393rd Bomb Squadron

Callsign :

Nato Tiger Association status : honorary member

The 393rd Bombardment Squadron was activated as a Boeing B-29 “Superfortress” squadron in March 1944, under the 504th Bomb Group (Very Heavy), Second Air Force.  But due to a shortage of B-29s, the squadron was initially equipped with former II Bomber Command Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortresses”, previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel, as engineering flaws were being worked out of the B-29.  Their aircraft were also to be refitted to the Silverplate configuration (among others they were fitted with reversible-pitch propellers, British single-point bomb releases mounted on a re-designed H-frame suspension rack fitted in the forward bomb bay, so that additional fuel tanks could be carried in the aft bay.  A new crew position, called the "weaponeer station", was created in the cockpit with a panel to monitor the release and detonation of the bomb during the actual combat drops) becoming atomic bomb capable under a highly classified program.

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 November 1944, the squadron transferred to the 509th Composite Group (CG).  The 509th CG had a single mission: to drop the atomic bomb.  They were then deployed to North Field (Tinian) in late May 1945, flying non-combat missions practicing atomic bomb delivery techniques.  Soon after officially arriving at the field on May 30, 1945, the 393 Bombardment Squadron began flying a series of missions consisting of two or three B-29s each carrying one large, orange coloured bomb they dropped on targets throughout Japan.  These projectiles added realism to the missions as they emulated the flight characteristics of an atomic bomb.

The squadron was the only unit in the world to ever carry out and deliver nuclear weapons in combat.  The first atomic bomb, named 'Little Boy', was dropped on Hiroshima from the “Enola Gay”, on 6 August 1945, followed by the 'Fat Man' nuclear weapon dropped over Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 by thev B-29 named "Bockscar".

After VJ-Day, the squadron returned to the United States, and was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico.

When they were reassigned to the United States in November 1945, the unit became the core organization of the Continental Air Command on 21 March 1946 because of its expertise with the atomic bombs.  The unit was deployed to Kwajalein Atoll in 1946 to carry out Operation Crossroads which was a series of atomic bomb tests on Bikini Atoll, and has continued to operate nuclear-capable aircraft since then.  At Roswell, the squadron began upgrading to the new Boeing B-50 “Superfortress”, an advanced version of the B-29, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and other improvements, 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.  With these aircraft the squadron became part of Strategic Air Command in the 1950s and deployed to SAC airfields in England, and to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam on long-term deployments. 

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.  Mid-1953 they were attached to the Twentieh Air Force for a couple of months.  They received the jet powered Boeing B-47E “Stratojet” in 1955.  These were especially designed to carry nuclear weapons and to penetrate Soviet air defences with their high operational ceiling and near supersonic speed.  When Walker Air Force Base closed in 1958, the squadron and its B-47s moved to Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire.

In 1965, SAC announced the squadron would be inactivated following phase-out of the B-47s from the Air Force.  However, fate intervened when SAC decided to keep both the 393d and the 509th active and replace the aging B-47s with Boeing B-52D “Stratofortresses”. The squadron officially received its first B-52 on 23 March 1966.

In November 1966, several crews and aircraft from the 393d deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam.  While there, the squadron participated in “Arc Light” operations (battlefield air interdiction, including strikes at enemy bases, supply routes, and behind the lines troop concentrations, as well as occasionally providing close air support directly to ground combat operations) over Vietnam.  An urgent need for the bombers in the war prompted SAC to deploy all 393 Bombardment Squadron crews and aircraft to Andersen again in April 1968.  During the six-month stay, the squadron participated in many bombing missions.  A year later, SAC issued another call and once more the 393d aircraft and personnel went to Southeast Asia.

The squadron was not operational betweenNovember 1969 and June 1971.

In 1970, they became one of only two wings in Strategic Air Command to equip with the General Dynamics FB-111 “Aardvark” nuclear-capable medium bombers.  With the phaseout of the FB-111 and closure of Pease, the squadron moved to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri in 1990 where it was retired and continued only as a paper unit.

In 1993 it was reactivated and began to receive Northrop Grumman B-2 “Spirit” stealth bombers.  The 393rd is the only regular Air Force unit to operate these aircraft as part of the 509th Operations Group, 509th Bomb Wing, under the Eight Air Force, Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).

(all aircraft are to scale, not all drawings show an aircraft in 393 markings)

Aircraft

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1944)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1944–1952)

Boeing B-50A Superfortress (1949–1955)

Boeing B-47E Stratojet (1955–1965)

Boeing B-52 (B-52D / B-52C) Stratofortress (1966–1969)

General Dynamics FB-111A Aardvark (1970–1990)

Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit (1993–present)

393rd Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy

504th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy

2nd US Army Air Force

393rd Bombardment Squadron, Medium

509th Bombardment Wing, Medium

Continental Air command

Twentieth Air Force

393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy

509th Bombardment Wing, Heavy

393rd Bombardment Squadron, Medium

509th Bombardment Wing, Medium

393rd Bombardment Squadron, Medium

509th Bomb Wing

509th Operations Group

393rd Bomb Squadron

Eighth Air Force

Air Force Global Strike Command

Unit awards

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat