World War II The squadron was activated at
Langley Field, Virginia in January 1941 as the
7th Bombardment Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the
34th Bombardment Group, and equipped with a mixture of
B-17C and B-17D Flying Fortresses and
Douglas B-18 Bolos. Along with the 34th Group, the squadron moved to
Westover Field, Massachusetts four months after they were activated. After the
Pearl Harbor attack the squadron began
antisubmarine patrols off the Northeast coast of the United States, but soon became part of
Western Defense Command and moved to
Pendleton Field, Oregon. By the summer of 1942,
Second Air Force had become primarily a heavy bomber training force and the squadron became a B-17 Replacement Training Unit (RTU) at
Geiger Field. On 15 December 1942 the squadron moved to
Blythe Army Air Base, California a base of the
Desert Training Center. The unit provided
cadres for a number of
heavy bomber units that served with
Eighth Air Force during this period. The 7th began training with
Consolidated B-24 Liberators for overseas combat operations on 5 January 1944. Its ground echelon moved to the port of embarkation on 1 April 1944, The squadron arrived at its permanent station,
RAF Mendlesham, England, in April 1944 and entered
combat on 23 May 1944. The 34th Group flew its last B-24 mission on 24 August 1944. and began converting to B-17s. It flew its first mission with the new planes on 17 September 1944. The squadron engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives from October 1944 to February 1945. Targets included
marshaling yards in
Ludwigshafen,
Hamm,
Osnabrück, and
Darmstadt; oil centers in
Bielefeld,
Merseburg,
Hamburg, and Misburg; factories in Berlin, Dalteln, and
Hanover; and airfields in
Münster,
Neumünster, and
Frankfurt. During this period the squadron also supported ground forces during the
Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. In March 1945, with few enemy industrial targets remaining and with Allied armies advancing across Germany, the 7th turned almost solely to interdicting enemy communications and supporting Allied ground forces. The 7th flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. After
V-E Day the squadron flew missions carrying food to flooded areas of the
Netherlands and transported prisoners of war from German camps to Allied centers. The squadron redeployed to the United States in June and July 1945. The first elements of the air echelon departed 19 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard the from
Southampton on 6 August 1945. Upon arrival in the states, unit personnel were given 30 days leave. The squadron reassembled at
Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.
Reconnaissance training Reactivated in 1967, the
7th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was an RF-4C Phantom II reconnaissance pilot training organization. It trained many RF-4C pilots prior to their deployment to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Inactivated in 1971 when parent 67th TRW moved from
Mountain Home Air Force Base. Idaho to
Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas.
Flying training The squadron was redesignated the
7th Flying Training Squadron and activated at
Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma in January 1990. It was inactivated in October 1992. ==Lineage==