22d Air Defense Missile Squadron

22d Air Defense Missile Squadron
Langley BOMARC site, 1965
Active	1959-1972
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Squadron
Role	Air defense
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
Patch with 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron emblem [a]

The 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 20th Air Division of Aerospace Defense Command, stationed near Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where it was inactivated on 31 October 1972. The squadron was activated in 1959 and equipped with BOMARC missiles for the air defense of the area near its base.

History

A 1965 photo of a squadron BOMARC missile elevated in its shelter

The squadron was activated at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia on 1 September 1959 as the 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) ^[1] and stood alert during the Cold War, equipped with IM-99 (later CIM-10) BOMARC surface to air antiaircraft missiles. The squadron was tied into the Washington Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) direction center which used analog computers to process information from ground radars, picket ships and airborne aircraft ^[2] to accelerate the display of tracking data at the direction center to quickly direct the missile battery to engage hostile aircraft. ^[3] The 22d was inactivated on 31 October 1972. ^[1]

The BOMARC missile site was located 3 miles (4.8 km) west-northwest of Langley at 37°05′57″N076°28′47″W / 37.09917°N 76.47972°W / 37.09917; -76.47972 (22d ADMS) . Although geographically separated from the base, it received administrative and logistical support from Langley.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron on 10 July 1959

Activated on 1 September 1959

Inactivated on 31 October 1972 ^[1]

Assignments

• Washington Air Defense Sector, 1 September 1959 ^[1]
• 33d Air Division, 1 April 1966 ^[1]
• 20th Air Division, 19 November 1969 – 31 October 1972 ^[1]

Awards

• 
• Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

1 September 1963 – 28 February 1965 ^[4]

See also

• List of United States Air Force missile squadrons

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. Approved 8 June 1961. Description: On an Air Force blue oval background within a golden brown border fimbriated white, above a turquoise blue demi-globe issuing from dexter base, land areas golden brown, grid lines Air Force blue, a stylized ground-to-air missile flying upward in bend, leaving a trail, colors counterchanged bendwise, golden brown and Air Force golden yellow, between four white stars sinister bendwise, two in dexter, two in sinister chief. Significance: In keeping with the USAF theme, "Aerospace Power for Peace," it represents a free and peaceful world being guarded by the ever present supersonic striking force of the ground-to-air missile, symbolic of BOMARC. The two stars on either side of the missile indicate the numerical designation of the unit.

Citations

1. Cornett & Johnson, p. 150
2. Winkler & Webster, p. 39
3. Winkler & Webster, p. 3
4. AF Pamphlet 900-2, 15 June 1971, p. 139

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
• Winkler, David F.; Webster, Julie L (1997). Searching the skies: The legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program. Champaign, IL: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. LCCN   97020912.^{[ dead link ‍]}
• "AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits" (PDF). Washington, DC: Department of the Air Force Index. 15 June 1971. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

Further reading

• Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol. II, 1955–1972. Fort McNair, DC: Center for Military History. ISBN   978-1-4379-2131-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2012.