62d Bombardment Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 62d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force
unit. It was last assigned to the 2d Bombardment Wing. It was inactivated at Barksdale Air Force Base
, Louisiana
on 1 September 1991.
Northwest Air District in Washington State in July 1941. Flew antisubmarine patrols over the Pacific Northwest
coastline after the Pearl Harbor attack. Aircraft and crews sent to Australia
in early 1942, being assigned to Fifth Air Force
units being formed there after the withdrawal of B-17s from Clark Field in January 1942 after operations from Clark became untenable during the 1942 Battle of the Philippines.
Squadron reformed at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona
in February 1942 as a B-24 Liberator
heavy bomber Operational Training Unit under Second Air Force
. Trained new units and replacement crews until heavy bomber training ended in April 1944.
Reformed again as a B-29 Superfortress
very heavy bomber squadron in late 1944, trained under Second Air Force; deployed to XXI Bomber Command
on Guam
. Carried out very long range strategic bombardment raids on Japanese Home Islands
from March 1945 until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945. Most personnel demobilized on Guam and returned to United States along with aircraft being sent to storage sites in southwestern United States. Inactivated as a paper unit, December 1945.
Reactivated as a Strategic Air Command
B-52G Stratofortress intercontinental strategic bombardment squadron in 1963 as part of SAC program to provide provisional units with a combat lineage. Performed operational testing of new equipment at Eglin AFB, 1963–1965; reassigned to Barksdale AFB in 1965 and stood nuclear alert duties. Deployed to western Pacific and engaged in combat operations over Indochina
as part of Operation Arc Light
(1966–1972). Returned to training status and stood nuclear alert after the end of the Vietnam War
, inactivated in 1991 as part of the USAF drawdown after the end of the Cold War
and retirement of the B-52G.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit. It was last assigned to the 2d Bombardment Wing. It was inactivated at Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base
Barksdale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-southeast of Bossier City, Louisiana.The host unit at Barksdale is the 2d Bomb Wing , the oldest Bomb Wing in the Air Force. It is assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command's Eighth Air Force...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
on 1 September 1991.
History
Established in 1941 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber group, assigned to the GHQAFUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
Northwest Air District in Washington State in July 1941. Flew antisubmarine patrols over the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
coastline after the Pearl Harbor attack. Aircraft and crews sent to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in early 1942, being assigned to Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
units being formed there after the withdrawal of B-17s from Clark Field in January 1942 after operations from Clark became untenable during the 1942 Battle of the Philippines.
Squadron reformed at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
in February 1942 as a B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
heavy bomber Operational Training Unit under Second Air Force
Second Air Force
The Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
. Trained new units and replacement crews until heavy bomber training ended in April 1944.
Reformed again as a B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
very heavy bomber squadron in late 1944, trained under Second Air Force; deployed to XXI Bomber Command
XXI Bomber Command
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in Guam for strategic bombing during World War II.- Lineage:* Constituted as XXI Bomber Command on 1 Mar 1944, and activated the same day.-Assignments:...
on Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
. Carried out very long range strategic bombardment raids on Japanese Home Islands
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from March 1945 until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945. Most personnel demobilized on Guam and returned to United States along with aircraft being sent to storage sites in southwestern United States. Inactivated as a paper unit, December 1945.
Reactivated as a Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
B-52G Stratofortress intercontinental strategic bombardment squadron in 1963 as part of SAC program to provide provisional units with a combat lineage. Performed operational testing of new equipment at Eglin AFB, 1963–1965; reassigned to Barksdale AFB in 1965 and stood nuclear alert duties. Deployed to western Pacific and engaged in combat operations over Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
as part of Operation Arc Light
Arc Light
Arc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller about limited nuclear war published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.As China and Russia clash in Siberia in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III begins...
(1966–1972). Returned to training status and stood nuclear alert after the end of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, inactivated in 1991 as part of the USAF drawdown after the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and retirement of the B-52G.
Lineage
- Constituted 62d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 Nov 1940
- Activated on 15 Jan 1941
- Inactivated on 1 Apr 1944
- Redesignated 62d Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) and activated on 1 Apr 1944
- Inactivated on 27 Dec 1945
- Redesignated 62d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), and activated, on 15 Nov 1962
- Organized on 1 Feb 1963; receiving personnel/aircraft/equipment from 301st Bombardment Squadron301st Bombardment SquadronThe 301st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4135th Strategic Wing. It was inactivated at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida on 1 February 1963.-History:...
(Inactivated) - Inactivated on 1 Sep 1991
Assignments
- 39th Bombardment Group, 15 Jan 1941-1 Apr 1944; 1 Apr 1944-27 Dec 1945
- Strategic Air CommandStrategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
, 15 Nov 1962 - 39th Bombardment Wing, 1 Feb 1963
- 2d Bombardment Wing, 25 Jun 1965-1 Sep 1991
Stations
- Fort DouglasFort Douglas, UtahCamp Douglas was established in October 1862 as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah, for the purpose of protecting the overland mail route and telegraph lines along the Central Overland Route. In 1878, the post was renamed Fort Douglas. The fort was officially...
, UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, 15 Jan 1941 - Geiger Field, Washington, 2 Jul 1941
- Davis-Monthan Field, ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, 5 Feb 1942-1 Apr 1944 - Smoky Hill Army Airfield, KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, 1 Apr 1944 - Dalhart Army Air Field, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, 27 May 1944 - Smoky Hill Army Airfield, KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, 17 Jul 1944-8 Jan 1945 - North FieldAndersen Air Force BaseAndersen Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam....
, GuamGuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, Northern Mariana IslandsNorthern Mariana IslandsThe Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
, 18 Feb-16 Nov 1945 - Camp Anza, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 14-27 Dec 1945 - Eglin AFB, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, 1 Feb 1963 - Barksdale AFB, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, 25 June 1965-1 Sep 1991
- Flight of aircraft and personnel deployed to 806th Provisional Bombardment Wing, RAF FairfordRAF FairfordRAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force station in Gloucestershire, England. It is a standby airfield, not in everyday use. Its most prominent use in recent years has been as an airfield for United States Air Force B-52s during the 2003 Iraq War, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and the first Gulf War in...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Jan-Mar 1991 (Operation Desert Storm)
Aircraft
- B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941–1942
- B-24 LiberatorB-24 LiberatorThe Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
, 1942–1944 - B-29 SuperfortressB-29 SuperfortressThe B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
, 1944–1945 - B-52 StratofortressB-52 StratofortressThe Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
, 1963–1991