393d Bomb Squadron

393d Bomb Squadron
	393d Bomb Squadron B-2 Spirit on approach for landing [note 1]
Active	1944–1990; 1993–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Strategic Bombing
Part of	Air Force Global Strike Command
Garrison/HQ	Whiteman Air Force Base
Engagements	World War II ; Kosovo War ; Global War on Terrorism [1]
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device ; Air Force Meritorious Unit Award ; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award; Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm [1]
Insignia
393d Bomb Squadron emblem (approved 15 July 1957) [1]
393d Bombardment Squadron emblem (approved 19 December 1944) [2] [3]

Last updated March 05, 2019

B-29 painted to look like The Great Artiste of the 393d Bombardment Squadron of the 509th Bomb Group at Walker AFB New Mexico. B-29-509-walker.jpg — B-29 painted to look like *The Great Artiste* of the 393d Bombardment Squadron of the 509th Bomb Group at Walker AFB New Mexico.

The 393d Bomb Squadron is part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It operates Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit nuclear-capable strategic bomber aircraft.

The 509th Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command, Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

Whiteman Air Force Base human settlement in United States of America

Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Knob Noster, MO; 10 miles (16 km) east of Warrensburg, MO, and 70 miles (110 km) east-southeast of Kansas City.

The NorthropB-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low observable stealth technology designed for penetrating dense anti-aircraft defenses; it is a flying wing design with a crew of two. The bomber can deploy both conventional and thermonuclear weapons, such as eighty 500 lb (230 kg)-class JDAM Global Positioning System-guided bombs, or sixteen 2,400 lb (1,100 kg) B83 nuclear bombs. The B-2 is the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration.

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. Hiroshima gained city status on April 1, 1889. On April 1, 1980, Hiroshima became a designated city. As of August 2016, the city had an estimated population of 1,196,274. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has been the city's mayor since April 2011.

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. The city's name, 長崎, means "long cape" in Japanese. Nagasaki became a centre of colonial Portuguese and Dutch influence in the 16th through 19th centuries, and the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region have been recognized and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War.

History

Activated as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron in early 1944; trained under Second Air Force. Due to a shortage of B-29s, the squadron was initially equipped with former II Bomber Command Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel as engineering flaws were being worked out of the B-29. The squadron was then reassigned for advanced training and received B-29s at Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska during the late spring and summer of 1944.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing, which was flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. It was one of the largest aircraft operational during World War II and featured state-of-the-art technology. Including design and production, at over $3 billion it was the single most expensive weapons project in World War II, exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project—using the value of dollars in 1945. Innovations introduced included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled, tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system directing four remote machine gun turrets that could be operated by a single gunner and a fire-control officer. A manned tail gun installation was semi-remote. The name "Superfortress" continued the pattern Boeing started with its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. Designed for the high-altitude strategic bomber role, the B-29 also excelled in low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. One of the B-29's final roles during World War II was carrying out the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Second Air Force is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended the Northwestern United States and Upper Great Plains regions and during the Cold War, was Strategic Air Command unit with strategic bombers and missiles. Elements of Second Air Force engaged in combat operations during the Korean War; Vietnam War, as well as Operation Desert Storm.

The II Bomber Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last assigned to Second Air Force, based at Fort George Wright, Washington. It was inactivated on 6 October 1943.

509th Composite Group

In December 1944 reassigned as the only operational B-29 squadron to 509th Composite Group at Wendover Field, Utah in December. Aircraft were refitted to Silverplate configuration becoming atomic bomb capable under a highly classified program. Deployed to North Field (Tinian) in late May 1945, flying non-combat missions practicing atomic bomb delivery techniques. The squadron carried out two Atomic Bombing missions over Japan in August 1945, being the only squadron in the world to ever carry out and deliver nuclear weapons in combat. Dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945.

The 509th Composite Group was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.

Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop an atomic weapon, "Silverplate" eventually came to identify the training and operational aspects of the program as well. The original directive for the project had as its subject line "Silver Plated Project" but continued usage of the term shortened it to "Silverplate".

