The 429th Attack Squadron is a classic associate squadron, stationed at

Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, and a census-designated place in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. Th ...

, New Mexico. It is geographically separated from its parent 926th Wing at

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

, Nevada. The squadron was previously the 429th Bombardment Squadron, a

Boeing B-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long- range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...

unit based at Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1962. The squadron was first organized during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as the 41st Aero Squadron, and served in France during that war before being demobilized in 1919. In 1924 it was consolidated with the 41st School Squadron, which had been organized in 1922. The squadron later converted to the

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

mission as the 41st Observation Squadron. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, as the 429th Bombardment Squadron, it was a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, assigned to the

2d Bombardment Group 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila *1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *'' 002 Operazione Lu ...

. It earned Two Distinguished Unit Citations while serving in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, inactivating in Italy after the end of the war.

Mission

The

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

's mission is to support three regular Air Force formal training squadrons with General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper instructor pilots, sensor operators and mission intelligence coordinators.

History

World War I

main:

41st Aero Squadron The 41st Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I. The squadron was assigned as a Day Pursuit (Fighter) Squadron as part of the 5th Pursuit Group, Second United States Army. ...

The first predecessor of the squadron was established in June 1917 as the Air Service 41st Aero Squadron at

Camp Kelly Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. I ...

, Texas as part of the United States' mobilization after its entry into

. After several months of routine training and garrison duties, it deployed to Europe. The squadron trained with the Royal Flying Corps in Scotland from March to August 1918,Gorrell then moved to France. and it became operationally ready as a pursuit squadron in the United States Second Army just as hostilities ceased in November 1918. It never saw action, but served with

United States Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

as part of the

occupation forces Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

, until May 1919. It returned to the United States in June 1919 and was demobilized in July.

Flying training

The second predecessor of the squadron was established in 1922 as the 41st Squadron (School), a pilot training squadron, at Kelly Field. It was renamed the 41st School Squadron the following year. The squadron taught basic flight training throughout the 1920s and early 1930s using a variety of trainers; switching to advanced flight training in 1931.

Reconnaissance

In 1935 the squadron moved to

Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfo ...

, Virginia, where it was redesignated the 41st Observation Squadron and was equipped with

Martin B-10 The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It was also the first mass-produced bomber whose performance was superior to ...

bombers. It performed training flights primarily over the mid-Atlantic area. It later received

Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company ...

medium bomber A medium bomber is a military bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized bombloads over medium range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. Mediums generally carrie ...

s in 1937 and early-model Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress

heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...

World War II

After the

Pearl Harbor Attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ...

, the squadron initially assigned to

antisubmarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

duty over the Atlantic Coast. In the spring of 1942, the squadron became the 429th Bombardment Squadron. It deployed in early 1943 to

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. The 429th engaged in long-range strategic bombing missions in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations until 1945. Missions flown included bombing such targets as marshalling yards,

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

s, troop concentrations, bridges, docks, and shipping. The squadron participated in the defeat of Axis forces in Tunisia, April–May 1943; the reduction of

Pantelleria Pantelleria (; Sicilian: ''Pantiddirìa'', Maltese: ''Pantellerija'' or ''Qawsra''), the ancient Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisi ...

and the preparations for the invasion of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, in May through July 1943 and the invasion of Italy, September 1943. Boeing B-17G 2 BG dropping bombs

The squadron moved to Italy in December 1943 and continued operations as part of Fifteenth Air Force. Operated primarily from

Amendola Airfield Amendola Air Base (ICAO: LIBA) is a military airfield of the Italian Air Force ( Aeronautica Militare). It is the home of 32nd Wing. Overview Amendola Air Base was primarily a training base for pilots of the AMX International AMX ground atta ...

near Foggia. It engaged primarily in long-range bombardment of strategic targets in Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, and Greece. The 429th participated in the drive toward Rome from January through June 1944, the invasion of Southern France in August 1944, and the campaigns against German forces in northern Italy from June 1944 until May 1945. The squadron was inactivated in Italy in early 1946.

