822d Tactical Missile Squadron

822d Tactical Missile Squadron

Active	1943-1966
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Tactical Missile
Engagements	World War II

The 822d Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 38th Tactical Missile Wing, based at Sembach Air Base, West Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1966.

History

It was activated in early 1941 by the Army Air Corps, as a medium bomber squadron during the pre-war mobilization by the United States. It performed coastal patrols as part of the First Air Force, with B-18 Bolos and early-model B-26 Marauders.

The unit was deployed to Australia in early 1942, to reinforce the Fifth Air Force after its withdrawal to Australia. It was then re-equipped with B-25 Mitchell medium bombers, and flew missions from Northern Queensland over New Guinea. It then moved to forward airfields in New Guinea and followed MacArthur's advance along the northern coast of the island into the Netherlands East Indies, flying tactical bombardment missions against Japanese strong points and airfields. It moved to Luzon, Philippines, as part of the United States liberation forces in 1945, and then moved to Okinawa during the summer in preparation for the Invasion of Japan. It moved to Japan and became part of the Occupation Forces but was inactivated in 1949 due to budget reductions.

The unit was reactivated in France in 1953, as a NATO B-57 light bombardment squadron, equipped for night bombardment with nuclear weapons. It was moved to West Germany in 1958 as a MGM-1 Matador tactical missile squadron when the unit was ordered out of France.

It then remained as a tactical missile unit until 1966 when the Mace was retired.

Lineage

Constituted 822d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 29 March 1943

Activated on 20 April 1943

Inactivated on 12 April 1946

Redesignated 822d Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 15 November 1952

Activated on 1 January 1953

Redesignated: 822d Bombardment Squadron (Tactical) on 1 October 1955

Redesignated: 822d Tactical Missile Squadron on 18 June 1958

Organized by re-designation of 11th Tactical Missile Squadron

Inactivated on 25 September 1966

Assignments

38th Bombardment Group, 20 April 1943 – 12 April 1946; 1 January 1953
38th Bombardment Wing, 8 December 1957
587th Tactical Missile Group, 18 June 1958
38th Tactical Missile Wing, 25 September 1962 – 25 September 1966

Stations

RAAF Base Amberley, Australia, April 30, 1942
Doomben Field (Eagle Farm Airport), Australia, c. June 10, 1942
Breddan Aerodrome, Australia, Australia, August 7, 1942
RAAF Base Townsville, Australia, September 30, 1942
Durand Airfield, Port Moresby, New Guinea, 26 November 1942
Nadzab Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 4 March 1944
Mokmer Airfield, Biak, Netherlands East Indies, 1 October 1944

Pitoe Airfield, Morotai, Netherlands East Indies, 15 October 1944
Lingayen Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, c. 29 January 1945
Motobu Airfield, Okinawa, 25 July 1945
Itazuke Airfield, Japan, c. 22 November 1945
Laon-Couvron Air Base, France, 1 January 1953
Sembach Air Base, West Germany, 18 June 1958 – 25 September 1966

Dispersed Matador/Mace missile location

Site I "Chargirl" – 2.6 miles (4.2 km) SSW of Sembach AB 49°28′16″N 007°50′56″E / 49.47111°N 7.84889°E / 49.47111; 7.84889 (Site I)

Closed 1966. Redeveloped into a training facility of the local Kaiserslautern soccer club. The launch pads have been completely overbuilt with soccer fields.

Aircraft and missiles

B-25 Mitchell, 1943¬1946
A/B-26 Invader, 1953–1955
B-57 Canberra, 1955–1958

MGM-1 Matador, 1958–1960
MGM-13 Mace, 1961–1966

References

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

Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, (2009), George Mindling, Robert Bolton ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6

USAAF Fifth Air Force in World War II

Previously: Philippine Department Air Force (1941); Far East Air Force (1941-1942)

Airfields

Pacific	USAAF in Australia USAAF in the Southwest Pacific USAAF in Okinawa

Units

Commands

Wings

Groups

Air Commando	3d Air Commando

Bombardment	3d Bombardment 7th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 22d Bombardment 27th Bombardment 38th Bombardment 43d Bombardment 90th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 345th Bombardment 380th Bombardment 417th Bombardment

Combat Cargo	2d Combat Cargo

Fighter	8th Fighter 24th Pursuit 35th Fighter 49th Fighter 58th Fighter 348th Fighter 475th Fighter

Reconnaissance	6th Reconnaissance 71st Reconnaissance

Troop Carrier	317th Troop Carrier 374th Troop Carrier 375th Troop Carrier 433d Troop Carrier

Squadrons

Bombardment	31st Bombardment

Night Fighter	418th Night Fighter 421st Night Fighter 547th Intelligence

Reconnaissance	2d Observation 8th Photographic Reconnaissance 36th Photographic Reconnaissance

Troop Carrier	21st Troop Carrier 22d Troop Carrier 65th Troop Carrier 66th Troop Carrier

United States Army Air Forces

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