North Field (Tinian) former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands

North Field is a former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Abandoned after the war, today North Field is a tourist attraction. Along with several adjacent beaches on which Allied forces landed during the Battle of Tinian, the airfield is the major component of the National Historic Landmark District Tinian Landing Beaches, Ushi Point Field, Tinian Island.

Reassigned to the United States in November 1945, becoming part of Continental Air Forces (later Strategic Air Command). Deployed to Kwajalein in 1946 to carry out Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll in July.

Continental Air Forces (CAF) was a United States Army Air Forces major command at the end of World War II and during the early Cold War for combat training of bomber and fighter personnel and for Continental United States (CONUS) air defense after the Aircraft Warning Corps and Ground Observer Corps were placed in standby during 1944. CAF conducted planning for the postwar United States general surveillance radar stations, and the planning to reorganize to a separate USAF was for CAF to become the USAF Air Defense Command On 21 March 1946, CAF headquarters personnel and facilities at Bolling Field, along with 1 of the 4 CAF Air Forces became Strategic Air Command. US Strategic Air Forces of WWII, e.g., Eighth Air Force and Fifteenth Air Force, transferred later to SAC. Most of the CAF airfields that had not been distributed to other commands when SAC activated were subsequently transferred to Air Defense Command, Tactical Air Command, and Air Materiel Command from 23 March 1946 to 16 March 1947 before the USAF was activated in September 1947.

Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships.

Bikini Atoll is an atoll in the Marshall Islands that was the site of 23 nuclear tests during the 1940s and 1950s. The atoll consists of 23 islands totalling 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) surrounding a 229.4-square-mile (594.1 km²) central lagoon. It is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain, approximately 87 kilometres (54 mi) northwest of Ailinginae Atoll and 850 kilometres (530 mi) northwest of Majuro. Within Bikini Atoll, Bikini, Eneu, Namu and Enidrik islands comprise just over 70% of the land area. Bikini and Eneu are the only islands of the atoll that hosted a permanent population. Bikini Island is the northeastern most and largest islet. The atoll was also known as Eschscholtz Atoll, after German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, until 1946, after the Marshall Islands were captured by the U.S. during World War II.

Strategic Air Command

Began upgrading to the new Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1949. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary. Squadron deployed to SAC airfields in England, and also to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam on long-term deployments in the 1950s.

Boeing B-50 Superfortress Strategic bomber aircraft family by Boeing

The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber built by Boeing for the United States Air Force, and was further refined into Boeing's final such design, the B-54. Not as well known as its direct predecessor, the B-50 was in USAF service for nearly 20 years.

Andersen Air Force Base United States Air Force base in Guam

Andersen Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Yigo near Agafo Gumas in the United States territory of Guam. Along with Naval Base Guam, Andersen AFB was placed under the command of Joint Region Marianas on 1 October 2009. The two bases are about 30 miles apart at opposite ends of the island. Administration offices for Joint Region Marianas are about half-way in between, at Nimitz Hill.

Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States in Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost point and territory of the United States, along with the Northern Mariana Islands. The capital city of Guam is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo. The inhabitants of Guam are called Guamanians, and they are American citizens by birth. Indigenous Guamanians are the Chamorros, who are related to other Austronesian natives of Eastern Indonesia and Philippines and Taiwan.

By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 interceptor in the skies of North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. Received new, swept wing Boeing B-47 Stratojets in 1955 which were designed to carry nuclear weapons and to penetrate Soviet air defenses with its high operational ceiling and near supersonic speed. The squadron flew the B-47 for about a decade when by the mid-1960s it had become obsolescent and vulnerable to new Soviet air defenses. The squadron began to send its stratojets to AMARC at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona for retirement in 1965.

