The 337th Test and Evaluations Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force

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...

. It is a part of the 53d Test and Evaluation Group

53d Test and Evaluation Group

The 53d Test and Evaluation Group is a group of the United States Air Force. It is a part of the 53d Wing, and is headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The unit consists of seven squadrons, two detachments, and a named flight...

 of the 53d Wing

53d Wing

The 53d Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.-Mission:The 53d Wing serves as the focal point for the Combat Air Forces in electronic warfare, armament and avionics, chemical defense, reconnaissance, and aircrew training devices...

. Its primary task is to test and evaluate modifications on the B-1 bomber

B-1 Lancer

The Rockwell B-1 LancerThe name "Lancer" is only applied to the B-1B version, after the program was revived. is a four-engine variable-sweep wing strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force...

, as well as to train future aircrews to fly upgraded B-1s . The 337th is headquartered at Dyess AFB, Texas, though it operates out of a number of bases throughout the United States.

History

From 14 May 1943 to 21 April 1945, the squadron conducted strategic bombardment of shipyard

Shipyard

Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...

s, submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 bases, marshaling yards, oil facilities, airfields, and aircraft plants. On occasion, it flew tactical sorties against gun emplacements, rocket sites, enemy troops, and communications centers.

On 17 August 1943, it earned its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC), striking targets at Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

 and Schweinfurt

Schweinfurt

Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Soon after, on 14 October 1943, the squadron participated in the war

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

's single most important raid on ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt.

On 9 April 1944, it earned a second DUC in an attack on aircraft component factories at Poznań

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The squadron subsequently attacked enemy field batteries and miscellaneous targets in support of Normandy operations on 6 June 1944.

Beginning in 1968, B-52 aircraft and crews deployed to Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 (SEA) for bombardment operations. For much of the conflict, the squadron furnished aircraft and crews to SAC

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...

 organizations based in SEA. When the Air Force switched to the B-1 Lancer, the 337th was the first unit to fly the new bomber.

As part of the 53d Test and Evaluation Group, the 337th conducts testing of various upgrades to the B-1, as well as trains aircrews to operate and maintain the upgraded aircraft. The squadron has been currently working on the increasing the B-1's weapons payload, attempting to increase the bomber's ability to deliver weapons into heavily defended areas .

Lineage

• Constituted 337th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942.

Activated 15 July 1942.

• Redesignated 337th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 22 June 1943.

Inactivated 29 November 1945.

• Redesignated 337th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 13 May 1947

Activated in the Reserve on 29 May 1947.

Inactivated 27 June 1949.

• Redesignated 337th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 6 November 1953

Activated 18 November 1953.

Discontinued, and inactivated, on 15 March 1963.

• Redesignated 337th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy.

Activated 20 March 1963.

Organized 15 September 1963.

Redesignated 337th Bomb Squadron on 1 September 1991.

Inactivated 1 October 1994.

• Redesignated 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron on 8 April 2004.

Activated 14 May 2004.

Stations, Assignments, & Aircraft

Date	Base	Assignment	Aircraft
15 July 1942	Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah Utah Utah 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...	96th Bombardment Group	B-17 Flying Fortress
6 August 1942	Gowen Field, Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
31 August 1942	Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington
29 September 1942	Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
3 November 1942	Pocatello Army Airfield, Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
7 January - 15 April 1943	Pyote Army Air Base, Texas Texas Texas 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...
13 May 1943	RAF Andrews Field RAF Andrews Field RAF Station Andrews Field is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately east-northeast of Great Dunmow; about north-northeast of London...  (AAF-485), England England England 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...
29 May 1943 - 22 November 1945	RAF Snetterton Heath RAF Snetterton Heath RAF Snetterton Heath is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located on the A11, 6 miles SW of Attleborough in Norfolk.-Overview:...  (AAF-138), England England England 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...
27–29 November 1945	Camp Kilmer Camp Kilmer Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in... , New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
29 May 1947 - 27 June 1949	Gunter Field (later AFB Air Force Base An Air Force Base is a military airbase of any of a number of air forces, such as the United States Air Force or South African Air Force .... ) Alabama Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...		T-6 Texan T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...   AT-11 Kansan Beechcraft Model 18 The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", as it is better known, is a 6-11 seat, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas...
18 November 1953	Altus AFB, Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...	96th Bombardment Wing 96th Air Base Wing The 96th Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Air Armament Center. It is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida...	B-47 Stratojet B-47 Stratojet The Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...
8 September 1957 - 15 March 1963	Dyess AFB, Texas Texas Texas 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...
15 September 1963 - 1 October 1994	Dyess AFB, Texas	20 March 1963 — 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...   15 September 1963 — 96th Operations Group  1 October 1993 - 1 October 1994 — 7th Operations Group 7th Operations Group The 7th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 7th Bomb Wing, stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas...	B-52 Stratofortress B-52 Stratofortress The 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...  (until 1985)
			B-1 Lancer B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 LancerThe name "Lancer" is only applied to the B-1B version, after the program was revived. is a four-engine variable-sweep wing strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force...  (after 1985)
14 May 2004–present	Dyess AFB, Texas	53d Test and Evaluation Group 53d Test and Evaluation Group The 53d Test and Evaluation Group is a group of the United States Air Force. It is a part of the 53d Wing, and is headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The unit consists of seven squadrons, two detachments, and a named flight...

Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards

• 1 January 1959 - 31 December 1960
• 1 July 1974 - 30 June 1975
• 1 July 1978 - 30 June 1979
• 1 July 1988 - 30 June 1990
• 1 July 1990 - 29 May 1992
• 1 June 1992 - 30 May 1994