Strategic Air Command

From 1958, the

wings of Strategic Air Command (SAC) began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. The SAC alert cycle divided itself into four parts: planning, flying, alert and rest to meet General

Thomas S. Power General Thomas Sarsfield Power (June 18, 1905 – December 6, 1970) was a United States Air Force officer who served as commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command. He was an active military flier for more than 30 years. Early career Thomas ...

’s initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.Schake, p. 220 (note 43) To implement this new system B-47 wings reorganized from three to four squadrons.Schake, p. 220 (note 43) The 429th was activated at Hunter Air Force Base as the fourth squadron of the

2d Bombardment Wing The 2nd Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command and the Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The wing is also the host unit at Barksdale. The wing was a ...

. The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962 and the four squadron pattern no longer met the alert cycle commitment, so the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962.

Lineage

; 41st Aero Squadron * Organized as the 41st Aero Squadron on 16 June 1917 : Demobilized on 2 July 1919 * Reconstituted and consolidated with the 41st School Squadron on 8 April 1924Clay, p. 1405Lineage, including assignments, stations and aircraft, through 1962 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 527-528, except as noted. ; 429th Attack Squadron * Authorized as the 41st Squadron on 10 June 1922 : Organized on 7 July 1922 : Redesignated 41st School Squadron on 25 January 1923 : Consolidated with the 41st Aero Squadron on 8 April 1924 : Redesignated 41st Observation Squadron (Long Range, Amphibian) on 1 March 1935 : Redesignated 41st Reconnaissance Squadron and inactivated on 1 September 1936 * Organized on 20 January 1937 : Inactivated on 1 January 1938 * Redesignated 41st Reconnaissance Squadron (Long Range) on 22 December 1939 : Activated on 1 February 1940 : Redesignated 41st Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940 : Redesignated 429th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942 : Redesignated 429th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943 : Inactivated on 28 February 1946 * Redesignated 429th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 11 August 1958 : Activated on 1 October 1958 : Discontinued and inactivated on 1 January 1962 * Redesignated 429th Air Combat Training Squadron and activated on 19 November 2013 : Redesignated 429th Attack Squadron on 24 October 2016

Assignments

* Post Headquarters, Kelly Field, 9 July 1917 * Post Headquarters, Selfridge Field, 28 August 1917 *

Aviation Concentration Center Camp Albert L. Mills (Camp Mills) was a military installation on Long Island, New York. It was located about ten miles from the eastern boundary of New York City on the Hempstead Plains within what is now the village of Garden City. In September ...

, 2 February 1918 * Air Service Headquarters, American Expeditionary Force, British Isles (attached to the Royal Flying Corps (later

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

) for training), 10 March–8 August 1918 * Replacement Concentration Center, American Expeditionary Force, 22 August 1918 *

Air Service Production Center No. 2 Romorantin - Pruniers Air Detachment (DA 273) is a French Air Force military facility, located southwest of Romorantin-Lanthenay, in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Pruniers airfield was part of a huge depot built for the United ...

, 5 September 1918 * 1st Air Depot, 18 September 1918 * 5th Pursuit Group, 15 November 1918 * 1st Air Depot, 12 May 1919 * Services of Supply, American Expeditionary Force, May–July 1919 * Eastern Department, July 1919Assignments from 1917 to 1919 in Gorrell. *

10th School Group The 10th School Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 24th School Wing, and was demobilized on 15 July 1931 at Duncan Field (Kelly Field No. 1), Texas. The unit was an early United States Army Air Ser ...

, 7 July 1922 * Air Corps Advanced Flying School, 16 July 1931 * Eighth Corps Area, 20 January 1937 – 1 January 1938 * 2d Wing (attached to Air Corps Advanced Flying School), 1 March 1935 – 1 September 1936 * 2d Wing (later 2d Bombardment Wing), Attached 1 February 1940 *

, attached c. December 1940, assigned 25 February 1942 – 28 February 1946 (attached to

Newfoundland Base Command Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, 3 September 1941 – 29 October 1942) * 2d Bombardment Wing, 1 October 1958 – 1 January 1962This 2d Bombardment Wing was activated in 1947 and is not related to the 2d Bombardment Wing of 1940. * 926th Operations Group, 19 November 2013 – present

Stations

* Camp Kelly, Texas, 16 June 1917 *

Selfridge Field Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Unit ...

