World War II The first predecessor of the
squadron was organized as the
361st Bombardment Squadron at
Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah in July 1942. It was one of the original squadrons of the
304th Bombardment Group. The squadron was only nominally manned until September, when it moved with the 304th Group to
Geiger Field, Washington. The squadron moved to
Ephrata Army Air Field, Washington, later that month and equipped with
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (briefly) and
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. The following month, the 304th Group moved to
Langley Field, Virginia, where it became part of
AAF Antisubmarine Command. In the fall of 1942, the
Kriegsmarine began to equip its
U-boats with radar receivers capable of detecting the
Royal Air Force's long-wave radars used for
air-to-surface-vessel (ASV) radar. This enabled the subs to dive, avoiding detection while on the surface. RAF's
Coastal Command requested reinforcements from the AAF in the form of B-24s equipped with ASV radar operating in the
microwave band. In response, the squadron's air echelon was dispatched to
RAF St Eval, England on 10 November to support Coastal Command. On arrival in England, it was attached to
VIII Bomber Command for operations. Later that month, it was redesignated the
1st Antisubmarine Squadron. In March the squadron moved to
Craw Field, French Morocco, where they augmented two
United States Navy squadrons flying
Consolidated PBY Catalinas defending the Atlantic approaches to the
Straits of Gibraltar. It was administratively attached to the
Northwest African Coastal Air Force, but was operationally assigned to
Fleet Air Wing 15 of the
Moroccan Sea Frontier. Much of the squadron's flying time was spent providing convoy coverage to ships approaching or departing the Straits of Gibraltar, but it also flew patrols as far north as
Cape Finisterre and as far west as 1000 miles west of
Port Lyautey, French Morocco into the Atlantic. As the German submarine threat in the Atlantic diminished and moved farther west in August 1943, the squadron moved to
Protville Airfield, Tunisia in September. It attacked enemy submarines and shipping in the area of Sicily and the Italian peninsula until
Operation Avalanche began with landings at
Salerno, Italy. It extended antisubmarine patrols after 9 September to cover the sea west of Sardinia and Corsica. In addition to the antisubmarine patrols, the squadron covered the escape of Italian naval vessels from
Genoa and
Spezia to
Malta following Italy's surrender. The squadron's actions in Europe earned it a
Distinguished Unit Citation. To implement this new system B-47 wings reorganized from three to four squadrons. The 661st was activated at
Pease Air Force Base as the fourth squadron of the
509th Bombardment Wing. The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962 and the four squadron pattern no longer met the alert cycle commitment, so the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962. In 1985, the two previous squadrons were consolidated, on paper, under the title of the
361st Tactical Missile Squadron. ==Lineage==