World War II Initial organization and training in the United States The squadron was first established at
MacDill Field, Florida on 1 July 1942 as the
441st Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the
320th Bombardment Group, a
Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber group. The squadron trained rapidly in Florida, completing Phase I (individual) Operational Training at MacDill and Phase II (aircrew) Operational Training at
Drane Field until beginning to move its aircraft to England in August without starting Phase III (unit) training.l The air echelon departed for
Baer Field, Indiana on 19 August with initial plans calling for the squadron's air echelon to move to Europe via the
North Atlantic Ferrying Route. At Baer Field, it received B-26s direct from the factory. However, these planes were soon withdrawn and transferred to the
319th Bombardment Group, the first B-26
group to fly its bombers across the Atlantic. In England, it received additional training from units of
Eighth Air Force. However, it did not fly its first bombing missions until April 1943, by which time it had moved to
Montesquieu Airfield, Algeria from its training base at
Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria. Until July 1943, operating from bases in Algeria and Tunisia, it flew missions against enemy shipping on the approaches to
Tunis It flew missions against Tunisia and participated in
Operation Corkscrew, the projected invasion of
Pantelleria. The following month it provided
air support for
Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. earned the squadron a
French Croix de Guerre with Palm. On 12 May 1944, in the face of an intense
antiaircraft artillery barrage, it bombed enemy troop concentrations near
Fondi supporting
United States Fifth Army's advance on Rome, for which it was awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). until the fall, when it moved to France to prepare for return to the US. It departed Europe in November 1945 and was inactivated on its arrival at the Port of Embarkation in December. In 1948
Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and
Air National Guard units from ADC. The 441st was inactivated when Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the
wing base organization system in June 1949.
Strategic Air Command operations Medium bomber operations During the
Korean War, the
106th Bombardment Wing, a
New York Air National Guard unit, was
mobilized and assigned to
Strategic Air Command (SAC) and trained as a
Boeing B-29 Superfortress wing. On 1 December 1952, the 106th Wing was returned to state control and replaced by the
320th Bombardment Wing. In connection with this change, the 441st was reactivated, In June 1954, the squadron, along with the entire 320th Wing, deployed as a unit to
RAF Brize Norton remaining there until September. It repeated this performance at
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam between September 1956 and January 1957. Later in 1957, overseas
alert operations changed in character when overseas alert began to be supported by multiple wings, with individuals rotating home during an extended overseas
Operation Reflex alert, rather than deploying an entire wing overseas as a unit. Reflex placed Stratojets and
Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters at bases closer to the Soviet Union. The percentage of SAC planes on alert gradually grew over the next three years to reach its goal of 1/3 of SAC's force on alert by 1960. From 1958, SAC's B-47 Stratojet squadrons began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. This was designed 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. However, SAC was relying on the longer range
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, deciding to reduce the number of B-47 wings at March Air Force Base from two to one. With this reduction, the 441st was inactivated on 15 September 1960. This made it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock our the entire
heavy bomber fleet with a surprise first strike. As part of this program, SAC moved the
72nd Bombardment Squadron to
Mather Air Force Base, California, an
Air Training Command station, and organized the 4134th Strategic Wing as its headquarters. However, the 4134th Wing was a
Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing. MAJCON units could not carry a permanent history or lineage. In 1963, SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCON strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history. On 1 February 1963, the
441st Bombardment Squadron was reactivated and assumed the B-52Fs, personnel and equipment of the 72nd Bombardment Squadron as the 320th Bombardment Wing replaced the discontinued 4134th Wing. The squadron's commitment to SAC's nuclear deterrent mission changed in February 1965. Having received training on "iron bombs" since 1964, and having their B-52Fs modified to carry additional bombs on external racks, the squadron was launched to
Anderson Air Force Base, Guam in February 1965, where it was joined by B-52Fs the
736th Bombardment Squadron from
Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi and the
9th Bombardment Squadron from
Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. However, the first mission of what would become
Operation Arc Light did not take place until 18 June, when squadron bombers and bombers from the 9th Squadron attacked
Viet Cong bases near the Cambodian border with the Republic of Viet Nam. The squadron remained on Guam until July 1965. The squadron returned to Andersen in December 1965. By this time, most B-52 missions were carried out under
Combat Skyspot, in which bombing was directed by ground radar stations, rather than being conducted using the B-52 bombardment/navigation system. In February 1966, SAC bomber operations were brought together under the
Bombardment Wing, Provisional, 4133d The squadron's second tour in Southeast Asia ended in March 1966. By this time the B-52Fs, which had been carrying out the majority of the B-52 deployments to Guam, were replaced by B-52Ds, which had been modified to carry almost twice as many conventional bombs in Project Big Belly. By late June 1966, after one year of participation in the war, the B-52s were dropping approximately 8,000 tons of bombs each month. Missions were flown in all types of weather, night and day. In 1966, over 5,000 B-52 sorties were flown to support operations against the enemy. The
United States Central Command released a photograph of an airman assigned to the squadron handing out clothing near the
Kobani Landing Zone (LZ), although it did not say he was stationed at Kobani. The Kobani LZ was constructed near the village of
Sarrin, with a runway. In 2018, it was reported by non-military sources that the squadron was operating in Sarrin, in the western portion of
Raqqa Governorate, Syria to support
Operation Inherent Resolve. US forces withdrew from northern Syria in 2019. Russian troops reportedly occupied the evacuated bases. About 500 U.S. troops remained to guard energy facilities in eastern Syria. ==Lineage==