339th Bombardment Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 339th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive 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...

 unit. Its last was assigned to the 96th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Dyess Air Force Base
Dyess Air Force Base
Dyess Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately southwest of Abilene, Texas.The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force...

, 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...

. It was inactivated on 15 March 1963.

History

Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber squadron; trained under Second Air Force. Deployed to European Theater of Operations (ETO), assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England, Flew combat missions over Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe until the German capitulation in May 1945.

Activated as a reserve 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...

 squadron, 1947. Not equipped or manned; inactivated due to budget reductions, 1949.

Reactivated in 1953 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-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...

 squadron. Performed global deployments and training until inactivated in 1963. With the phaseout of the B-47 the training aircraft sent to storage at Davis-Monthan and the squadron was inactivated.

Lineage

  • Constituted 339th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 15 July 1942
Inactivated on 19 December 1945
  • Redesignated 339th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 13 May 1947
Activated in the reserve on 29 May 1947
Inactivated on 27 June 1949
  • Redesignated 339th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 6 November 1953
Activated on 18 November 1953.
Inactivated on 15 March 1963.

Assignments

  • 96th Bombardment Group, 15 July 1942-15 December 1945
  • 96th Bombardment Group, 29 May 1947
  • 384th Bombardment Group, 8 October 1947-27 June 1949
  • 96th Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing, 18 November 1953-15 March 1963

Stations

  • 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...

    , 15 July 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....

    , 6 August 1942
  • Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington, 16 August 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...

    , 29 September 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....

    , 1 November 1942
  • 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...

    , 3 January-16 April 1943

  • RAF Great Saling (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...

    , 12 May 1943
  • 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...

    , 12 June 1943-11 December 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...

    , 17–19 December 1945
  • Jackson Army Air Base, Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

    , 29 May 1947-27 June 1949
  • 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...

    , 18 November 1953
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