| 422d Bombardment Squadron | |
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Emblem of the 422d Bombardment Squadron |
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| Active | 1942-1946; 1952-1954; 1958-1961 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Bombardment |
The 422d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was as part of the 305th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana.
It was inactivated on 15 February 1961
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Established in June 1942 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron; it trained under the Second Air Force. The squadron deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in September 1942, being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England. It began flying long-range strategic bombardment missions on 17 November 1942 and attacked such targets as submarine pens, docks, harbours, shipyards, motor works and marshalling yards in France, Germany and the Low Countries. It continued attacks on enemy cities, manufacturing centers, transportation links and other targets until the German capitulation in May 1945.
After combat missions ended, the squadron moved to St Trond Air Base in Belgium in July 1945, where it conducted photo-mapping and intelligence-gathering flights over Europe and North Africa which came under the name Project 'Casey Jones'. On 15 December 1945 it moved to Lechfeld airfield, Germany which it had bombed on 18 March 1944 and which it now used as an occupation base.
The 364th Bomb Squadron was inactivated in December 1946 in Germany.
It was reactivated in 1952 under Tactical Air Command and equipped with B-26 Invader light bombers. It was then equipped with obsolete B-45 Tornado light bombers. The squadron was inactivated in 1954.
The squadron was re-activated in 1959 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at MacDill AFB, Florida as a result of the phasing out of the B-47 Stratojet. Additional squadrons were activated as part of the consolation of Stratojet wings and the replacement of the B-47 by B-52 Stratofortresses. However, the squadron was never equipped or manned, but it was assigned administratively to several bases before being inactivated in 1961.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.