The 28th Bomb Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 7th Operations Group, Global Strike Command, stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The squadron is equipped with the Rockwell B-1B Lancer.
The 28th is one of the oldest and most decorated units in the United States Air Force, being organized as the 28th Aero Squadron on 22 June 1917 at Camp Kelly, Texas. The squadron deployed to France and fought on the Western Front during World War I as a pursuit squadron. The unit was demobilized after the war in 1919.Gorrell
Organized in 1921 as the 28th Squadron (Bombardment) in the permanent United States Army Air Service, the squadron served in the Philippines during the Inter-War period, engaging in combat during the 1941–42 Battle of the Philippines at the beginning of World War II. Withdrawn to Australia, it fought in the Dutch East Indies campaign before returning to the United States and being re-equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. It returned to the Pacific Theater of Operations in early 1945 to carry out strategic bombing missions over the Japanese Home Islands.
It carried out B-29 bombardment missions over North Korea during the Korean War. During the Cold War, it served as a Boeing B-47 Stratojet and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress squadron as part of Strategic Air Command.
Mission
The 28th flies the Rockwell B-1B Lancer intercontinental strategic bomber. It is the largest bomb squadron in the Air Force. The squadron's mission is to provide all B-1 initial qualification, requalification, and instructor upgrade training for Global Strike Command.
History World War I
Established in 1917 as the 28th Aero Squadron after the United States' entry into World War I. Formed at Camp Kelly, Texas, then sent to Quebec for combat flying training with units of the Royal Flying Corps. Deployed on the to the Western Front in France and served with the British Second and American Fifth Armies from 20 March until c. 24 June 1918 (C flight participated in Somme Defense from 21 March to 6 April 1918). The 28th also saw combat as a pursuit unit with the First United States Army from 2 September 1918 until 10 November 1918. The squadron returned from France in June 1919 and was demobilized. During World War I, it had two aces in its ranks, Martinus Stenseth and Thomas Cassady.Franks & Dempsey, p. 86
Inter-war years After World War I, the 28th Squadron (Bombardment), was constituted as a new unit on 30 August 1921. It was organized on 20 September at Mather Field, California and assigned to the Ninth Corps Area. The squadron was equipped with Dayton-Wright DH-4s and was used for aerial forest fire patrols along the western side of the Sierra Mountains and Sacramento, California area. On 19 January 1922, it was consolidated with its World War I predecessor unit, the 28th Aero Squadron, giving it a history dating to 22 June 1917. The unit was inactivated on 28 June 1922 with the closure of Mather Field.Clay,
The squadron was reactivated on 1 September 1922 at Clark Field, Philippine Islands and assigned to the Philippine Department. It was moved to Kindley Field, on Corregidor Island and again equipped with DH-4s. Assigned to the 4th Group (Composite) (later 4th Composite Group), the 28th was redesignated the 28th Bombardment Squadron on 25 January 1923. Along with the 2d Observation and 3d Pursuit Squadrons, the 28th provided the bombardment capability of the Air Service in the Philippines during the 1920s and 1930s. Its mission was tactical training for coastal defense. Exercises and maneuvers with Army ground forces and Naval forces were a regular and important part of its mission. The squadron was moved to the Manila area in 1922, operating from time to time from either Clark or Nichols Fields.Edmonds,
Along with the venerable DH-4, the 28th was equipped with the Martin NBS-1 bomber (also known as the MB-2) built during the final months of World War I. The MB-2 was the standard bomber of the Air Service throughout the 1920s, the squadron being upgraded to the Keystone LB-5 in 1929, then the Keystone B-3 in 1931. Also, the 28th flew the Loening OA-1 amphibian which it operated from Manila Bay. The obsolete Keystones were replaced by the Martin B-10 in 1937. In June 1938, the squadron moved to Clark Field.
As a result of the rising tensions with the Japanese Empire in 1940, the defenses of the Philippines were judged to be abysmal, and a reinforcement effort was made to defend the islands against any Japanese aggression. The 28th Squadron received Douglas B-18 Bolos in early 1941, and later, some early-model Boeing B-17C Flying Fortresses. On 1 November, it was assigned to the incoming 19th Bombardment Group in a reorganization of the Far East Air Force (FEAF) assets in the Philippines. The 28th, however, was filled with new pilots fresh out of flight training that were sent to reinforce the Philippines. The incoming 19th Group used the 28th as a fourth squadron, deploying two of its squadrons (the 30th and 93d) from March Field, California to the Philippines between 16 October and 4 November 1941 with more modern B-17Es, and the 14th Bombardment Squadron, which had arrived in September as its third squadron. The 28th also had eighteen B-18s on the line at Clark.
By 1 December 1941, the 19th Bombardment Group had all four of its squadrons at Clark Field. It was decided to disperse the Group and move the 14th-or-30th and 93d squadrons south to Del Monte Field on Mindanao. Del Monte, however, was little more than a grass field cut out of a pineapple farm with no supporting hangars, supplies, shops or other infrastructure to support the bombers.
