World War II Established as a pre-
World War II GHQAF bombardment squadron, it was equipped with
Douglas B-18 Bolos and early-model
Martin B-26 Marauders. After the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron was engaged in anti-submarine operations over the mid-Atlantic coast. It was reassigned to the
Third Air Force, but it deployed with the
Fifth Air Force in Australia in 1942 as part of the re-equipping of that command, following the 1941–1942 Battle of the Philippines. It then deployed to the
South Pacific Area (SPA), being assigned to the
Thirteenth Air Force and attacking enemy targets in the
Solomon Islands,
New Hebrides and other locations north and east of Papua New Guinea. It became part of
General MacArthur's New Guinea campaign, supporting ground forces with the tactical bombing of enemy formations and targets along the northern coast of New Guinea and in the
Dutch East Indies. The squadron attacked enemy forces in the Philippines during early 1945 as part of the liberation from Japanese control; it continued combat missions until the Japanese capitulation in August 1945 and became part of Fifth Air Force in Occupied Japan in 1946 before being demobilized and inactivated in May 1946. The 75th was awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation for its pre-invasion bombing of
Balikpapan between 23 and 30 June 1945. Balikpapan was a center for oil refining on Borneo held by the Japanese. These attacks included bombing and strafing enemy shore installations. The round trip to the target was over 1700 miles and was among the longest flown by
medium bombers during the war. Pre mission experiments determined that the squadron's bombers could carry a bomb load over this distance with fuel tanks installed in their radio compartments despite having to take off from a runway damaged by enemy action. Four of the missions encountered severe tropical weather fronts. Despite intense and accurate
flak, the squadron destroyed gun positions, warehouses, roadblocks, fuel and ammunition dumps, a radar station as well as huge stores of gasoline and oil which the enemy had placed in position to be released into shallow pits oil the beach and ignited when the Australian ground troops made their assaults. The group attacked the beach while naval
underwater demolition teams operated offshore without losing a man. The attacks were so effective that the
Australian Seventh Division was able to come ashore without enemy opposition.
Cold War It was reactivated as a
Strategic Air Command (SAC)
Convair B-36 Peacemaker bombardment squadron in 1953. The squadron was engaged in worldwide training missions with the B-36 until 1956 when it was re-equipped with the all jet-powered
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. It was reassigned to the SAC
4039th Strategic Wing in 1959 at
Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, to disperse its heavy bomber force and conduct worldwide strategic bombardment training missions with a nuclear deterrent. SAC inactivated its Strategic Wings, including the 75th, replacing them with permanent Air Force Wings in 1963. The squadron was inactivated with aircraft/personnel/equipment being transferred to the
668th Bombardment Squadron. ==Lineage==