World War II Initial organization and training The squadron was first activated at
Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina on 20 August 1942 as one of the four original squadrons of the
340th Bombardment Group. However, it was not until September that the squadron received its initial
cadre, mostly drawn from the
309th Bombardment Group. It completed Phase I and Phase II training at Columbia with
North American B-25 Mitchells, then moved to
Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina in November, where it completed Phase III training and departed for the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations at the end of January 1943. The air echelon travelled by train to
Kellogg Field, Michigan, where it received new B-25s to ferry across the Atlantic. It departed
Morrison Field, Florida on 25 February 1943.
Combat operations The squadron arrived at its first combat base,
RAF Kabrit, Egypt in March 1943, with the air echelon arriving between 10 and 20 March and the ground echelon on 29 March. It began combat operations from
Medenine Airfield, Tunisia in April, where the 340th Group flew its initial seven missions with the
12th Bombardment Group. Shortly thereafter it moved to
Sfax Airfield, Tunisia and began operations on its own.
Reserve operations The 488th Bombardment Squadron was reactivated as a
reserve unit under
Air Defense Command (ADC) at
Tulsa Municipal Airport, Oklahoma on 31 October 1947. In 1948
Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing air 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, and the 488th was inactivated in August 1949 From 13 September to 3 November 1955, the squadron deployed to the United Kingdom along with the other operational elements of the 340th Wing, which was attached to SAC's
7th Air Division there. After 1958, SAC's Stratojet units began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. General
Thomas S. Power’s initial goal was to maintain 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. The SAC alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962. Soon after
detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, SAC brought all degraded and adjusted alert sorties up to full capability. It dispersed its B-47s on 22 October 1962. Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with Air Force Reserve or
Air National Guard units. B-47s were configured for execution of the
Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersal. On 15 November 1/6 of the dispersed B-47s were recalled to their home bases. On 21 November SAC went to
DEFCON 3. Dispersed B-47s and supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned to normal alert posture. In the summer of 1963, the squadron began phasing down its operations at what was now Whiteman Air Force Base in preparation for Whiteman becoming a base for
LGM-30 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles and the transfer of the base to the
351st Strategic Missile Wing. The squadron was inactivated on 1 September 1963 ==Lineage==