1996.

Assignments

• Eastern Department, 23 June 1919
• 2 (later 5) Observation Group, 15 December 1919

Attached to Eastern Department until 8 January 1920

• Hawaiian Department, 31 January 1922

Divisional aviation for Hawaiian Division, February 1922-January 1927

• 5 Composite (later, 5 Bombardment) Group, assigned 11 January 1927, attached 12 October 1938, assigned 25 February 1942-29 April 1946

Associated with: 1st Photographic Group, 10 Jun 1941-22 Apr 1942 (training)

• 509th Operations Group, 6 November 1996–present

Stations

Aircraft

• Apparently included Curtiss Model R-4, Curtiss JN-4, and JN-6, during period 1917-1919
• Primarily Airco DH.4 during period 1919-1929; in addition to Thomas-Morse O-19 and Thomas-Morse OA-1, included Martin B-12 bomber and Boeing P-12 fighter during period 1929-1937
• Primarily B-18 Bolo during period 1938-1941
• B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941–1942; November 1942-1943
• LB-30 Liberator, 1942
• B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
• B-2 Spirit, 1996–present

See also

• List of American Aero Squadrons
• List of United States Air Force training squadrons
• Gene Roddenberry

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Air Force Historical Studies Office, 1969. ISBN 0-89201-097-5.
• http://ranger95.com/airforce/combat_tng/394th_cts.html

External links

• http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=1968&page=1