22d Air Defense Missile Squadron

22d Air Defense Missile Squadron

Langley BOMARC site, 1965
Active 1959-1972
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Type Squadron
Role CIM-10 BOMARC surface-to-air antiaircraft missile squadron
Part of Air Defense Command
Decorations Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
Patch with 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron emblem

The 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 20th Air Division of Aerospace Defense Command, stationed near Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where it was inactivated on 31 October 1972. The squadron was activated in 1959 and equipped with BOMARC missiles for the air defense of the area near its base.

History

A 1965 photo of a squadron BOMARC missile elevated in its shelter

The squadron was activated on 1 September 1959 as the '22d Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC)[1] and stood alert during the Cold War, equipped with IM-99 (later CIM-10) BOMARC surface to air anitaircraft missiles. The squadron was tied into a Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) direction center which could use analog computers to process information from ground radars, picket ships and airborne aircraft[2] to accelerate the display of tracking data at the direction center to quickly direct the missile battery to engage hostile aircraft.[3] The 22d was inactivated on 31 October 1972.[1]

The BOMARC missile site was located 3 miles (4.8 km) west-northwest of Langley AFB at 37°05′57″N 076°28′47″W / 37.09917°N 76.47972°W / 37.09917; -76.47972 (22d ADMS). Although geographically separated from the base, it was an off base facility of Langley and the squadron received administrative and logistical support from Langley.

Lineage

Activated on 1 September 1959
Inactivated on 31 October 1972[1]

Assignments

Awards

1 September 1963 - 28 February 1965[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cornett & Johnson, p. 150
  2. Winkler & Webster, p. 39
  3. Winkler & Webster, p. 3
  4. AF Pamphlet 900-2, 15 June 1971, p. 139

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

Further reading
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