The 573d Tactical Air Support Squadron is an inactive
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
unit. It was formed by the consolidation of two earlier units bearing the number 573, but has not been active since the consolidation.
The first predecessor of the squadron is the 573d Bombardment Squadron, a
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 ...
unit assigned to the
391st Bombardment Group 391st may refer to:
* 391st Bombardment Group, non-flying unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, stationed at Horsham Air National Guard Station
* 391st Bombardment Squadron, part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florid ...
. After training in the United States, the squadron moved to England, and participated in operations against Germany from there and the European Continent as part of
IX Bomber Command. It earned a
Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat actions. Following
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
, the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated at the port of embarkation.
The squadron's second predecessor is the 573d Fighter-Day Squadron, which formed part of the
342d Fighter-Day Wing, when the Air Force reopened
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Early history
On 16 October 1939, Myrtle Beach Town Council resolved that the community "is in dire need of a modern municipal airport". The ...
. A few months after it was activated, the squadron transferred its personnel and equipment to another squadron and was inactivated. The two squadrons were consolidated in 1985.
History
World War II
The first predecessor of the squadron, the 573d Bombardment Squadron, was activated at
MacDill Field
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
, Florida on 21 January 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the
391st Bombardment Group 391st may refer to:
* 391st Bombardment Group, non-flying unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, stationed at Horsham Air National Guard Station
* 391st Bombardment Squadron, part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florid ...
. After training with
Martin B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company.
First used in t ...
in the United States, it departed for the
European Theater of Operations in December 1943.
[Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 668][Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 278-279]
The squadron gathered at
RAF Matching
Royal Air Force Matching or more simply RAF Matching is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Harlow, Essex and northeast of London.
Opened in 1944, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. Du ...
, its first combat station in theater, in late January 1944 and flew its first combat mission on 15 February. It initially concentrated on attacks to support
Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by attacking
airfield
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 pub ...
s, bridges and
marshalling yards. It attacked
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...
and
V-2 rocket
The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...
launch sites as part of
Operation Crossbow
''Crossbow'' was the code name in World War II for Anglo-American operations against the German long range reprisal weapons (V-weapons) programme.
The main V-weapons were the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket – these were launched against Brita ...
. On
D-Day and the next day it struck German
coastal defenses near the invasion beaches.
[
Until September, the squadron continued attacks from its English base. It supported ]Operation Cobra
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the United States First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy campaign of World War II. The intention was to take adv ...
, the breakout at Saint Lo
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...
in late July by attacking fuel dumps and troop concentrations, then hit transportation and communications targets to slow the German retreat eastward. In late September it moved to Roye-Amy Airfield, France to be closer to the advancing ground forces it was supporting and extending its targets into Germany. From its continental bases, it hit bridges, railroads, highways, ammunition dump
An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives.
The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. The ...
s and other targets. The unit was also tasked on occasion to drop propaganda leaflets.
During the Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
, it attacked heavily defended bridges and viaducts. Performing these attacks without fighter escort in the face of heavy flak
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
and overwhelming attacks by enemy fighters
Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to:
Combat and warfare
* Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict
* Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...
earned the squadron a Distinguished Unit Citation for the period between 23 December and 26 December 1944.[ On 23 December, it attacked a rail viaduct at Ahrweiler. Although its fighter escort failed to arrive due to adverse weather, the squadron continued its attack, despite the loss of both pathfinder planes leading the attack. More than 60 ]Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
fighters attacked the 391st Group's formations while it was on its bomb run. The 391st Group lost 16 of its Marauders on this attack. The following day, the squadron destroyed the railroad viaduct at Konz-Karthaus.
The squadron continued its attacks, concentrating on German transportation and communications systems. It converted to the Douglas A-26 Invader
The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major Col ...
in April and flew its last combat mission on 3 May 1945. The squadron left Europe in September 1945 and was inactivated on arrival at the port of embarkation, Camp Myles Standish
Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...
, Massachusetts, on 13 October 1945.[
]
Training for tactical fighter operations
]
The squadron's second predecessor is the 573d Fighter-Day Squadron, which was activated in July 1956 as part of the 342d Fighter-Day Group when the Air Force re-opened Myrtle Beach Air Force Base
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Early history
On 16 October 1939, Myrtle Beach Town Council resolved that the community "is in dire need of a modern municipal airport". The ...
, South Carolina. The squadron began training with Lockheed T-33 T-Bird advanced jet trainers in preparation for equipping with the North American F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of ...
. However, before the squadron could reach operational status, it was inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 356th Fighter-Day Squadron.[''See'', Ravenstein, p. 181]
The 573d Fighter-Day Squadron and 573d Bombardment Squadron were consolidated as the 573d Tactical Air Support Squadron on 19 September 1985, but the consolidated unit has not been active.[Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 September 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons]
Lineage
; 573d Bombardment Squadron
* Constituted as the 573d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 15 January 1943
: Activated on 21 Jan 1943
: Redesignated 573d Bombardment Squadron, Medium c. 9 October 1944
: Redesignated 573d Bombardment Squadron, Light on 23 June 1945
: Inactivated on 29 Oct 1945[
: Consolidated with 573d Fighter-Day Squadron as the 573d Tactical Air Support Squadron on 19 September 1985][
; 573d Tactical Air Support Squadron
* Constituted as the 573d Fighter-Day Squadron on 7 May 1956
: Activated on 25 July 1956
: Inactivated on 19 November 1956][''See'', Ravenstein, p. 181 (342d Wing), Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 220-221 (342d Group).]
: Consolidated with 573d Bombardment Squadron as the 573d Tactical Air Support Squadron on 19 September 1985[
]
Assignments
* 391st Bombardment Group, 21 January 1943 – 25 October 1945[
* 342d Fighter-Day Group, 25 July–19 November 1956][
]
Stations
-
* MacDill Field, Florida, 21 January 1943
* Myrtle Beach Bombing and Gunnery Range, South Carolina, 23 May 1943
* Godman Field, Kentucky, 8 September–31 December 1943
* RAF Matching (AAF-166), England 26 January 1944
* Roye-Amy Airfield (A-73), France c. 1 October 1944
* Asch Airfield (Y-29), Belgium c. 20 April 1945
* Vitry-En-Artois Airfield (A-67),[Station number in Johnson, p. 20.] France, 27 May 1945
* Laon-Athies Airfield (A-69),[ France, 27 July–23 September 1945
* Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, 12–13 October 1945][Station information through 1945 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 667, except as noted.]
* Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina, 25 July–19 November 1956[
]
Aircraft
* Martin B-26 Marauder, 1943-1945
* Douglas A-26 Invader, 1945[
* Lockheed T-33 T-Bird, 1956][
]
Awards and campaigns
References
Notes
; Explanatory notes
; Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last=Watkins, first=Robert, title=Battle Colors , volume=III Insignia and Tactical Markings of the Ninth Air Force In World War II, year=2008, publisher=Shiffer Publishing Ltd., location=Atglen, PA, isbn=978-0-7643-2938-8
Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces
Military units and formations established in 1943