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

Constituted 371st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

Activated on 15 April 1942

Inactivated on 18 January 1946

Redesignated 371st Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 15 July 1946
Activated on 4 August 1946

Redesignated 371st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 28 May 1948

Inactivated on 25 March 1965

Assignments

307th Bombardment Group, 15 April 1942 – 18 January 1946
307th Bombardment Group, 4 August 1946
307th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 25 March 1965

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

Luganville Airfield, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 13 June 1943

Operated from: Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 25 August-14 October 1943; 24 November-31 December 1943

Munda Airfield, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 9 January 1944
Momote Airfield, Los Negros, Admiralty Islands, 13 May 1944
Wakde Airfield, Netherlands East Indies, 22 August 1944

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

B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942
B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945
B-29 Superfortress, 1946–1954
B-47 Stratojet, 1955–1965

References

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

Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Air Force Historical Studies Office, 1969. ISBN 0-89201-097-5.

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