529th Bombardment Squadron

History

Established in late 1942 as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron; trained under Second Air Force in Texas, and later in Colorado. Deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area (SPA) in April 1943, being assigned to Fifth Air Force in Australia.

From airfields in Australia, the squadron reached out to the Japanese installations in the Netherlands East Indies. Moved to the Philippines where the squadron operated in early 1945, then to Okinawa where combat operations ended after the Japanese Capitulation in August. After the war, squadron personnel were demobilized and returned to the United States, the B-24s sent to reclamation in the Philippines. Inactivated as a paper unit in early 1946.

In 1947, the squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit of the Strategic Air Command at MacDill Field, Florida. The squadron remained an inactive reserve unit until 1951 when the squadron was inactivated.

The squadron was again activated in 1955 as part of the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing and equipped with the B-47 Stratojet. Flying the B-47, the squadron took a place as part of SAC's nuclear deterrent to war 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 obsolete and vulnerable to new Soviet air defenses. The squadron began to send its stratojets to AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB for retirement, being inactivated in 1966.

Lineage

Constituted 529th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 October 1942

Activated on 3 November 1942 Inactivated on 20 February 1946

Redesignated 529th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 3 July 1947

Activated in the reserve on 17 July 1947 Inactivated on 27 June 1949

Redesignated 529th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 20 May 1955

Activated on 11 July 1955 Inactivated 25 June 1966

Assignments

380th Bombardment Group, 3 November 1942 – 20 February 1946

Attached to: Royal Australian Air Force, 28 April 1943 - 28 February 1945

380th Bombardment Group, 17 July 1947 – 27 June 1949

380th Bombardment Wing, 11 July 1955 – 25 June 1966, 6 January 1971 – 30 September 1995

Stations

Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 3 November 1942

Biggs Field, Texas, 2 December 1942

Lowry Field, Colorado, 4 March-19 Apx 1943

Manbulloo Airfield, Australia, 28 April 1943

Long Airfield (Long Strip), Australia, c. 7 November 1943

RAAF Base Darwin, Australia, C. 10 July 1944

San Jose, Mindoro, 28 February 1945

Motobu Airfield, Okinawa, 12 August 1945

Fort William McKinley, Luzon, C. 28 November 1945 – 20 February 1946

Jacksonville Airport, Florida, 17 July 1947 – 27 June 1949

Plattsburgh AFB, New York, 11 July 1955 – 25 June 1966, 6 January 1971 – 30 September 1995

Aircraft

B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945

B-29 Superfortress, 1947–1949

B-47 Stratojet, 1955–1966

FB-111A, 1971-1995

Operational history

Combat in Southwest and Western Pacific, c. 21 May 1943 – 24 July 1945. Reserve B-29 squadron (1947–1949). SAC Medium bomber (B-47) squadron (1955–1965) inactivated when B-47 was withdrawn from service.