Country United States | Type Strategic Bombing | |
 | ||
Active 11 March 1944–30 September 1990
27 August 1993–present Branch United States Air Force Part of Air Force Global Strike Command
8th Air Force
509th Bomb Wing
509th Operations Group Garrison/HQ Whiteman Air Force Base | ||
The 393d Bomb Squadron (393 BS) is part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
Contents
- Mission
- History
- 509th Composite Group
- Strategic Air Command
- Modern era
- Operations and Decorations
- Lineage
- Assignments
- Stations
- References
The 393d Bombardment Squadron is the only United States Air Force squadron to carry out a nuclear attack on an enemy in combat. During World War II, its aircraft attacked Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki, Japan 9 August 1945 with atomic bombs.
Mission
It operates B-2 Spirit aircraft providing strategic bombing capability.
History
Activated as a B-29 Superfortress squadron in early 1944; trained under Second Air Force. Due to a shortage of B-29s, the squadron was initially equipped with former II Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortresses previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel as engineering flaws were being worked out of the B-29.. The squadron was then reassigned for advanced training and received B-29s at Fairmont Army Airfield, Nebraska during the late spring and summer of 1944.
509th Composite Group
In December 1944 reassigned as the only operational B-29 squadron to 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field, Utah in December. Aircraft were refitted to Silverplate configuration becoming atomic bomb capable under a highly classified program. Deployed to North Field, Tinian in late May 1945, flying non-combat missions practicing atomic bomb delivery techniques. The squadron carried out two Atomic Bombing missions over Japan in August 1945, being the only squadron in the world to ever carry out and deliver nuclear weapons in combat. Dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945.
Reassigned to the United States in November 1945, becoming part of Continental Air Forces, later Strategic Air Command. Deployed to Kwajalein in 1946 to carry out Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll in July.
Strategic Air Command
Began upgrading to the new B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1949. 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. Squadron deployed to SAC airfields in England, and also to Andersen AFB, Guam on long-term deployments in the 1950s.
By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet Mig-15 interceptor in the skies of North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. Received new, swept wing B-47 Stratojets in 1955 which were designed to carry nuclear weapons and to penetrate Soviet air defenses with its high operational ceiling and near supersonic speed. The squadron flew the B-47 for about a decade when by the mid-1960s it had become obsolescent and vulnerable to new Soviet air defenses. The squadron began to send its stratojets to AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB for retirement in 1965.
Was scheduled for inactivation however instead received B-52D Stratofortresses in 1965. It rotated aircraft and crews to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in support of Southeast Asia Arc Light Operations between 1966 and 1969. Not operational, Nov 1969–Jun 1971. Re-equipped with FB-111 nuclear capable medium bomber in 1970; operated until retirement in 1990.
Modern era
Reactivated in 1993 as first operational B-2 Spirit stealth bomber squadron.