| 9th Bomb Squadron | |
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9th Bomb Squadron Patch |
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| Active | 14 June 1917 – 29 June 1922 1 April 1931 – 6 January 1946 1 October 1946 – 25 June 1968 2 July 1969 – 15 August 1992 since 1 October 1993 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Strategic Bombing |
| Part of | Air Combat Command 12th Air Force 7th Bomb Wing 7th Operations Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Dyess Air Force Base |
| Nickname | Bats |
| Engagements | World War I World War II Operation Desert Fox Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| Decorations | DCU AFOUA PPUC |
The 9th Bomb Squadron (9 BS) is part of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. It operates B-1 Lancer aircraft providing strategic bombing capability. Established 14 June 1917, the 9th is the oldest active bomb squadron in the Air Force.
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The mission of the 9th Bomb Squadron is to maintain combat ready B-1 aircrew capable of delivering rapid, overwhelming and decisive airpower as directed by command authority; anytime, anywhere throughout the entire spectrum of military conflict.
The 9th Bomb Squadron's patch features 3 spotlights aiming skyward, as if searching for the bombers which are commencing their attack. One spotlight shines vertically, while the other two cross each other. This forms an IX, which is the Roman Numeral for 9.
Established in June 1917 as a World War I Aero Squadron, forming at Camp Kelly, Texas; then training largely on Long Island, New York before deploying to France. The 9 BS saw combat with First Army as observation unit specializing in night reconnaissance, 2 September 1918 – 11 November 1918, and subsequently served with Third Army as part of occupation forces until May 1919 when the unit was demobilized.
Squadron returned to the United States in mid 1919, being reformed at Park Field, near Nashville, Tennessee in mid 1919. Assigned to March Field, near Riverside, California and from late 1919 until 1931 operated numerous bomber aircraft procured by the Air Service. Patrolled the Mexican border from August 1919 to April 1920 and c. January–July 1921; flew demonstration flights, carried mail and performed other missions as deemed necessary by the Air Service, later GHQ Air Force.
Received B-18 Bolos in 1937, then early-model B-17C/D Flying Fortresses in 1940. After the Pearl Harbor Attack in December 1941, the squadron flew Antisubmarine patrols off the California coast, 8 December -c. 12 December 1941. Deployed to Clark Field, Philippines in late December, moving to Australia in early 1942, when operations from Clark and later Del Monte Field on Mindanao became untenable during the 1942 Battle of the Philippines.
Deployed B-17 bombers to airfields on Java during the 1942 Papua New Guinea Campaign, carrying out raids on advancing Japanese ground forces and naval targets, but forced to withdraw back to Australia with the Japanese victory in March 1942. Reassigned to India and became one of the initial units of what became Tenth Air Force, forming at Karachi Airport; then flying combat missions over Burma from Allahabad Airport in central India.
On June 1942, the German Afrika Korps advance in North Africa forced the British Eighth Army to retreat towards Egypt putting British Middle East Command at risk. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) had already planned for a buildup of American air power in the Middle East in January 1942 in response to a request from the British Chief of the Air Staff. The 9th Bombardment Squadron, with its remaining B-17 aircraft was reassigned to RAF Lydda in British Palestine in July. However the early-model B-17s were considered unsuitable for combat and were replaced by LB-30 Liberators which had been ferried across the South Atlantic and over central Africa. Carried out long-range bombardment raids over enemy targets in western Egypt and Libya until October when Ninth Air Force was formed and additional USAAF B-24 heavy bomber units arrived in Egypt.
Re-equipped with B-24D Liberators and reassigned back to Tenth Air Force in India, where for the balance of the war, carried out long distance heavy bomb raids over Japanese targets primarily in Burma, Thailand and Indochina; although also attacked Japanese targets in Southeastern China attacking airfields, fuel and supply dumps, locomotive works, railways, bridges, docks, warehouses, shipping, and troop concentrations in Burma and struck oil refineries in Thailand, power plants in China and enemy shipping in the Andaman Sea. Ceased bombing operations in late May 1945 and was attached to the Air Transport Command to haul gasoline from India over the Himalayas to China. Squadron demobilized in India, leaving B-24s to Indian Colonial forces, inactivated as a paper unit in the United States in early 1946.
Reactivated in 1946 as a B-29 Superfortress bombardment squadron and trained in global bombardment operations flying simulated bombing missions over various cities, as well as performing intercontinental training missions over the Pacific and later to Europe, deploying to Giebelstadt Army Airfield, near Würzburg, West Germany. During their ten-day stay, the squadron participated in training operations over Europe, as well as a show-of-force display by the United States in the early part of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
In June 1948 the first Consolidated B-36A Peacekeeper was delivered. Operated B-36s until 1958 when the squadron began conversion to the B-52 Stratoforterss. During January 1958, the squadron began transferring its B-36 bombers to various SAC wings.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the primary mission of the squadron was training in global strategic bombardment training . The 9th deployed B-52s and aircrews for combat in Southeast Asia, June–November 1965. It trained B-52 aircrews to maintain combat readiness from, 1971–1992.
It has provided aircraft and aircrews for conventional takings since 1993, when the 9th Bomb Squadron starting flying the B-1B. The unit flew more than 300 combat sorties during its four-month deployment in mid- 2006 in support of the war on terrorism.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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