366th Bombardment Squadron

The 366th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was as part of the 305th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Grissom Air Force Base, Indiana.

366th Bombardment Squadron
Emblem of the 366th Bombardment Squadron
Active	1942–1946; 1947–1948; 1951–1970
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Bombardment

World War II squadron emblem

It was inactivated on 1 January 1970.

History

Established in June 1942 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron, the squadron trained under the Second Air Force; it deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in September 1942, being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England. It began flying long-range strategic bombardment missions on 17 November 1942 and attacked such targets as submarine pens, docks, harbours, shipyards, motor works and marshalling yards in France, Germany and the Low Countries. It continued attacks on enemy cities, manufacturing centers, transportation links and other targets until the German capitulation in May 1945.

After combat missions ended, the squadron moved to St Trond Air Base in Belgium in July 1945 where it conducted photo-mapping and intelligence-gathering flights called Project 'Casey Jones' over Europe and North Africa. On 15 December 1945, it moved to Lechfeld Airfield, Germany which it had bombed on 18 March 1944 and now used as an occupation base. The squadron was inactivated on December 1946 in Germany.

The squadron was reactivated under Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1951 with B-47A (later B) Stratojet medium jet bombers. It began flying operational strategic bombardment and refueling missions from MacDill AFB, Florida. In 1955, SAC upgraded the squadron to the B-47E, the major production version of the Stratojet. The squadron, still with B-47s, was reassigned to Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana in May 1959. In September 1960, it upgraded to the B-58 Hustler supersonic medium bomber and was declared operationally ready in August 1962.

It began phasing down B-58 operations in 1969, and was inactivated in January 1970.

Lineage

• Constituted 366th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 June 1942

Activated on 1 March 1942

Inactivated on 25 December 1946

• Redesignated 366th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 11 June 1947

Activated on 1 July 1947

Inactivated on 6 September 1948

• Redesignated 366th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 20 December 1950

Activated on 2 January 1951

Inactivated on 1 January 1970

Assignments

• 305th Bombardment Group, 1 March 1942 – 25 December 1946; 1 Jul 1947 – 6 Sep 1948; 2 January 1951
• 305th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 1 January 1970

Stations

Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah, 1 March 1942 Geiger Field, Washington, 11 June 1942 Muroc Army Air Field, California, 4 July 1942 Fort Dix Army Air Base, New Jersey, 29 August-4 September 1942 RAF Grafton Underwood (AAF-106), England, 13 September 1942 RAF Chelveston (AAF-105), England, 11 December 1942

Sint-Truiden Airfield (ALG A-92), Belgium, 25 July 1945 AAF Station Lechfeld (ALG R-71), Germany, 19 December 1945 – 25 December 1946 Andrews Field (later, AFB), Maryland, 1 July 1947 – 6 September 1948 MacDill AFB, Florida, 2 January 1951 Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, 1 June 1959 – 1 January 1970

Aircraft

• B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1946
• B-18 Bolo, 1942
• B-24 Liberator, 1942
• B-29 Superfortress, 1951
• B-47 Stratojet, 1952–1960
• B-58 Hustler, 1960–1970

References

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

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.