World War II The squadron was activated at
Geiger Field, Washington on 15 April 1942 as the
370th Bombardment Squadron, one of the original four squadrons of the
307th Bombardment Group. It was first equipped with
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, but while still in training converted to
Consolidated B-24 Liberators. In addition to training with these
heavy bombers, it also flew some
antisubmarine patrols off the Pacific northwest coast. In October 1942, it began its movement to Hawaii. The squadron arrived at
Kipapa Airfield, Hawaii in November 1942, continuing its training in the Liberator and flying search and antisubmarine patrols in defense of Hawaii as part of
Seventh Air Force. In December 1942, it staged through
Naval Air Station Midway to attack
Wake Island. In February 1943, the squadron was relieved from assignment to Seventh Air Force and began to operate under the control of
Thirteenth Air Force, although it did not move to
Koli Airfield,
Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands until March. From Guadalcanal, it struck enemy
airfields and military installations along with shipping in the Solomon Islands and Bismarck Archipelago. It helped neutralized enemy bases in
Yap,
Truk and
Palau. On 29 March 1944, the squadron made an unescorted daylight attack on heavily defended airfields in the Truk Islands for which it was awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). As American forces moved forward, it supported operations in the Philippines by strikes against enemy shipping in the southern Philippines and striking airfields on
Leyte,
Luzon,
Negros,
Ceram and
Halmahera and supported
Allied operations in the Netherlands East Indies. It flew an unescorted mission attacking the oil refineries at
Balikpapan on Borneo on 3 October 1944, for which it was awarded a second DUC. In the closing months of the war in the Pacific, it supported Australian forces on Borneo and attacked targets in Indochina. After
V-J Day, it ferried liberated prisoners from Okinawa to the Philippines and flew patrols along the coast of China. It moved to
Clark Field in the Philippines in September 1945 and returned to the United States for inactivation at the Port of Embarkation in January 1946.
Strategic Air Command The squadron was reactivated as
Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron at
MacDill Field, Florida in August 1946 as part of
Strategic Air Command (SAC). it acted a training unit for antisubmarine warfare.
Korean War The squadron deployed to
Okinawa during the
Korean War, carrying out combat operations over
Korea throughout the conflict. It remained in Okinawa until November 1954 when moved to the United States on paper.
Return to Strategic Air Command as flown by the 370th at Lincoln AFB The squadron eformed at
Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska, as a
Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium jet bomber squadron, performed
Operation Reflex deployments to North Africa . With the phaseout of B-47 in 1965 it was inactivated.
Flight Testing The squadron was reactivated as a flight test squadron in 2001. ==Lineage==