As a result, the squadron only began organizing in October 1942, when the initial cadre of the ground echelon (4 officers and 27 enlisted men) were assigned after it had moved to Gowen Field, Idaho.[8] Two days later, the squadron departed for Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington for Phase I training. There the first aircrew arrived on 1 December 1942 and it received its first operational aircraft and began training.[7][9] In February 1943, the ground echelon went to Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska, while the air echelon went to Ainsworth, Casper and Scottsbluff Army Air Fields, where they acted as instructors training other units for the next three months.[10]
The squadron established itself at its combat station, RAF Thorpe Abbotts, on 9 June 1943, flying its first combat mission against Bremen on 25 June.[14] Until the end of the war, the squadron was primarily employed in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Until January 1944, it concentrated its operations on airfields in France, and industrial targets and naval facilities in France and Germany. On 17 August 1943, it participated in an attack on a factory manufacturing Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters in Regensburg, Germany, which seriously disrupted production of that plane. Although the mission called for fighter escort, the fighter group assigned to protect the squadron's formation missed the rendezvous and the wing formation proceeded to the target unescorted. Enemy fighter opposition focused on the low "box", formed in part by the squadron. Ten of the 21 Flying Fortresses flown by the 100th Group were lost on this mission. Unknown to AAF intelligence at the time, the attack also destroyed almost all of the fuselage construction equipment for Germany's secret Me 262 jet fighter. Rather than returning to England, the unit turned south and recovered at bases in North Africa.[15] For this action, the squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[5]
From January to May 1944, the 350th attacked airfields, industrial targets, marshalling yards, and missile sites in Western Europe. During Big Week, it participated in the concentrated attack on the German aircraft industry. In March, it conducted a series of long range attacks against Berlin, for which it was awarded a second DUC.[5] The raid of 6 March was to be the costliest mission flown by Eighth Air Force during the war. German fighter controllers detected that the formation including the squadron was unprotected by fighter escorts and concentrated interceptor attacks on it. Twenty-three B-17s from the formation failed to return.[16][d] Two days later, German fighters shot down the leader of the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the 100th Group took the lead in another attack on Berlin.[17] From the summer of 1944, the 350th concentrated on German oil production facilities.[5]
The squadron flew its last mission on 20 April 1945.[18] Following, V-E Day, the squadron was initially programmed to be part of the occupation forces in Germany, but that plan was cancelled in September, and between October and December, the squadron's planes were ferried back to the United States or transferred to other units in theater.[7] Its remaining personnel returned to the United States in December and the squadron was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation on 19 December 1945.[2]
"Bloody Hundredth"
Starting with the Regensburg mission of August 1943, the squadrons of the 100th Bombardment Group began suffering losses among the highest in VIII Bomber Command.[19] On 8 October, it lost seven aircraft on a raid on Bremen, including its lead and deputy lead aircraft.[20] Only two days later, it lost twelve aircraft on an attack on Münster, again including the lead aircraft. The only group plane returning from that mission had lost two engines and had two wounded on board.[21][e] Its highest one day loss occurred on the 6 March 1944 attack on Berlin, when 15 bombers failed to return, ten from the 350th Bombardment Squadron.[22] On 11 September 1944, the Luftwaffe put up its heaviest opposition in months, destroying 11 of the group's bombers.[23] On 31 December 1944, half the 1st Bombardment Division's losses consisted of a dozen 100th bombers.[24] With a group authorization of 40 B-17s, it lost 177 planes to enemy action.[7] It became a legend for these losses and was referred to as the "Bloody Hundredth."[7]
Cold War
Reserve organization
T-6 Texans as flown by the squadron in the reserveA Beechcraft AT-7as flown by the squadron in the reserveA Beechcraft AT-11 as flown by the squadron in the reserve
The squadron was again activated in the reserve at Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina on 16 July 1947 and assigned to the 100th Group, which was located at Miami Army Air Field, Florida. At Columbia, its training was supervised by Air Defense Command (ADC). It does not appear the squadron was fully staffed and was equipped only with training aircraft.[2] In 1948, Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.[25]
President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of Air Force units.[26] As a result, the 350th was inactivated[2] as reserve flying operations at Columbia ceased.
