The unit was activated as the 324th Reconnaissance Squadron under Strategic Air Command in 1947. The following year it moved to McGuire Air Force Base and began to equip with bombers modified for long range reconnaissance. It continued in the strategic reconnaissance role until 1957, when it was inactivated.
In 2009, the squadron was converted to provisional status as the 324th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron and assigned to United States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed.
Until the middle of 1943, The squadron concentrated its attacks on naval targets, including submarine pens, dockyards, ship construction facilities and harbors, although it also struck airfields, factories, and communications facilities. On 27 January 1943, the unit attacked the Kriegsmarine yard at Wilhelmshaven as part of the first penetration by bombers of VIII Bomber Command to a target in Germany. On 4 March 1943, it attacked marshalling yards at Hamm, Germany despite adverse weather and heavy enemy opposition. For this action, it was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[7]
From the middle of 1943 to the end of the war, the squadron concentrated on attacks on German aviation, including attacks on aircraft factories, including ones at Oranienburg and Brussels; airfields at Oldenburg and Villacoublay; the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt; chemical plants at Leverkusen and Peenemunde; and industrial facilities in Ludwigshafen, Frankfurt am Main and Wilhemshaven. As part of this attack on the German aircraft industry, on 11 January, the squadron penetrated into central Germany, despite bad weather, poor fighter cover, and strong attacks by enemy interceptor aircraft, the unit succeeded in bombing its target, earning a second DUC.[7]
The squadron also performed interdiction and air support missions. It helped prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area. It aided Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo, in July 1944 by attacking enemy troop positions. It supported troops on the front lines near Caen in August 1944 and attacked lines of communications near the battlefield during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. It attacked airfields, bridges, and railroads to support Operation Lumberjack, the push across the Rhine in Germany, in 1945.[7]
Following V-E Day, the squadron evacuated prisoners of war from German camps. The first B-17 left Bassingbourn for the United States on 27 May 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 24 June 1945. The squadron was reestablished at Drew Field, Florida in early July, with the intention of deploying it to the Pacific, but it was not fully manned or equipped, and inactivated on 7 November 1945.[5][7][1]
The squadron was reactivated in 1947 as a Strategic Air Command long-range strategic reconnaissance squadron, although it was not manned or equipped until July 1948. It used B-17 and B-29 bombers refitted for reconnaissance missions. The squadron deployed to Japan in 1950, and performed strategic reconnaissance missions over Korea and the Northern Pacific coast of People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The 324th re-equipped with North American RB-45 Tornado jet reconnaissance aircraft, flying reconnaissance and mapping combat missions over Korea until returning to the United States in mid-1952. The squadron re-equipped with RB-47E Stratojets and performed various reconnaissance missions on a worldwide scale until inactivation in 1957.
Constituted as the 324th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 15 April 1942
Redesignated 324th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 10 August 1943
Inactivated on 7 November 1945
Redesignated 324th Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 June 1947
Activated on 1 July 1947
Redesignated 324th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron on 10 November 1948
Redesignated 324th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Medium on 6 July 1950
Inactivated on 8 November 1957
Converted to provisional status, redesignated 324th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron on 25 June 2009 and assigned to United States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed
91st Bombardment Group, 15 April 1942 – 7 November 1945
91st Reconnaissance Group (later 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group), 1 July 1947 (attached to 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing after 10 February 1951)
91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 28 May 1952 – 8 November 1957
^Description: On and over a turquoise blue disc with white clouds, a caricatured brown and white rabbit wearing a red jet helmet, yellow flak vest, and brown flying boots, holding a black camera and astride a gold jet engine. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 399.
^The group was also assigned a reconnaissance squadron, but this unit was quickly redesignated as the group's fourth bombardment squadron. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 490–491
^ abcdefNewberry, SSG Joshua R.M. (27 September 2017). "324 ERS Change of Command Ceremony". United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Public Affairs. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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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