B-17F Flying Fortress with the 64th Bombardment Squadron[note 3]
The squadron reached Australia via Cape Town in March 1942. It was originally equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses for combat operations.[1] The squadron operated from bases in Australia until January 1943, when it moved to New Guinea. Between May and September 1942 the squadron replaced its B-17s with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, believed to be more suited to the long ranges of many Pacific missions.[1][4] It attacked Japanese shipping in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago.[3] It experimented with skip bombing and used this technique during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943. During this battle, it made repeated attacks against an enemy convoy bringing reinforcements to Japanese forces in New Guinea. For this action, the squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. During this period, the squadron also provided air support for ground forces in New Guinea. It attacked airfields and enemy installations in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Celebes, Halmahera, Yap, Palau, and the southern Philippines.[1][3]
In November 1944 the squadron moved to the Philippines, helping the ground campaign on Luzon as well as conducting bombing missions against airfields, industrial installations and enemy installations in China and Formosa. In July 1945 it moved to Ie Shima Airfield, from which it flew missions over Japan, attacking railroads and airfields, as well as shipping in the Seto Inland Sea until V-J Day.[3] After ceasing operations, the squadron sent its aircraft to the Philippines for reclamation and relocated to Fort William McKinley as a paper unit.[4] It was finally inactivated in April 1946.[1]
Strategic Air Command operations
Reactivated under Strategic Air Command at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona on 1 October 1946 and, along with the other squadrons of the 43rd Group, absorbed the personnel and Boeing B-29 Superfortresses of the 40th and 444th Bombardment Groups, which were simultaneously inactivated.[1][5][6] 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 swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. 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, sending the last of its B-47s to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center in Arizona in early 1960.[citation needed]
B-58 operations
The squadron moved to Carswell Air Force Base without personnel or equipment on 15 April 1960, and was not manned or equipped until August.[7] Then it took over personnel and equipment from the 3958th Combat Crew Training Squadron and the 6592d Test Squadron, which were discontinued.[8] The squadron immediately began training crews on the Convair B-58 Hustler. The squadron was equipped with experimental and training models of the Hustler, along with Convair TF-102 Delta Daggers, to perform Category II and III evaluations of the new bomber, along with its training responsibilities. The evaluations of the Hustler ended in 1962.[7]
At the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Only six B-58s in the entire SAC inventory were on alert. Even these aircraft were "second cycle" (follow on) sorties. Crew training was suspended, and the squadron, along with SAC's other B-58 squadrons, began placing its bombers on alert. By the first week of November, 84 B-58s were standing nuclear alert, and as SAC redeployed its Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, 20 of these were "first cycle" sorties.[note 5] Within a short time, this grew to 41 bombers. By 20 November, SAC resumed its normal alert posture, and half the squadron's aircraft were kept on alert.[9][10]
In September 1964, the 43d Wing and the squadron moved to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. In December 1965, Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense announced a phaseout program that would further reduce SAC's bomber force. This program called for the mid-1971 retirement of all B-58s and some Boeing B-52 Stratofortress models.[11] With the removal of the B-58 from SAC's bomber force, the squadron was inactivated at the end of 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[12]
^Aircraft is Convair B-58A-CF, serial 59-2442 "Untouchable". It participated in Operation Quick Step and set three world records for class including 2000 km closed course flight averaging 1061.80 mph carrying payload. It became last B-58 to leave Little Rock AFB for the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center. Brewer, Alex P.; Brewer, Randy A. "B-58.com, The B-58 Hustler Page: Inventory". B-58.com. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
^Maurer indicates this emblem was never officially approved. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 244.
^This aircraft, serial 41-24353, named "Cap'N & The Kids" flew 80 combat missions. It was taken out of combat service at Dobodura Airfield, New Guinea in late 1943 and turned into a transport with the 69th Troop Carrier Squadron. It was modified to carry essential supplies, weapons and ammunition to Momote in the Admiralty Islands between 14 February and 4 March 1944. It also dropped supplies during the Invasion of Hollandia in April 1944.
^Aircraft is Consolidated B-24D-115-CO Liberator, serial 42-40945 "The Ace O' Spades". Photo taken 20 December 1943.
^The availability of KC-135s to refuel the B-58s was the main factor in relegating them to the second cycle of the war plan. KC-135s were primarily dedicated to refueling B-52s. See Kipp et al. p. 30 and following for SAC bomber actions during the Cuban Crisis.
^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 bombers conducting Operation Arc Light and Operation Linebacker missions. It ended combat operations on 15 August 1973, flying the last B-52 raid over Cambodia[citation needed] and was inactivated on 15 November 1973.
Knaack, Marcelle Size (1988). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN0-912799-59-5.
Watkins, Robert A. (2013). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Vol. V, Pacific Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-4346-9.
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