World War II Training in the United States The
720th Bombardment Squadron was first activated at
Gowen Field, Idaho on 1 May 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the
450th Bombardment Group. It soon moved to
Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico, where it was manned, drawing its
cadre from the
355th Bombardment Squadron. and began to train with
Consolidated B-24 Liberators. A cadre of the squadron was sent to the
Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics in June, where they received advanced
heavy bomber tactical training. In November 1943, the 720th began moving overseas. The ground echelon proceeded to the port of embarkation at
Camp Patrick Henry, sailing on the
SS Henry Baldwin, while the aircrews staged at
Herington Army Air Field, Kansas, and ferried their planes to the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations via the South Atlantic Ferry Route.
Combat operations The squadron arrived at its combat station,
Manduria Airfield, Italy, in early January 1944 and began engaging in the
strategic bombing campaign against Germany, primarily striking targets in Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the Balkans. The first mission was flown against harbor installations at
Zadar, Yugoslavia on 9 January. Targets included aircraft factories and assembly plants,
oil refineries,
marshalling yards,
airfields and storage areas. The 720th earned a second DUC for an attack on rail yards near
Ploesti on 5 April, when it fought its way through "relentless" attacks by enemy aircraft to reach the target. The squadron led the 47th Wing on this mission. Initial attacks by
Messerschmitt Bf 109s on the lead element destroyed three B-24s. During the spring of 1944, the squadron flew missions for
Operation Strangle, the effort to choke off supplies for Axis military in Italy through air
interdiction. The squadron was inactivated on 8 August 1955 and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the
455th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, which was simultaneously activated. In the late fall of 1957, the
450th Fighter-Day Wing at
Foster Air Force Base, Texas underwent a major reorganization. In November, the
322d Fighter-Day Group, which was attached to the
wing, and its three squadrons were inactivated. The following month, the squadron, redesignated the
720th Fighter-Day Squadron, was activated as the fourth squadron of the 450th Wing and equipped with
North American F-100 Super Sabres. However,
Tactical Air Command closed Foster a year later and the squadron was inactivated in November 1958.
Strategic Air Command In February 1963, The 450th Bombardment Wing was organized at
Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, where it assumed the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the discontinued 4136th Strategic Wing. The 4136th was a
Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage, and
Strategic Air Command (SAC) wanted to replace it with a permanent unit. One half of the squadron's
Boeing B-52H Stratofortresses were maintained on fifteen minute
alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. In addition, the squadron trained for strategic bombardment missions. Beginning in June 1968, the squadron provided aircrews to support
Operation Arc Light, SAC operations in Southeast Asia. In July 1968 when SAC ended its bomber operations at
Travis Air Force Base, California, the
5th Bombardment Wing moved to Minot to replace the 450th Wing. ==Lineage==