Was scheduled for inactivation however instead received Boeing B-52D Stratofortresses in 1965. It rotated aircraft and crews to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in support of Southeast Asia Operation Arc Light operations between 1966 and 1969. Not operational, Nov 1969–Jun 1971. Re-equipped with General Dynamics FB-111 nuclear capable medium bomber in 1970; operated until retirement in 1990.

It was reactivated in 1993 as first operational Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber squadron.

Operations and decorations

Combat operations: Combat in Western Pacific, 1 Jul – 14 Aug 1945. Only squadron trained for atomic warfare in World War II Participated in atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll, Jul 1946, while deployed on Kwajalein. Rotated aircraft and crews to Andersen AFB, Guam, in support of Southeast Asia Operations, 1966–1969.
Campaigns: World War II: Air Offensive, Japan; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific. Vietnam War; Global War on Terror.
Decorations: Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: Apr – 1 Oct 1968; 1 Jul 1977 – 30 Jun 1979; 1 Jul 1981 – 30 Jun 1982; 1 Jul 1982 – 30 Jun 1984; 1 Jul 1988 – 30 Jun 1990. Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm: 5 Mar – 14 Oct 1969.

Lineage

Constituted as the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 28 February 1944

Activated on 11 Mar 1944

Redesignated 393d Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 2 July 1948

Redesignated 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 2 April 1966

Redesignated 393d Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 1 December 1969

Inactivated on 30 September 1990

Redesignated 393d Bomb Squadron on 12 March 1993

Activated on 27 August 1993^[1]

Assignments

504th Bombardment Group, 11 March 1944
Second Air Force, 25 November 1944
509th Composite Group (later 509th Bombardment Group), 17 December 1944 (attached to 509th Bombardment Wing, 17 November 1947 – 14 Sept 1948 and after 1 February 1951)
509th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 – 30 September 1990^{[note 2]}
509th Operations Group, 27 Aug 1993– present^[1]

Stations

Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 11 March 1944
Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, 12 March 1944
Wendover Field, Utah, 14 September 1944 – 26 April 1945
North Field, Tinian, 30 May–17 October 1945
Roswell Army Air Field (later Walker Air Forcee Base), New Mexico, 6 November 1945

Deployed to Bucholz Army Airfield,^{[ citation needed ]} Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, 1 May–July 1946; RAF Mildenhall, England, 4 June–2 September 1952; Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, 18 June–c. 18 September 1953 and 10 July–8 October 1954; RAF Upper Heyford, England, 26 January–30 April 1956

Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, 1 July 1958 – 30 September 1990
Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, 27 August 1993 – present^[1]

Aircraft

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1944)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1944–1952)
Boeing B-50 Superfortress (1949–1955)
Boeing B-47 Stratojet (1955–1965)

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (1966–1969)
General Dynamics FB-111A Aardvark (1970–1990)
Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit (1993–present)^[1]

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References

Notes

Explanatory notes

↑ Aircraft is Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit AV-5, serial 82-1070 "Spirit of Ohio" during a Red Flag Exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
↑ Probably attached to Twentieth Air Force, 18 June–c. 18 September 1953.

Citations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Haulman, Daniel (September 5, 2018). "Factsheet 393 Bomb Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
↑ Endicott, p. 777
↑ Watkins, p. 112

Bibliography

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .

Endicott, Judy G. (1998). Active Air Force Wings as of 1 October 1995 and USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ASIN B000113MB2 . Retrieved July 2, 2014.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979 . Retrieved December 17, 2016.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556 . Retrieved December 17, 2016.
Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9 . Retrieved December 17, 2016.
Watkins, Robert A. (2013). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Volume V, Pacific Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-4346-9.

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[1] Aircraft is Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit AV-5, serial 82-1070 "Spirit of Ohio" during a Red Flag Exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

[5] Probably attached to Twentieth Air Force, 18 June–c. 18 September 1953.

[393BSfacts-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Haulman, Daniel (September 5, 2018). "Factsheet 393 Bomb Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved September 12, 2018.

[3] Endicott, p. 777

[4] Watkins, p. 112