, Michigan, 28 August 1917 – 2 February 1918 * Montrose, Scotland, 10 March 1918 *

Gullane Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twel ...

, Scotland, c. April–14 August 1918 *

Romorantin Aerodrome Romorantin - Pruniers Air Detachment (DA 273) is a French Air Force military facility, located southwest of Romorantin-Lanthenay, in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Pruniers airfield was part of a huge depot built for the United ...

, France, 29 August 1918 *

Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome : ''see also: Organization of the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force'' When the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917, the Air Service of the United States Army existed only as a branch of the Signal Corps, and was kno ...

, France, 18 September 1918 * Lay-Saint-Remy Aerodrome, France, 15 November 1918 *

Ourches Aerodrome Ourches Aerodrome, was a temporary World War I airfield in France. It was West-Northwest of the commune of Ourches-sur-Meuse, in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. Overview The airfield was built by the French Army a ...

, France, c. 30 November 1918 * Lay-Saint-Remy Aerodrome, France, c. 15 December 1918 *

Coblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...

, Germany, April 1919 * Colombey-les-Belles Aerodrome, France, May 1919-unknown *

Camp Lee Fort Lee, in Prince George County, Virginia, United States, is a United States Army post and headquarters of the United States Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM)/ Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE), the U.S. Army Quartermaster Scho ...

, Virginia, 28 June–2 July 1919 * Kelly Field, Texas, 7 July 1922 – 1 September 1936 * Love Field, Texas, 20 January 1937 – 1 January 1938 * Langley Field, Virginia, 1 February 1940 – c. 23 August 1941 * Newfoundland Airport, Newfoundland, c. 28 August 1941 *

Ephrata Army Air Base Ephrata Municipal Airport is a public use airport located southeast of the central business district of Ephrata, a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2 ...

, Washington, 29 October 1942 * Cut Bank Army Air Field, Montana, 29 November 1942 – 13 March 1943 *

Chateau-dun-du-Rhumel Airfield Chateaudun-du-Rhumel (Chateaudun Du Rhumel) Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Algeria, located about 6 km north-northwest of Chelghoum el Aid, in Mila province, about 47 km southwest of Constantine. Overview During World ...

, Algeria, 27 April 1943 * Ain M'lila Airfield, Algeria, 18 June 1943 * Massicault Airfield, Tunisia, c. 1 August 1943 *

, Italy, c. 9 December 1943 *

Foggia Airfield The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a radius of Foggia, in the Province of Foggia, Italy. The airfields were used by the United States Army Air Force Fifteenth Air Force as part of the str ...

, Italy, c. 20 October-28 February 1946 * Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, 1 October 1958 – 1 January 1962 * Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 19 November 2013 – present

Aircraft

SPAD S.VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

, 1918 *

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the ...

, 1918–1919 *

Dayton-Wright DH-4 The Dayton-Wright Company was formed in 1917, on the declaration of war between the United States and Germany, by a group of Ohio investors that included Charles F. Kettering and Edward A. Deeds of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company ( DELCO ...

, 1922-1928 * Curtiss A-3 Falcon, 1928-1935 *

Thomas-Morse O-19 The Thomas-Morse O-19 was an American observation biplane built by the Thomas-Morse Aircraft Company for the United States Army Air Corps. Development The O-19 was based on the earlier Thomas-Morse O-6 biplane. It was a conventional two-seat ...

, 1935-1936 * Douglas O-25, 1935-1936 * Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1940-1942 * Boeing XB-15, 1940-1942 * Grumman OA-9 Goose, 1940-1942 * Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1940–1945 * Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1958-1961 * General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, 2013–present * General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, 2013–present

References

; Notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1917 Bombardment squadrons of the United States Air Force Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces