The 340th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The mission of the squadron is to provide Boeing B-52 Stratofortress instructional flying.
The squadron was activated during World War II as the 340th Bombardment Squadron. a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, assigned to the 97th Bombardment Group. After brief training in the United States, it was one of the first heavy bomber squadrons to deploy to the European Theater of Operations. At the end of the year, following Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany from the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. Following V-E Day, it was inactivated in Italy.
The squadron was again activated as an element of Strategic Air Command in 1946. It flew a series of Boeing bombers in the strategic deterrent role until inactivating. During the Vietnam War, B-52 crews from the squadron participated in the Linebacker offensives over the skies of North Vietnam. In August 1990 the 340th deployed aircrews for Operation Desert Storm.
History
World War II Organization and training The squadron was activated at MacDill Field, Florida in February 1942 as the 340th Bombardment Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the 97th Bombardment Group.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 166-68 The following month, it moved to Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, where it trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft and also flew antisubmarine patrols. After a brief training period the squadron left Sarasota on 16 May.
The ground echelon sailed on the , arriving in Scotland on 10 June and at RAF Polebrook two days later. The air echelon, along with the air echelon of the 341st Bombardment Squadron staged through Dow Field, Maine starting on 15 May. From 2 through 11 June the squadrons deployed elements to the Pacific Coast, recommencing their deployment to Great Britain via Goose Bay Airport, Labrador and Greenland to Prestwick Airport Scotland on 23 June. The squadron's B-17s began arriving at Polebrook on 1 July, where they formed part of the first heavy bomber group assigned to Eighth Air Force.Freeman, p. 246
Combat in Europe Operations from Great Britain
The haste with which the squadron had trained and deployed resulted in deficiencies in its training. Most pilots had not flown at high altitudes on oxygen; some gunners had never operated a turret, much less fired at a moving target. Crews had flown together for only a few weeks in training. The squadron's first weeks in England were devoted to intensive training, with numerous specialists attending Royal Air Force (RAF) schools to prepare for combat.Freeman, p. 11 The squadron flew its first mission on 17 August 1942, attacking a marshalling yard at Sotteville-lès-Rouen, the largest and most active marshalling yard in northern France. This was the first mission flown by AAF heavy bombers stationed in Great Britain, and was led by the squadron's commander, Major Paul W. Tibbets. Two days later, the squadron supported Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, by attacking Abbeville/Drucat Airfield.Freeman, p. 16 It attacked naval installations, airfields and industrial and transportation targets in France and the Low Countries.
In September, the 97th Group and its squadrons were transferred to XII Bomber Command in the preparations for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. However, VIII Bomber Command retained operational control of these units until they left England. The first AAF bomber groups to deploy to England had patterned their basing on that of the RAF Bomber Command, which typically had a wing with two bomber squadrons on a station.Anderson, p. 5 The 97th Group's 342nd and 414th Squadrons were at RAF Grafton Underwood, while 97th Group headquarters, the 340th and the 341st Squadrons were at Polebrook. In September, the AAF decided to follow its own organization and use larger bases that would accommodate an entire group, and the 414th and 342nd Squadrons joined the rest of the group at Polebrook.
Operations in the Mediterranean Theater
Following the Operation Torch landings at Oran and Algiers on 8 November, the air echelon of the 340th left Polebrook on 18 November, staging through RAF Hurn for Maison Blanche Airport, Algeria. The ground echelon sailed by convoy to Algeria. The squadron was established at Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria near the end of November.
Through May 1943, the squadron engaged in the campaign to cut German supply lines in North Africa by striking shipping in the Mediterranean Sea and bombing docks, harbors, airfields and marshalling yards in North Africa, Sardinia, Sicily and southern France and Italy. The squadron moved forward through Algeria and into Tunisia during these operations. In June 1943, it supported Operation Corkscrew, the projected invasion of Pantelleria, which resulted in the surrender of the island without invasion. Through the summer of 1943, it supported Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, and Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy.
From November 1943, the squadron was primarily involved with the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The following month, it moved to Italy, pausing at Cerignola Airfield for a month before moving to Amendola Airfield, which would be its station for the remainder of the war. It bombed targets in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia; striking strategic targets such as oil refineries, aircraft factories and marshalling yards. During Big Week, the intensive attacks on the German aircraft industry in February 1944, it was part of the lead formation on a strike on an aircraft manufacturing plant at Steyr, Austria, for which it was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). It received a second DUC for an attack on the oil refineries near Ploesti, Romania on 18 August 1944.
The group also flew air support and interdiction missions against enemy lines of communication, airfields and transportation facilities. It supported Allied forces at Anzio and Monte Cassino. It supported Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, with attacks on coastal defenses. In the spring of 1945, it supported United States Fifth Army and British Eighth Army in their advance through the Po Valley.
Following V-E Day, the squadron moved to Marcianise Airfield, Italy, where it was inactivated on 29 October 1945.
Cold War Superfortress operations
The squadron was reactivated at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas in August 1946, where it took over the personnel and Boeing B-29 Superfortresses of the 506th Bombardment Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 608-09 The squadron deployed to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska in November 1947 and flew training missions over the Arctic Ocean until March 1948, when it returned to Kansas.Ravenstein, pp. 134-36 Two months later, the squadron moved to Biggs Air Force Base, Texas. In November 1948, the squadron, along with its sister squadron, the 341st Bombardment Squadron, deployed to RAF Marham in a show of force during the Berlin Blockade, remaining there until February 1949.Willard, p. 40 The squadron relieved the B-29s of the 307th Bombardment Group, which had deployed in July 1948. Although the Soviets did not know it at the time, the deployed B-29s did not have a nuclear capability. Only the B-29s of the 509th Bombardment Group were nuclear capable at the time.Miller, p. 23
In 1950, the 340th upgraded to the improved Boeing B-50 Superfortress. It deployed along with all operational elements of the 97th Bombardment Wing to RAF Sculthorpe from July to October 1950Willard, p. 49 and to RAF Lakenheath from March to June 1952. From 1952 to 1954, squadrons of the 97th Wing kept deployed elements on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. The squadron deployed there from December 1953 to March 1954.
Strategic Air Command (SAC)’s mobilization for the Korean War highlighted that SAC wing commanders focused too much on running the base organization and not spending enough time on overseeing actual combat preparations. To allow wing commanders the ability to focus on combat operations, the air base group commander became responsible for managing the base housekeeping functions. Under the plan implemented in February 1951 and finalized in June 1952, the wing commander focused primarily on the combat units and the maintenance necessary to support combat aircraft by having the combat and maintenance squadrons report directly to the wing and eliminating the intermediate group structures. Deaile, pp. 175-76 With this reorganization, the squadron now reported directly to the 97th Bombardment Wing.
Upon returning to Texas, the squadron assumed an electronic warfare and reconnaissance mission, exchanging its B-50s for ERB-29A, RB-50G and RB-50E Superfortress in addition to Boeing KB-29 Superfortress tankers. Through April 1955, the squadron deployed aircraft and crews to Japan and England for these missions.
Stratojet operations
In 1955, the squadron converted to the Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bomber. It deployed to RAF Upper Heyford from May to July 1956 in what was to be the last deployment of the full 97th Wing, although the squadron deployed as a unit to Alaska in 1957.
Operation Reflex placed Stratojets and Boeing KC-97s at bases closer to the Soviet Union for 90 day periods, although individuals rotated back to home bases during unit Reflex deployments Narducci, p. 2 The percentage of SAC planes on alert gradually grew over the next three years to reach its goal of 1/3 of SAC’s force on alert by 1960.Narducci, p. 3 A combination of the phasing out of B-47 and KC-97 aircraft and an unfavorable balance of payments problem led to the end of Reflex operations starting in 1963. All Reflex operations ended by 31 March 1965. Ground alert for the KC-97 terminated on 10 November 1965 and for B-47s on 11 February 1966.Narducci, p. 14
The squadron phased down for inactivation in December 1958 and became nonoperational in January 1959. In July 1959 it moved to Blytheville Air Force Base, but remained nonoperational.
Stratofortresss operations
At Blytheville, the 340th began to equip with Boeing B-52G Stratofortress strategic bombers in late 1959. By 1962, half The squadron's aircraft were placed on alert. SAC planners were looking into additional methods to protect their forces in addition to the ground alert program. In January 1961, SAC disclosed it was maintaining an airborne force for "airborne alert training" in Operation Chrome Dome.Narducci, pp. 5-6Alert Operations and SAC, p. 8 In January 1962, the squadron was one of the first five in SAC to carry GAM-72 Quail decoy missiles aboard its airborne alert aircraftSAC Missile Chronology, p. 33
Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba in October 1962, SAC brought all its degraded and adjusted alert sorties up to full capability.Kipp, et al., p. 30. On 20 October the squadron was directed to put two additional planes on alert. On 22 October, 1/8 of the squadron's B-52s were placed on airborne alert.Kipp, et al., pp. 34-35 On 24 October SAC went to DEFCON 2, placing all squadron aircraft on alert. Kipp, ‘’et al’’., p. 35 As tensions eased, on 21 November SAC went to DEFCON 3 and returned to its normal airborne alert posture.Kipp, et al., p. 47 On 27 November the squadron returned to its normal ground alert posture.Kipp et al., p. 61 The squadron's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis earned it an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.