395th Strategic Missile Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 395th Strategic Missile 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 assignment was with the 1st Strategic Aerospace Division
1st Strategic Aerospace Division
The 1st Strategic Aerospace Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California...
, based at Vandenberg AFB, California. It was inactivated on 31 December 1969.
World War II
The squadron was established in Puerto Rico in December 1941 with a mission to provide an antisubmarine defense in the Caribbean area, later to provide air defense of the Panama Canal after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. By the middle of 1943, the diminished need for forces in the Caribbean led to the squadron returning to the United States.Assigned to Pratt AAF Kansas as one of the initial B-29 Superfortress transition training squadrons for heavy bomber crews to the new aircraft. Deployed to India in April 1944 with a mission to conduct very long range bombardment missions to Japan as part of the new XX Bomber Command. On 15 June the group participated in the first American Air Force attack on the Japanese Home Islands since the Doolittle raid in 1942 when it took part in the bombing of Yawata. Inactivated in October 1944 as part of a XX Bomber Command reorganization.
Strategic Air Command
Reactivated in 1959 as part of the development of the LGM-25C Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. It operated three training facilities for the Titan II, launch complexes 395-B, 395-C and 395-D. They were constructed between 1960-1962 and turned over to Strategic Air Command in 1964. Flight test, evaluations, technical order verification research and development were performed at Vandenberg AFB.The squadron was inactivated at the end of 1969, it's mission turned over to the 6596th Missile Test Group on 1 January 1970.
Lineage
- Constituted 5th Reconnaissance Squadron (Medium) on 22 November 1940
- Activated on 1 April 1941
- Redesignated: 395th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 22 April 1942
- Redesignated: 395th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 7 May 1942
- Redesignated: 395th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 20 November 1943
- Disbanded on 20 October 1944.
- Reconstituted and redesignated as 395th Strategic Missile Squadron, 1 January 1959
- Reactivated on 1 February 1959
- Inactivated on 31 December 1969
Assignments
- 40th Bombardment Group, attached on 1 April 1941, and assigned on 25 February 1942
- Associated with: 1st Photographic Group1st Photographic GroupThe 1st Photographic Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 311th Photographic Wing, stationed at Buckley Field, Colorado. It was inactivated on 5 October 1944.-History:...
, 10 Jun 1941-22 Apr 1942 (training)- 6th Bombardment Group, 9 August 1942
- 40th Bombardment Group, 12 May 1943-20 October 1944.
- 1st Strategic Aerospace Division1st Strategic Aerospace DivisionThe 1st Strategic Aerospace Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California...
, 1 Feb 1959-31 Dec 1969
Stations
- Borinquen Field, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, 1 April 1941 - Rio Hato AABRio Hato AirportRío Hato Airport is an airport and former Panamanian Defense Base in Panama, Río Hato.-International Airport:In 2011 the Government of Panama gave the order to proceed for the project to rebuild the airport...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, 17 June 1942-16 June 1943 - Pratt AAFPratt Army AirfieldPratt Army Airfield is a closed United States Air Force base. It is located north-northwest of Pratt, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Pratt Regional Airport....
, 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 August 1943-12 March 1944 - Chakulia AB, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, c. 11 April-20 October 1944 - Vandenberg AFB, 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...
, 1 February 1969-31 December 1969
Aircraft and missiles
- B-18 BoloB-18 BoloThe Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....
, 1941–1943 - Northrop A-17Northrop A-17The Northrop A-17, a development of the Northrop Gamma 2F was a two seat, single engine, monoplane, attack bomber built in 1935 by the Northrop Corporation for the US Army Air Corps.-Development and design:...
, 1942–1943 - 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...
, 1942–1943 - LB-30 (B-24A) Liberator, 1942–1943
- B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1944
- B-26 MarauderB-26 MarauderThe Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
, 1943 - YB-29 Superfortress, 1943
- 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...
, 1943-1944. - LGM-25C Titan II, 1959-1969
- Operated three launch silos at Vandenberg AFB for operational testing and development:
- 395-B (17 Feb 1964-29 May 1969), 34°46′57"N 120°36′26"W
- 395-C (16 Feb 1963-27 Jun 1976), 34°44′02"N 120°35′47"W
- 395-D (13 May 1963-5 Apr 1966), 34°42′27"N 120°35′22"W