Strategic Air Command
A Boeing B-47 Stratojet using JATO bottles to reduce takeoff distance
The squadron reactivated under Strategic Air Command in 1956, and received new, swept wing Boeing B-47 Stratojet,[1] which was 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 The Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for retirement in 1965, the last being retired in 1966; it was one of the last B-47 squadrons.
A Sikorsky CH-3 airlifts a jeepA Lockheed DC-130 carrying a pair of AQM-34 Firebee drones over the USS Chosin
Transitioning to the KC-135Q Stratotanker in 1982, the squadron provided refueling support for SR-71 aircraft from, 1983–1990. The 350th also provided cargo support and intratheater refueling during combat in Southwest Asia from August 1990 – March 1991 during the Gulf War.[2]
Air Mobility Command
A KC-135 Stratotanker from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing refuels an F-22
At the end of the Cold War, the Air Force underwent extensive changes as a result of several rounds of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). On 1 January 1994, the 22nd Air Refueling Wing moved to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, as part of the Air Force's plan to return McConnell to an air refueling hub. The 384th Air Refueling Squadron, a geographically separated unit of the 19th Air Refueling Wing (at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia) and a McConnell tenant unit, joined the 22nd as the first of four Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker squadrons to comprise the wing’s new tanker force. Within eight months, the 350th, 344th, and 349th Air Refueling Squadrons joined the 384th in the 22nd Operations Group to fly the wing's 48 KC-135s. In 1997, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) selected McConnell as its training base for its KC-135 crews and maintenance personnel. The RSAF stationed two of their Stratotankers with the 22 ARW, naming the organization the Peace Guardian Detachment.[3] From 1998 to 2003, the RSAF maintained a 300-person detachment at McConnell and trained with the 350th on air refueling techniques, tactics, and general airmanship.[27]
Global War on Terrorism
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, the Pentagon launched the Global War On Terrorism (GWOT). The 22nd Air Refueling Wing initially deployed tanker crews in support of Operation Noble Eagle. Before the end of the year, McConnell tankers were sent to the Middle East, Central Asia, Horn of Africa, and other locations to provide air refueling support during Operation Enduring Freedom. Beginning in 2003, the 22nd ARW took an active role in Operation Iraqi Freedom as tanker crews deployed to the Arabian Peninsula.[3]
Lineage
Constituted as the 350 Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 1 June 1942
Redesignated 350 Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 15 December 1945
Redesignated 350 Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 9 July 1947
Activated in the Reserve on 16 July 1947
Inactivated on 27 June 1949
Redesignated 350 Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 1 August 1955
Activated on 1 January 1956
Redesignated 350 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron on 25 June 1966
Inactivated on 1 July 1976
Redesignated 350 Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 19 January 1982
Activated on 28 January 1982
Redesignated 350 Air Refueling Squadron on 1 September 1991[2]
Assignments
100th Bombardment Group: 1 June 1942 – 15 December 1945
100th Bombardment Group: 16 July 1947 – 27 June 1949
100th Bombardment Wing (later 100th Strategic Reconnaissance) Wing, 1 January 1956 – 1 July 1976 (attached to Sixteenth Air Force, 4 March 1958 – 4 April 1958
^Approved 17 April 1959. Description: On an Air Force blue disc, a pattern of six white stars in bend, over all a red falcon in flight, outlines and details white, shadows Air Force blue, holding in his beak a long trailing green olive spray; radiating from the falcon's talons to base, three Air Force golden yellow lightning flashes; all within a white border.
^The emblem depicts a gremlin dropping bombs out of a chamber pot and was the idea of Sgts Bowa, Hawkins, Hays, and Pvt Parker. Parker did the design work. Sheridan pp. 13–14.
^Aircraft is Boeing B-17F-110-BO, serial 42-30604, Badger's Beauty V. It flew 22 missions before crash landing in France on 4 October 1943. Six of the ten crewmembers survived and became prisoners of war. Baugher, Joe (10 April 2023). "1942 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 4 November 2023., Missing Aircrew Report 843.
^In addition to the squadrons of the 100th Group, the formation included those of the 95th Bombardment Group.
^This plane, named Rosie's Riveter was lost in the spring of 1945, but its crew was able to bail out in Russian held territory.
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
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