World War II The first predecessor of the squadron, the
557th Bombardment Squadron, was activated at
MacDill Field, Florida on 1 December 1942 as one of the four squadrons of the
387th Bombardment Group and trained at bases in the southeastern United States with
Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers until June 1943, when it deployed to the
European Theater of Operations. The squadron's ground echelon departed for the port of embarkation on 10 June and sailed on the on 23 June, while the air echelon ferried its Marauders to England via the northern ferrying route. The squadron established itself at its first base in Europe,
RAF Chipping Ongar at the beginning of July 1943. Although the squadron initially trained for low level attacks,
VIII Air Support Command, in consultation with the
Royal Air Force, decided to employ its B-26 units in attacks at medium altitude, mirroring a decision made earlier in the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The squadron flew its first combat mission on 15 August, By early September, the squadron adopted a tactic first employed by the
386th Bombardment Group, where all bombers in a formation dropped their bombs based on the lead aircraft, rather than individually, to achieve a greater concentration of bombs on the intended target. September 1943 would prove the busiest while the squadron was part of
Eighth Air Force as B-26s made heavy attacks on airfields and communications sites near
Boulogne as part of
Operation Starkey, an attempt to make the Germans believe an invasion of France was imminent. On 9 October 1943, the squadron flew what would prove to be the last B-26 mission flown by Eighth Air Force. In October,
Ninth Air Force moved to England to take over tactical operations operating from England, building on the core of B-26 units already there. During the winter of 1943-1944, the squadron made numerous attacks on
V-1 flying bomb and
V-2 rocket sites. During
Big Week, the squadron attacked
Leeuwarden and
Venlo Airfields. In the spring of 1944, the squadron attacked
coastal defenses and bridges prior to
Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. On
D-Day, it attacked targets along the coast, and supported ground forces during June 1944 by attacking line of communication targets and fuel dumps. In late July, the squadron supported
Operation Cobra, the breakout at
Saint Lo. During August, it attacked German forces at
Brest, France. The squadron received Navy F-4Bs for training and then F-4Cs in January 1964. The 12th Wing deployed to Vietnam in November 1965, and the squadron was briefly assigned to the
836th Air Division, until it rejoined its parent wing at
Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam in December. The squadron flew
close air support,
interdiction, rescue combat patrol,
MiG Cap, and other missions. In March 1970, fighter operations at Cam Rahn Bay ended and the 12th Wing turned the base over to the
483d Tactical Airlift Wing. Wing headquarters moved to
Phu Cat Air Base on 31 March, replacing the
37th Tactical Fighter Wing, while the 557th and the wing's other fighter squadrons were inactivated.
Flying training The squadron was reactivated at the
United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) on 31 July 1974 as the
557th Flying Training Squadron to provide basic
flight training for USAFA cadets. The squadron was initially equipped with the
Cessna T-41 Mescalero. Although the Mescalero, a military version of the Cessna 172, had served since 1968 as a screening aircraft for pilot training candidates, the high altitude of the Academy required models equipped with a more powerful 210 hp
Continental engine. Although it was supplanted in this mission in 1995 by the
Slingsby T-3 Firefly, the four remaining T-41Ds support flying team operations and are used as an aerodynamics course laboratory. In September 1985, the squadron was consolidated with the World War II bomber squadron. ==Lineage==