World War II The
squadron was first organized at
Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico on 1 June 1943 as one of the four squadrons of the
454th Bombardment Group. It trained with
Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers. After completing training, it left for the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations on 8 December 1943. The squadron arrived in Italy in January 1944, settling in at its combat station,
San Giovanni Airfield, by the end of the month. Its primary focus was on
long range bombing missions against industrial targets such as enemy oil refineries and munitions and aircraft factories. It struck transportation targets including harbors and
airfields in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece and Rumania The squadron received a
Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a raid on an airfield at
Bad Vöslau, Austria on 12 April 1944. The squadron earned a second DUC during an attack on a steel plant at
Linz, Austria, as the 454th Group led its
wing through determined opposition. However, the squadron does not appear to have been fully staffed or equipped with operational aircraft while a reserve unit. In 1948
Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and
Air National Guard units from ADC. President
Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force. Continental Air Command also reorganized its reserve units under the
wing base organization system in June 1949. The squadron was inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to elements of the
302d Troop Carrier Wing, which was activated simultaneously.
Cold War The
39th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron was activated in April 1969 at
Spangdahlem Air Base Germany in an effort to restore an
electronic warfare capability to
United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE). It was planned to equip the squadron with
Douglas EB-66 Destroyers, but all of USAFE's EB-66s had deployed to Southeast Asia to provide jamming support for the
Viet Nam War. As a result, the squadron was initially equipped with the less capable
Martin EB-57 Canberra. Shortly after activation, it became possible to equip the unit with sixteen EB-66s. The squadron continued its mission at Spangdahlem until ceasing operations in December 1972. It was inactivated in January 1973 as the EB-66 was withdrawn from the Air Force inventory. The
739th Bombardment Squadron and the
39th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron were consolidated into a single unit in September 1985. ==Lineage==