328th Weapons Squadron

328th Weapons Squadron

USAF Cyberwarriors at the 624th Operations Center, located at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas
Active 1942–1994; 2003–Present
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Role Advanced Space Superiority and Cyberspace Warfare Operations Training
Part of Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQ Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Engagements

World War II


  • American Antisubmarine Theater

  • EAME Theater

1991 Gulf War (Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation of Kuwait)[1]
Decorations
Distinguished Unit Citation (2x)

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (9x)[1]
Insignia
328th Weapons Squadron emblem (approved 12 April 1955)[1]
328th Bombardment Squadron emblem (c. 1943)[2]

The United States Air Force's 328th Weapons Squadron is an USAF Weapons School training unit located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

The squadron's origins trace back to the 328th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) activated on 28 January 1942. The 328th Bombardment Squadron received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its gallantry during the raid on the Ploesti, Romania oil refineries during August 1943. The 328th flew the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Boeing B-47 Stratojet, Boeing B-50 Superfortress, and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress during the Cold War.

Mission

The 328 WPS is one of eighteen squadrons at the United States Air Force Weapons School. The 328 WPS is the largest squadron within the USAF Weapons School and manages two separate syllabi: the Space Superiority Weapons Instructor Course (WIC) and the Cyberspace Warfare Operations WIC.

History

World War II

328th Bomb Sq B-24 Liberator[note 1]

Established in early 1942 initially as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator reconnaissance squadron, flying antisubmarine patrols. Later trained under Third Air Force in Florida. Completed training in late 1942; deployed to the European theater of operations as one of the initial heavy bomber squadrons assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England, September 1942.

Engaged in long-rang strategic bombardment operations over Occupied Europe. Deployed to IX Bomber Command in Egypt in December 1942; operating from airfields in Libya and Tunisia. Raided enemy military and industrial targets in Italy and in the southern Balkans, including the Nazi-controlled oilfields at Ploesti, Romania, receiving a Distinguished Unit Citation for its gallantry in that raid. Also flew tactical bombing raids against Afrika Korps defensive positions in Tunisia; supporting British Eighth Army forces in their advance to Tunis, in September and October 1943.

Returned to England with disestablishment of IX Bomber Command in North Africa. From England, resumed long-range strategic bombardment raids on Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking enemy military and industrial targets as part of the United States' air offensive. The squadron was one of the most highly decorated units in the Eighth Air Force, continuing offensive attacks until the German capitulation in May, 1945.

Returned to the United States in June, 1945; being remanned and re-equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers. Trained for deployment to the Central Pacific area to carry out very long range strategic bombing raids over Japan. Japanese capitulation in August canceled plans for deployment, instead became Continental Air Forces (later Strategic Air Command) B-29 squadron.

Cold War

During the Cold War, the squadron was equipped with new weapons systems as they became available, performing strategic bombardment training with the Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1950. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary.

By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet Mig-15 interceptor in the skies over North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. The squadron received Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bombers in 1954. In 1955 it began receiving an early model of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and upgraded to various models over the next 40 years. Taken off nuclear alert after the end of the Cold War, the squadron was inactivated in 1994 with the inactivation of its parent unit and the close of Castle Air Force Base.

The squadron deployed aircraft and personnel to the 1708th Provisional Bombardment Wing at Prince Abdullah Air Base, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from August 1990 and to the 4300th Provisional Bombardment Wing at Diego Garcia Air Base, British Indian Ocean Territories from January 1991 for Operation Desert Storm. Both deployments rerminated in March 1991.


Modern era

The Air Force Weapons School's Space Division was activated in July 1996 and the Space Division was replaced by the 328th Weapons Squadron on 3 February 2003. The unit has graduated over 250 weapons officers.

Lineage

Activated on 1 March 1942
Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 23 May 1945
Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948
Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 February 1955
Redesignated 328th Bomb Squadron on 1 September 1991
Inactivated on 15 June 1994
Activated on 3 February 2003[1]

Assignments

Stations

Air echelon operated from Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, 7–15 December 1942, RAF Gambut, Libya, 16 December 1942 – 25 February 1943, Benghazi Airport, Libya, 27 June–25 August 1943, Oudna Airfield, Tunisia, 18 September–3 October 1943

Aircraft operated

  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1942–1945)
  • Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1945–1949)
  • Boeing B-50 Superfortress (1949–1954)
  • Boeing B-47 Stratojet (1954–1955)
  • Boeing B-52B Stratofortress (1955–1965)
  • Boeing B-52D Stratofortress (1956–1958)
  • Boeing B-52E Stratofortress (1957–1958; 1967–1970)
  • Boeing B-52F Stratofortress (1958–1974)
  • Boeing B-52G Stratofortress (1966–1967; 1974–1994)
  • Boeing B-52H Stratofortress (1974–1993)

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Aircraft is Consolidated B-24J-55-CO Liberator serial 42-99949 on a mission to Friedrichshafen Germany on 14 August 1944. This plane was lost on 21 September 1944 in a mid-air collision with B-24H serial 42-94969) from the 330th Bombardment Squadron. Both planes crashed near Ingelmunster, Belgium.
Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bailey, Carl E. (December 10, 2007). "Factsheet 328 Weapons Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ Watkins, p. 48
  3. 1 2 Station number in Anderson.

Bibliography

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

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