World War II Initial organization and training in the US The
squadron was activated at
Barksdale Field, Louisiana in March 1942 as one of the original four squadrons of the
93rd Bombardment Group. It began Phase I training conducted by the
44th Bombardment Group with
Consolidated B-24 Liberators at Barksdale, then moved to
Page Field, Florida for final training, preparing to deploy to the
European Theater of Operations. From Page, the squadron also flew
antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea until July, when it began preparing for movement to England.
Combat in Europe The
squadron was a member of the first B-24
heavy bomber group to become part of
VIII Bomber Command in England.
Norden bombsights were removed from unit B-24s and a modified gunsight, optimized for low level attacks, replaced them. Liberators that had been modified for night operations were sent to another unit and bomb bay tanks were installed in others. In June, the squadron's air echelon deployed to
Benina Airfield, Libya. From this base it initially supported
Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, flying ten missions. The squadron began upgrading to the
Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29, in 1950. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for
nuclear weapon missions if necessary. From July 1950 to January 1951, the squadron deployed to
RAF Mildenhall, repeating this deployment from December 1952 to March 1952. SAC’s mobilization for the Korean War highlighted that SAC
wing commanders focused too much on running the base organization and not spending enough time on overseeing actual combat preparations. To allow wing commanders the ability to focus on combat operations, the air base group commander became responsible for managing the base housekeeping functions. Under the plan implemented in February 1951 and finalized in June 1952, the wing commander focused primarily on the combat units and the maintenance necessary to support combat aircraft, the squadron was assigned directly to the
93d Bombardment Wing The squadron received
Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bombers in 1954, but only flew the Stratojet for a year. In 1955 the 93rd Wing became the first unit in SAC to equip with
Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses. In 1957, the squadron became a training unit for B-52 crews, while still maintaining combat readiness. On 24 October SAC went to
DEFCON 2, placing all aircraft on alert. The squadron resumed its training mission on 15 November 1962. The squadron moved to
March Air Force Base, California on 15 September 1963. Upon arrival, it transferred its personnel and equipment to the activating
2nd Bombardment Squadron of the
22nd Bombardment Wing, which was converting from B-47s to B-52s, and the squadron was inactivated.
Post Cold War The squadron was redesignated the
330th Combat Flight Instructor Squadron and activated under the 93rd Wing at Castle Air Force Base in August 1988. Its mission was to train
flight instructors for the B-52 and
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. When SAC inactivated in June 1992, the squadron lost its B-52 training mission. it became the
330th Flying Training Squadron and continued to train KC-135 instructors as part of the
398th Operations Group of
Air Mobility Command (AMC). In 1994, AMC consolidated its training at
Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and the squadron inactivated as the 97th Training Squadron at Altus assumed its mission. The squadron was redesignated the
330th Combat Training Squadron and activated in August 2002 at
Robins Air Force Base, Georgia as the training unit for
E-8 Joint STARS (STARS) aircrews. It transferred to the
116th Air Control Wing of the
Georgia Air National Guard in October, when the 116th became the primary operator of the JSTARS. The squadron returned to the regular Air Force in 2011 as the
461st Air Control Wing became an associate in the JSTARS mission. In April 2023, the 330th Combat Training Squadron began its present mission, training airmen to execute the Tactical Operations Center-Fixed (later Battle Control Center) mission. ==Lineage==