371st Bombardment Squadron

371st Bombardment Squadron

Emblem of the 371st Bombardment Squadron
Active 1942-1965
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
Role Bombardment
World War II squadron emblem

The 371st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 307th Bombardment Wing, based at Lincoln AFB, Nebraska. It was inactivated on 25 March 1965.

History

Formed as a heavy bombardment group in January 1942, trained in the Pacific Northwest under Second Air Force, with B-17 Flying Fortresses. Reassigned to Seventh Air Force in Hawaii, November 1942 and performed performing search and rescue and antisubmarine patrols until January 1943 while transitioning to long-range B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.

Deployed to Central Pacific from Hawaii throughout 1943 for long-range combat bombardment operations against Japanese forces in the Central Pacific; New Guinea; Northern Solomon Islands and Eastern Mandates campaigns. Deployed to the New Hebrides in Melanesia and operated from numerous temporary jungle airfields, engaging in long-range bombardment operations during the Bismarck Archipelago; Western Pacific; Leyte; Luzon and Southern Philippines campaigns until the end of the war in August 1945. Assigned to Clark Field, Philippines after the war ended, demobilized with personnel returning to the United States, unit inactivated as paper unit in January 1946 in California.

Reactivated as B-29 Superfortress squadron at MacDill Field, Florida in August 1946 as part of Strategic Air Command. Was a training unit for antisubmarine warfare. Deployed to Okinawa during Korean War, carrying out combat operations over Korea throughout the conflict. Remained in Okinawa until November 1954 when inactivated. Reactivated simultaneously at Lincoln AFB, Nebraska, as a B-47 Stratojet medium jet bomber squadron, performed REFLEX deployments to North Africa until phaseout of B-47 in 1965 and inactivated.

Lineage

Activated on 15 April 1942
Inactivated on 18 January 1946
Redesignated 371st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 28 May 1948
Inactivated on 25 March 1965

Assignments

Stations

  • Geiger Field, Washington, 15 April 1942
  • Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington, 28 May 1942
  • Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, 30 September-20 October 1942
  • Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii, 2 November 1942
Operated from: Henderson Field, Midway Atoll, 21–24 December 1942 and 20–25 January 1943
Operated from: Canton Island Airfield, Kanton Island, Phoenix Islands, 6–12 February 1943
Operated from: Funafuti Airfield, Nanumea, Gilbert Islands, 18–23 April 1943 and 27 July-1 August 1943
Operated from: Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 25 August-14 October 1943; 24 November-31 December 1943
Operated from: Kornasoren (Yebrurro) Airfield, Noemfoor, Schouten Islands, c. 18 September-c. 20 November 1944
  • Wama Airfield, Morotai, Netherlands East Indies, 10 November 1944
  • Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 1 September-27 December 1945
  • Camp Stoneman, California, 16–18 January 1946
  • MacDill Field, Florida, 4 August 1946
Operated from: Kadena AB, Okinawa, beginning c. 5 August 1950
  • Kadena AB, Okinawa, 15 August 1953
  • Lincoln AFB, Nebraska, 19 November 1954 – 25 March 1965

Aircraft

References

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