World War II The
squadron was originally activated at
Drew Field, Florida on 1 March 1943 as the
626th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the
405th Bombardment Group. It was initially equipped with
Douglas A-24 Banshees and
Bell P-39 Airacobras. Although retaining the same mission and equipment, in August the squadron was renamed the
511th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. The following month, it moved to
Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina, where it began to fly the
Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, with which it would be equipped for the rest of
World War II. On 14 February 1944, the 509th left its training base for the
European Theater of Operations. The squadron arrived at its first station in the theater,
RAF Christchurch, England in early March 1944 and flew its first combat mission the following month. It dropped the "bomber" portion of its designation in May, but retained the
fighter bomber mission. The 509th helped prepare for
Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by striking
military airfields, and
lines of communication, particularly bridges and railroad marshalling yards. On
D-Day, it flew combat patrols in the vicinity of
Brest, France, and in the following days flew
armed reconnaissance missions over Normandy. Its operations from D-Day through September 1944 supporting the liberation of Belgium earned the squadron a citation in the Order of the Day of the
Belgian Army. The squadron received a
Distinguished Unit Citation for action on 24 September 1944 when the
4th Armored Division experienced a
counterattack by enemy forces and urgently needed air support. Elements of the 405th Group attacked the enemy
armor despite an 800-foot ceiling that forced attacks to be made from low level in the face of intense
flak. A second
group element was unable to locate the tank battle because of the adverse weather, but located a reinforcing column of armor and trucks, causing major damage. A third element attacked warehouses and other buildings in the vicinity that were being used by the enemy. The squadron flew its last combat mission of the war on 8 May 1945. It briefly served in the
occupation forces at
AAF Station Straubing, but by 8 July was mostly a paper unit. Its remaining personnel returned to the United States in October and the squadron was inactivated upon arrival at the port of embarkation. Following the
Pueblo Crisis of 1968, the
354th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Korea to reinforce United States forces there. The
113th Tactical Fighter Wing of the
District of Columbia Air National Guard was called to active duty and took the 354th Wing's place at
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina. In April 1970, the 113th Wing was returned to the Guard, and
Tactical Air Command activated the
4554th Tactical Fighter Wing in its place. The squadron, now named the
511th Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated along with it. In June, the 354th Wing returned on paper to Myrtle Beach from Korea and the squadron became one of its components, although it did not become operational until 8 September. The squadron flew
LTV A-7 Corsair II aircraft until June 1971, when it was inactivated and replaced by the
353d Tactical Fighter Squadron, which simultaneously moved to Myrtle Beach from
Torrejon Air Base, Spain without personnel or equipment.
A-10 "Warthog" operations The squadron was activated at
RAF Bentwaters, England in October 1978 as the
81st Tactical Fighter Wing changed its mission to close air support and
air interdiction, equipped with
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, and expanded from three to six operational squadrons. The squadron participated in joint and combined exercises with American and British ground forces and periodically deployed to designated wartime operating bases, The squadron engaged in combat operations from January to February 1991 destroying numbers of Iraqi tanks and other armor as part of
Operation Desert Storm. One 511th pilot was responsible for an extremely rare air-to-air kill of a
Mil Mi-8 "Hip" helicopter (one of only two air-to-air A-10 kills of the war). Aircraft contributed significantly to destruction of hundreds of enemy vehicles and many of their occupants on the "
Highway of Death, leading to President
George H. W. Bush's decision to declare a cessation of hostilities on the next day. The squadron returned to England in June 1991, but was drawn down as part of previously planned inactivation at the end of 1992. ==Lineage==