370th Flight Test Squadron

Mission

The squadron is assigned to the United States Air Force Reserve and performs flight testing.

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 the South Pacific 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 the 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.

Reactivated as a flight test squadron in 2001.

Lineage

Constituted 370th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

Activated on 15 April 1942 Redesignated 370th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, c. March 1944 Inactivated on 18 January 1946

Redesignated 370th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 15 July 1946

Activated on 4 August 1946 Redesignated 370th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948 Discontinued, and inactivated, on 25 March 1965

Redesignated 370th Flight Test Squadron on 24 September 2001

Activated in the Reserve on 1 October 2001.

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

413th Flight Test Group, 1 October 2003–present

Aircraft

B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942

B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945

B-29 Superfortress, 1946–1954

B-47 Stratojet, 1955–1965

C-12, F-16, KC-10, KC-135 2001-