46th Tactical Missile Squadron

46th Tactical Missile Squadron

46th Air Defense Missile Squadron CIM-10 Bomarc missile battery
Active 1942-1949; 1959-1972
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Type Troop Carrier, Surface to Air Missile
Role Airlift, Air defense
Size squadron
Motto(s) The First and the Finest (1959-1972)
Insignia
46th Air Defense Missile Squadron emblem (approved 5 May 1960)[1]
46th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem (approved 13 January 1943)[2]

The 46th Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 35th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. It was last active in 1972.

History

Airlift Operations

C-47s delivering supplies in New Guinea

The squadron was first activated under the 317th Transport Group (later 317th Troop Carrier Group), an element of Air Transport Command (later I Troop Carrier Command) in May 1942[2] as the group expanded from three to four squadrons.[3] The group and squadron equipped with Douglas C-47 Skytrains and trained at several airfields in Texas, the midwest and the southeast.[2] It also performed various airlift missions as part of its training. The squadron deployed to Australia, arriving in January 1943[2] as an element of Fifth Air Force.[3] It made numerous flights in unarmed planes over the Owen Stanley Range transporting reinforcement and supplies to Wau, Papua New Guinea, where enemy forces were threatening a valuable Allied airdrome, for which it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.[3] It performed paratroop drops at Nadzab (the first airborne operation in the Southwest Pacific)[3] and Noemfoor in New Guinea; Tagaytay, Luzon, and Corregidor and Aparri in the Philippines.[2] Also performed cargo airlift, supply and evacuation, and other assigned missions along the northern coast of New Guinea; the Dutch East Indies and in the Philippines as part of MacArthur's island hopping offensive against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. This included supplying guerillas in Mindanao, Cebu, and Panay.[3] In April 1945, it bombed Carabao Island with drums of napalm.[3]

The squadron deployed to Okinawa in August 1945 after the Japanese capitulation[2] and became part of the American occupation forces. It replaced its C-47s with longer range Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft and moved to Japan and the Korean peninsula during late 1945.[2] Its initial post-war missions included the evacuation of former Allied prisoners of war; later primarily cargo transport missions in the occupied areas of Japan and Korea during the postwar era. The squadron inactivated in 1949 in Japan[2] due to budget constraints; its aircraft being assigned to other units as part of the consolidation.

Cold War Air Defense

The squadron was activated as the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) in 1959 at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey,[4] and stood alert during the Cold War, with IM-99A (later CIM-10) BOMARC surface to air antiaircraft 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[5] to accelerate the display of tracking data at the direction center to quickly direct the missile site to engage hostile aircraft.[6] It trained personnel and prepared for operation of the BOMARC surface-to-air missiles; operated and maintained BOMARC missiles and associated equipment, trained personnel, and maintained a capability to intercept and destroy hostile aircraft until inactivation.[1] The squadron was inactivated on 31 October 1972, one of the last two BOMARC missile squadrons inactivated.[4]

The BOMARC missile site was located 4 miles (6.4 km) east-southeast of McGuire Air Force Base at 40°02′06″N 074°26′29″W / 40.03500°N 74.44139°W / 40.03500; -74.44139 (46th ADMS). Although geographically separated from the base, it was an off base facility of McGuire and the squadron received administrative and logistical support from McGuire.[7]

Consolidation

The 46th Troop Carrier Squadron and the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron were consolidated on 19 September 1985 as the 46th Tactical Missile Squadron while remaining inactive.[1]

Lineage

46th Troop Carrier Squadron

Activated on 15 June 1942[2]
Redesignated as the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942[2]
Redesignated as the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 10 August 1948[2]
Inactivated on 1 April 1949[2]

46th Air Defense Missile Squadron

Constituted as the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) on 10 Dec 1958
Activated on 1 Jan 1959[4]
Inactivated on 31 Oct 1972[4]

Assignments

Stations

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Distinguished Unit Citation30 January 1943-1 February 194346th Troop Carrier Squadron, Papua New Guinea[2]
Distinguished Unit Citation16 February 1945-17 February 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron, Philippine Islands[2]
Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation19 November 1944-4 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Papua23 January 1943 46th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
New Guinea24 January 1943 – 31 December 1944 46th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Northern Solomons23 February 1943 – 21 November 1944 46th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Bismarck Archipelago15 December 1943 – 27 November 1944 46th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Leyte17 October 1944 – 1 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Luzon15 December 1944 – 4 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Southern Philippines27 February 1945 – 4 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
World War II Army of Occupation (Japan)3 September 1945 – 1 April 1949 46th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]

Aircraft and missiles

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kane, Robert B. (September 24, 2009). "Lineage & Honors Statement 46th Tactical Missile Squadron" (PDF). Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 205
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 195–196
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cornett & Johnson, p. 150
  5. ↑ Winkler & Webster, p. 39
  6. ↑ Winkler & Webster, p. 3
  7. ↑ Mueller, p. 412

Bibliography

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

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