On 7 December, there were 35 B-17s in the Philippines, with the 19th and 14th Squadrons at Clark Field on Luzon with a total of 19 planes (B-17Ds and B-17Es), and two squadrons at Del Monte 500 miles to the south with the other 16 B-17Es. A fifth squadron, the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron with four B-17Cs and two new B-17Es was inbound from Hamilton Field, California to Pearl Harbor on their way to the Philippines to reinforce the American force there, and was expected to arrive in a week.
World War II Battle of the Philippines After the Pearl Harbor Attack on 7 December 1941 in Hawaii, Clark Field was put on alert for a Japanese attack. FEAF Commanding General Lewis H. Brereton sought permission from theater commander General Douglas MacArthur to conduct air raids against Japanese forces on Formosa, but was refused. It was a little before 0800 when Brereton returned to Air Headquarters at Nielson Field. As he entered his office he asked what decision the staff had reached, but on being told said, "No, We can't attack till we're fired on" and explained that he had been directed to prepare the B-17s for action but was not to undertake offensive action till ordered. Later, about 1100 on 8 December a combat strike was approved by FEAF against Formosa.
Just as the B-17s were on the line, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service attacked Clark Field and practically destroyed the Army Air Corps capability of conducting an offensive action against the enemy. Damage to the physical structures at Clark Field was immense. This included the barracks which housed the personnel of the 28th. As a result, the entire squadron was ordered to bivouac in a nearby rifle pit. Confusion was the order of the day. A limited few were assigned to help repair and salvage parts of the remaining planes. There was very little for the remaining squadron personnel to do.
Infantry With almost all of the squadron's aircraft destroyed at Clark, the men of the ground echelon were pressed into service as infantry under 5th Interceptor Command. On Christmas Eve of 1941, the 28th evacuated Clark Field and went by train to Bataan. The squadron was bivouacked approximately two miles east of Corregidor Island.
On 29 December, the 28th received orders to travel to the port of Mariveles. During its journey to the port, men of the squadron witnessed the Japanese air force attempting to bomb Corregidor. Arriving at the port of Mariveles, they were instructed to board the inter-island steamer, the . That evening, about 21:00 the ship sailed from the port. It traveled all night, and at daylight, anchored off the Island of Mindoro in an attempt to keep away from the enemy naval forces.
However, that area was not a sanctuary, inasmuch as a Japanese patrol bomber spotted the Mayon and attempted to bomb it. The plane dropped six bombs without making a serious hit on the ship. At nightfall, the ship once again initiated its journey southward. The next morning, it anchored in a small cove for protection once again. There was an enormous amount of life preservers and debris on the water on this cove. It was later learned that the Japanese had sunk the sister ship of the Mayon, named the , where the Mayon anchored. That night, the ship sailed once more and arrived at the port of Bago, Mindanao the next morning.
At Bago, the men of the 28th were issued some old British Lee–Enfield rifles fully coated with cosmoline. After cleaning their rifles, the men embarked on buses at Malaybalay and stayed overnight. The next day, the enlisted men of the 28th, along with a few officers, were transported further southward by bus to Carmen Ferry on the Pulangi River. They were approximately forty miles from the city of Davao, where the Japanese armed forces were entrenched. its orders were to guard the ferry and patrol the Pulangi River.
On 16 April 1942, the personnel of the 28th Bomb Squadron were ordered north to Maramag, Mindanao. Maramag was the planned site of a secret airfield which was hopefully to be used by FEAF. However, this part of the Philippine Islands defense plans were never fully developed due to enemy action. On 7 May 1942, most of the personnel of the 28th, along with servicemen from other Air Corps units of the 19th Group, were ordered to embark for an area in northern Mindanao known as Alanib. At Alanib, the entire group started on a twenty three kilometer hike to another area in the center of Mindanao named Bosok. This area was not accessible by truck. The group's assignment was to prepare entrenchments for Filipino troops to guard a back trail which could have permitted the Japanese armed forces on Mindanao. The American force, having reached approximately one kilometer from its destination of Bosok, was ambushed by a Japanese patrol. The infiltration had already begun. Fortunately, there were few casualties during the encounter. However, having only shovels and no weapons, the entire force proceeded to backtrack toward Alanib, the embarkation point. The Japanese patrol was in hot pursuit. However, there were U.S. Army trucks at Alanib when the men arrived. The drivers of the trucks informed the men of the 28th that all of the American armed forces in the Philippine Islands had been ordered to surrender as of that day.
At Alanib, the ground echelon of the 28th Bombardment Squadron surrendered to the Japanese as ordered on 10 May 1942, although some presumably joined guerrilla forces and continued fighting as unorganized resistance during the Japanese Occupation. The trucks transported the men of the 28th to Maramag and then to a prisoner of war camp at Malaybaly, Mindanao. After their surrender, a number of the 28th personnel died in Japanese Prisoner of war camps and on the Japanese Hell ships en route to Japan.
Air echelon