The squadron was first organized in March 1944 as the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. In November 1944, the squadron transferred to the 509th Composite Group and began training for the delivery of nuclear weapons. In May 1945, it deployed to the Mariana Islands, where it became the only unit to use nuclear weaponsincombat, when its aircraft dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August 1945 and 9 August 1945. After V-J Day, the squadron returned to the United States, and was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico.
With the phaseout of the FB-111 and closure of Pease, the squadron moved as a paper unit to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri in 1990. In 1993, it began to receive Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and became operational as the only regular Air Force unit to operate these aircraft.
The 393rd Bomb Squadron was activated as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron in early 1944; trained under the Second Air Force. Due to a shortage of B-29s, the squadron was initially equipped with former II Bomber CommandBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel as engineering flaws were being worked out of the B-29. The squadron was then reassigned for advanced training and received B-29s at Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska during the late spring and summer of 1944.
In December 1944 reassigned as the only operational B-29 squadron to the 509th Composite GroupatWendover Field, Utah in December. Aircraft were refitted to the Silverplate configuration becoming atomic bomb capable under a highly classified program. They were then deployed to North Field (Tinian) in late May 1945, flying non-combat missions practicing atomic bomb delivery techniques. The squadron was the only unit in the world to ever carry out and deliver nuclear weaponsincombat, as they dropped the first atomic bombonHiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and the second atomic bombonNagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945.
The squadron began upgrading to the new Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1949. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for nuclear deployment missions if necessary. The squadron deployed to SAC airfields in England, and to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam on long-term deployments in the 1950s.
By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 interceptor in the skies of North Korea signalled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. Received new, swept-wing Boeing B-47 Stratojets in 1955 which were designed to carry nuclear weapons and to penetrate Soviet air defenses with their high operational ceiling and near supersonic speed. The squadron flew the B-47 for about a decade but by the mid-1960s it had become obsolete and vulnerable to new Soviet air defenses. The squadron began to send its Stratojets to AMARCatDavis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona for retirement in 1965.
The squadron was scheduled for inactivation; it instead received Boeing B-52D Stratofortresses in 1965. It rotated aircraft and crews to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in support of Southeast AsiaOperation Arc Light operations between 1966 and 1969. The squadron was not operational from November 1969 to June 1971. Re-equipped with General Dynamics FB-111 nuclear-capable medium bombers in 1970, the squadron operated until retirement in 1990.
Combat operations: Combat in Western Pacific, 1 Jul – 14 Aug 1945. Only squadron trained for atomic warfare in World War II. Participated in atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll, Jul 1946, while deployed on Kwajalein. Rotated aircraft and crews to Andersen AFB, Guam, in support of Southeast Asia Operations, 1966–1969.
Campaigns: World War II: Air Offensive, Japan; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific. Vietnam War; Global War on Terror.
Watkins, Robert A. (2013). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Vol. V, Pacific Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-4346-9.
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
