| Unit Name: | 403d Bombardment Squadron |
| Dates: | 1941–1946; 1958–1960; 1960–1961 |
| Role: | Bombardment |
| Battles: | Southwest Pacific Theater |
| Decorations: | Distinguished Unit Citation Philippine Presidential Unit Citation |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Patch with 403d Bombardment Squadron emblem[1] |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | 403d Bombardment Squadron emblem (World War II)[2] |
The 403d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 43rd Bombardment Wing at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1961.
The squadron was first activated in January 1941 as the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the 43rd Bombardment Group. Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron participated in antisubmarine patrols until January 1942, when it moved to Australia and the Southwest Pacific Theater. Shortly after it arrived in Australia, the squadron was redesignated the 403d Bombardment Squadron. It moved forward with US forces through New Guinea and the Philippines, moving to Ie Shima shortly before V-J Day for operations against Japan. It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for combat operations. The squadron was inactivated in the Philippines in April 1946.
The squadron was reactivated as a Strategic Air Command Boeing B-47 Stratojet unit in Arizona from 1958 to 1960. It was activated again at Carswell in 1960 to begin conversion to the Convair B-58 Hustler, but was inactivated before becoming operational.
The squadron was first activated at Langley Field, Virginia as the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, one of the original four squadrons of the 43d Bombardment Group, in the buildup of the United States military forces prior to the American entry into World War II. Since a reorganization of General Headquarters Air Force in September 1936, each bombardment group of the Army Air Forces (AAF) had an assigned or attached reconnaissance squadron, which operated the same aircraft as that group's assigned bombardment squadrons.[3] It was equipped with a variety of aircraft, not only the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress that it would fly in combat, but also Douglas B-18 Bolos and Lockheed A-29 Hudsons.The squadron moved to Army Air Base Bangor, Maine at the end of August. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron conducted antisubmarine patrols off the Atlantic coast, primarily with its Bolos and Hudsons until January 1942, when it began moving to reinforce American forces in the Southwest Pacific Theater.[1] [4]
The squadron reached Australia via Cape Town in February 1942, the first of the 43d Group's four squadrons to arrive in the theater. In April 1942, the Army Air Forces (AAF) ended its practice of assigning or attaching reconnaissance squadrons to medium and heavy bombardment groups,[5] [6] and the squadron became the 403d Bombardment Squadron. It was originally equipped with B-17s for combat operations.[1] It was not until September 1942 that the squadron reached an operational complement of aircraft and personnel.[7]
The squadron operated from bases in Australia until November 1942, when it moved to New Guinea. Between May and September 1942 the squadron replaced its B-17s with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, believed to be more suited to the long ranges of many Pacific missions.[1] [7] It returned to Australia from January to May 1943, when it resumed operations from New Guinea, attacking Japanese shipping in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago.[4] It experimented with skip bombing. It used this technique during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943. During this battle, it made repeated attacks against an enemy convoy bringing reinforcements to Japanese forces in New Guinea. For this action, the squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. During this period, the squadron also provided air support for ground forces in New Guinea. It attacked airfields and enemy installations in New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Celebes, Halmahera, Yap, Palau, and the southern Philippines.[1] [4]
In November 1944 the squadron moved to the Philippines, helping the ground campaign on Luzon as well as conducting bombing missions against airfields, industrial installations and enemy installations in China and Formosa. In July 1945 it moved to Ie Shima Airfield, from which it flew missions over Japan, attacking railroads and airfields, as well as shipping in the Seto Inland Sea until V-J Day.[4] After ceasing operations, the squadron sent its aircraft to the Philippines for reclamation and relocated to Fort William McKinley as a paper unit.[7] It was finally inactivated in April 1946.[1]
From 1958, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings of Strategic Air Command (SAC) began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the time spent on alert at overseas bases. The SAC alert cycle divided itself into four parts: planning, flying, alert and rest to meet General Thomas S. Power’s initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.[8] To implement this new system B-47 wings reorganized from three to four squadrons.[9] [10] The 403d was activated at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base as the fourth squadron of the 43d Bombardment Wing. In March 1960, the 43rd Wing moved to Carswell Air Force Base, Texas to become the Air Force's first Convair B-58 Hustler wing, and the squadron was discontinued. Two months later, on 15 May, he squadron was organized at Carswell, but it was inactivated on 1 January 1961, before becoming operational.[1] [11]
Activated on 15 January 1941
Redesignated 403d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 April 1942
Redesignated 403d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 21 September 1943
Inactivated on 29 April 1946
Activated on 1 December 1958
Discontinued on 15 March 1960
Organized on 15 May 1960
Discontinued and inactivated on 1 January 1961[1]
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Offensive, Japan | 17 April 1942–2 September 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| China Defensive | 4 July 1942–4 May 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Papua | 23 July 1942–23 January 1943 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| New Guinea | 24 January 1943–31 December 1944 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Northern Solomons | 23 February 1943–21 November 1944 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Bismarck Archipelago | 15 December 1943–27 November 1944 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Leyte | 17 October 1944–1 July 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Luzon | 15 December 1944–4 July 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Southern Philippines | 27 February 1945–4 July 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| Western Pacific | 17 April 1945–2 September 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron | ||
| China Offensive | 5 May 1945–2 September 1945 | 403d Bombardment Squadron |