The 64th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Signal ...
unit. It was last assigned to the
43d Bombardment Wing at
Little Rock Air Force Base
Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Little Rock AFB is the primary C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C-130 pilots, naviga ...
, Arkansas, where it was inactivated on 31 January 1970.
History
World War II
![B-17F 41-24353 The CapN The Kids 64th BS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/B-17F_41-24353_The_CapN_The_Kids_64th_BS.jpg)
Established in 1940 and activated in 1941 as a bomber squadron, assigned to the GHQ Air Force
Northeast Air District
The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern; 1 AF-AFNORTH) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission is the air defense of the Conti ...
. Trained and was equipped with both early model
Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress heavy bombers and
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 f ...
medium bombers at
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 perform ...
, and flew training missions over the
Mid-Atlantic States. 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, j ...
, was deployed to
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and began flying antisubmarine missions from
Bangor Airport over the Newfoundland Straits and performing aerial convoy patrols over the North Atlantic shipping lanes.
Deployed to Australia in February 1942, being assigned to the new
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organiza ...
being formed after the withdrawal from the Philippines of remaining heavy bombers. The squadron reached Australia in March 1942, but did not enter combat until September, when it finally had a reasonable complement of aircraft. From then until November 1944, the squadron operated in support of the campaign in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
, first from Australia, then from New Guinea and
Owi Island
The Padaido Islands, also known as the Padaido Archipelago, is a group of Islands in Indonesia's Papua Province. They lie in Cenderawasih Bay, south and southeast of the island of Biak. The archipelago consists of many small islands and coral ree ...
, concentrated in particular in attacks on shipping. The unit experimented with low level skip bombing, using this tactic at the
Battle of the Bismarck Sea
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops ...
, 2–4 March 1943 with some success.
Between May and September 1943, the squadron's B-17s were replaced with
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
s, believed to be more suited to the long ranges of many Pacific missions. In November 1944 the squadron moved to the Philippines, helping the ground campaign on
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
as well as conducting long range strategic bombing missions against targets in China and
Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
. Finally in July 1945 it moved to
Ie Shima
, previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...
, from where it flew missions over
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, still attacking shipping, as well as airfields and railways until the Japanese Capitulation in August. Squadron demobilized on
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, aircraft being sent to the Philippines for reclamation. Inactivated as a paper unit in April 1946.
Strategic Air Command
Reactivated under
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
in late 1946 and equipped with
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...
es. One of the first operational B-29 squadrons of SAC, the squadron was not fully manned or equipped until 1948. Trained for strategic bombardment missions during the postwar years, being upgraded to the new atomic bomb-capable
Boeing B-50 Superfortress in 1948. Replaced the propeller-driven B-50s with new
Boeing B-47E 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 ...
swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. In the late 1950s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. Began sending aircraft to other B-47 wings as replacements in late 1959. Moved to
Carswell AFB
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth (abbreviated NAS JRB Fort Worth) includes Carswell Field, a military airbase located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military a ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
in early 1960, in preparation for receiving the new
Convair B-58 Hustler
The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight.
The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...
supersonic medium bomber, sending the last of its B-47s to the
Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
in Arizona in early 1960.
Received the first B-58s in March, receiving new aircraft throughout 1960. Performed training and became proficient with the new bomber, reaching Operational Ready state in 1962. Trained and participated in many SAC exercises and deployment throughout the 1960s. Phaseout of the B-58 fleet was ordered by Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the Lis ...
in December 1965, since it was felt that the high-altitude performance of the B-58 could no longer guarantee success against increasingly sophisticated Soviet air defenses. Began sending aircraft to the
Military Aircraft Storage and Disposal Center in November 1969, the squadron inactivated in January 1970.
Lineage
* Constituted as the 64th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940
: Activated on 15 January 1941
: Redesignated 64th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1944
: Inactivated on 29 April 1946
* Redesignated 64th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy and activated on 1 October 1946
: Redesignated 64th Bombardment Squadron, (Medium) on 2 July 1948
[Lineage through 1963 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 243-244]
: Inactivated on 31 January 1970
[''See'' Ravenstein, p. 71 (inactivation of 43d Bombardment Wing)][The squadron is not related to the Bombardment Squadron, Provisional, 64th, which was designated by SAC and organized at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam on 1 June 1972 and attached to the Strategic Wing, Provisional, 72d. This squadron was organized to control ]Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
bombers conducting Operation Arc Light
During Operation Arc Light (sometimes Arclight) from 1965 to 1973, the United States Air Force deployed B-52 Stratofortresses from bases in the U.S. Territory of Guam to provide battlefield air interdiction during the Vietnam War. This included ...
and Operation Linebacker
Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Seventh Air Force and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 air interdiction campaign conducted against North Vietnam from 9 May to 23 October 1972, during the Vietnam War.
