724th Strategic Missile Squadron
Three Titan I missiles on alert at Watkins, Colorado about 1962
Active1943–1945; 1961–1965
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleIntercontinental ballistic missile
EngagementsMediterranean Theater of Operations
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
724th Bombardment Squadron emblem (World War II)[1]

The 724th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 451st Strategic Missile Wing at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1965.

The squadron was first activated in May 1943 as the 724th Bombardment Squadron during World War II. After training in the United States, it deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. The squadron earned three Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions during the war. Following V-E Day, the 724th returned to the United States and was inactivated. It was activated again as a missile unit in 1961, when it assumed the assets of another squadron.

History

World War II

Organization and training in the United States

The squadron was first activated in May 1943 as the 724th Bombardment Squadron at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, as one of the four original squadrons of the 451st Bombardment Group.[2][3] Although it was originally planned that the squadron would serve as an Operational Training Unit at Davis-Monthan, instead a cadre of the 451st Group moved to Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, where the 724th and other elements of the group were filled out by personnel drawn from the 346th Bombardment Group. The squadron commander, Captain James B. Beane, and a model crew joined other members of the group for advanced tactical training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. This cadre joined the remainder of the squadron at Wendover Field, Utah, for training with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.[4] The squadron continued its training at Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, starting in September.[2] The squadron suffered its first losses at Fairmont, when two squadron Liberators collided during a formation training flight, killing all but one crew member. On 18 November, the air echelon of the squadron departed Fairmont for staging at Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska, to ferry their aircraft via the Southern Ferrying Route to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The ground echelon left on 26 November for the port of embarkation at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, for transportation by ship.[5]

Combat operations

Squadron B-25J "Minnesota Mauler"[lower-alpha 1]

The squadron arrived at Gioia del Colle Airfield, Italy, at the beginning of January 1944, although the air echelon remained at Telergma Airfield, Algeria, until 20 January to conduct additional training.[6] The squadron functioned primarily as a strategic bombing unit, attacking various targets including oil refineries, marshalling yards, aircraft factories and airfields in Italy, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Greece and Albania. It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation during Big Week for an attack on a Messerschmitt aircraft factory at Regensburg, Germany, on 25 February 1944. It added oak leaf clusters to this award for an attack on oil refineries and marshalling yards at Ploesti, Romania, on 5 April 1944 and on Markersdorf-Haindorf Airfield near Vienna, Austria, on 23 August 1944. On each of these missions the squadron was opposed by large numbers of German interceptor aircraft and heavy flak, but fought its way through to inflict serious damage on the targets and destroy many defending aircraft.[3] Major Beane, the squadron commander, was among those squadron personnel who were shot down during the Ploesti mission.[7][lower-alpha 2]

When returning from the Regensburg attack, runway conditions at Gioia del Colle were so poor that the aircraft of the 451st Group were unable to land there, but spread out among a number of bases in Italy. These poor conditions continued and on 8 March the squadron moved to San Pancrazio Airfield, Italy. The 451st Group's 726th Bombardment Squadron was also relocated there.[2][7]

On 6 April, the 724th moved to Castelluccio Airfield, where it joined the remainder of the group. From its new base, the squadron also flew air support and interdiction missions. It undertook preliminary operations in preparation for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, in August 1944. The following month its bombers transported supplies to forces operating in Italy, It also supported Operation Grapeshot, the final advance of Allied armies in northern Italy.[3] The squadron's last mission was flown on 26 April 1945 against marshalling yards at Sachsenburg, Austria.[8]

The squadron left Italy in June 1945, with the air echelon ferrying their planes, while most of the ground echelon sailed on the USS General M. C. Meigs to Newport News, Virginia.[9] The squadron assembled later in the month at Dow Field, Maine, where it was inactivated on 26 September 1945.[2] Personnel who were not discharged from the service on return to the United States were transferred to Air Transport Command units at Dow.[9]

Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s first HGM-25A Titan I wing, the 703d Strategic Missile Wing was located[10] at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado.[11] SAC decided to replace the 703d Wing with the 451st Strategic Missile Wing.[12] As part of this change, the squadron was redesignated the 724th Strategic Missile Squadron and organized on 1 July 1961 to replace the 848th Strategic Missile Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. The 724th absorbed the 848th's mission personnel and missiles.[2][13] On 6 October, the squadron's first Titan I missile was placed in its silo.[14]