Its purpose was to halt or slow the ...
missions. It ended combat operations on 15 August 1973, flying the last B-52 raid over Cambodia and was inactivated on 15 November 1973.
Assignments
*
43d Bombardment Group, 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946
* 43d Bombardment Group, 1 October 1946 (attached to
43d Bombardment Wing after 10 February 1951)
* 43d Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 31 January 1970
[Ravenstein, pp. 70-73]
Stations
* 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 perform ...
, Virginia, 15 January 1941
* Army Air Base. Bangor, Maine, 29 August 1941 – 17 February 1942
* Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, New South Wales, Australia, c. 16 March 1942
* Daly Waters Airfield
The Daly Waters Airfield, also RAAF Base Daly Waters, is a former commercial and sporadically-used military airfield located at , Northern Territory, Australia. As an airfield on Australia's earliest international routes, Daly Waters was used t ...
, Northern Territory, Australia, c. 16 May 1942
* Fenton Airfield
Fenton Airfield was a World War II military airfield in the Northern Territory of Australia located at Tipperary Station in what is now the locality of Douglas-Daly and named after flight lieutenant Clyde Fenton.
Abandoned since 1945, th ...
, Northern Territory, Australia, 2 August – 25 September 1942
* Iron Range Airfield, Queensland, Australia, 12 October 1942
* Mareeba Airfield
Mareeba Airfield is an airfield located south of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. Built in 1942 as a US Army Air Force base during World War II, the airfield had two runways, with a complement of taxiways, hardstands and a containment area. A ...
, Queensland, Australia, c. 8 November 1942
* Jackson Airdrome, Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
, Papua New Guinea, 20 January 1943
* Dobodura Airfield
Girua Airport is an airport serving Popondetta, a city in the Oro (or Northern) province in Papua New Guinea.
History
Girua Airport is located near Dobodura, to the north-east of the Embi Lakes, north-east of Inonda. To the south is Mt. Laming ...
, Papua New Guinea, to December 1943
* Nadzab Airfield, Papua New Guinea, 11 March 1944
* Owi Airfield, Schouten Islands
The Schouten Islands ( id, Kepulauan Biak, also Biak Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New ...
, Netherlands East Indies, c. 10 July 1944
* Tacloban Airfield
Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (Waray language, Waray: ''Luparan Daniel Z. Romualdez'', fil, Paliparang Daniel Z. Romualdez; ), also known as Tacloban City Airport, is an airport serving the general area of Tacloban, a highly urbanized city in Leyt ...
, Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
, Philippines, 23 November 1944
* Clark Field
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
, Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, Philippines, c. 22 March 1945
* Ie Shima Airfield
is a training facility, managed by the United States Marine Corps and a former World War II airfield complex on Ie Shima, an island located off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island in the East China Sea. The airfield as such was inactivated ...
, Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
, 26 July 1945
* Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippines, 10 December 1945 – 29 April 1946
* Davis-Monthan Field (later Davis-Monthan Air Force Base), Arizona, 1 October 1946
* Carswell Air Force Base
Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings.
Carswe ...
, Texas, 15 March 1960
* Little Rock Air Force Base
Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Little Rock AFB is the primary C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C-130 pilots, naviga ...
, Arkansas, 1 September 1964 – 31 January 1970[
]
Aircraft
* Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1941–1942
* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1943
* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
* Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1946–1950
* Boeing B-50 Superfortress, 1948–1954
* Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1954–1960
* Convair B-58 Hustler, 1960–1970[
]
See also
* United States Army Air Forces in Australia
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces established a series of airfields in Australia for the collective defense of the country, as well as for conducting offensive operations against the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. From thes ...
References
; Notes
; Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
{{USAAF 5th Air Force World War II
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Military units and formations in Guam
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