HGM-25A Titan I missile sites

The squadron was deployed in a "3x3" configuration, which meant its nine missiles were divided into three sites. Each had three intercontinental ballistic missiles.[15] The squadron missile sites were:

724-A, 8 miles SSW of Watkins, Colorado 39°38′55″N 104°41′27″W / 39.64861°N 104.69083°W / 39.64861; -104.69083 (724-A)
724-B, 10 miles SSW of Watkins, Colorado39°36′17″N 104°34′50″W / 39.60472°N 104.58056°W / 39.60472; -104.58056 (724-B)
724-C, 8 miles SE of Watkins, Colorado 39°39′57″N 104°29′38″W / 39.66583°N 104.49389°W / 39.66583; -104.49389 (724-C)

The squadron was declared operational on 18 April 1962, and on 20 April 1962, it was the first to place a Titan I missile on alert status.[16][17] On 19 November 1964, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara announced the phase-out of the remaining first-generation SM-65 Atlas and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965. Consequently, the Titan Is of the 724th began to be removed from alert status on 17 February 1965. The Air Force subsequently inactivated the squadron on 25 June.[10]

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 724th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 6 April 1943
Activated on 1 May 1943
Redesignated 724th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 10 May 1943
Inactivated on 26 September 1945
  • Redesignated 724th Strategic Missile Squadron (ICBM-Titan) and activated on 26 April 1961 (not organized)
Organized on 1 July 1961
Inactivated on 25 June 1965[18][10]

Assignments

  • 451st Bombardment Group, 1 May 1943 – 26 September 1945
  • Strategic Air Command, 26 April 1961 (not organized)
  • 451st Strategic Missile Wing, 1 July 1961 – 25 June 1965[18][12]

Stations

Aircraft and missiles

  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945[2]
  • HGM-25A Titan I, 1961–1965[10]

Awards and campaigns

Award streamerAwardDatesNotes
Distinguished Unit Citation25 February 1944Regensburg, Germany 724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Distinguished Unit Citation5 April 1944Ploesti, Romania 724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Distinguished Unit Citation23 August 1944Austria 724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award1 July 1963-30 June 1964724th Strategic Missile Squadron[20]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Air Offensive, Europe2 January 1944 – 5 June 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Air Combat, EAME Theater2 January 1944 – 11 May 1945724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Naples-Foggia2 January 1944 – 21 January 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Anzio22 January 1944 – 24 May 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Rome-Arno22 January 1944 – 9 September 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Normandy6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Northern France25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Southern France15 August 1944 – 14 September 1944724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
North Apennines10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Rhineland15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Ardennes-Alsace16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Central Europe22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945724th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Po Valley3 April 1945 – 8 May 1945724th Bombardment Squadron[2]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ↑ Aircraft is Ford built Consolidated B-24J-5-FO Liberator, serial 42-50906. Minnesota Mauler. This aircraft crash landed at Zadar, Yugoslavia on 9 March 1945. Baugher, Joe (9 May 2023). "1942 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Major Beane was taken prisoner of war (POW). After the Red Army overran his POW camp in Romania, he returned to the group in the fall of 1944. History of the 451st Group, p. 18.
Citations
  1. ↑ Watkins, pp. 96–97
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 721
  3. 1 2 3 Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 325–326
  4. ↑ History of the 451st Group, pp. 1–2
  5. ↑ History of the 451st Group, pp. 7–9
  6. ↑ History of the 451st Group, p. 10
  7. 1 2 History of the 451st Group, p. 11
  8. ↑ History of the 451st Group, p. 33
  9. 1 2 History of the 451st Group, p. 35
  10. 1 2 3 4 SAC Missile Chronology, p. 48
  11. ↑ Ravenstein, pp. 292–293
  12. 1 2 Ravenstein, p. 247
  13. ↑ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 780
  14. ↑ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 32
  15. ↑ SAC Missile Chronology, pp. 18–19
  16. ↑ Narducci, p. 8
  17. ↑ SAC Missile Chronology, p. 34
  18. 1 2 3 Lineage, including assignments and stations, through March 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 721
  19. ↑ Mueller, p. 336
  20. ↑ AF Pamphlet 900-2, p. 451

Bibliography

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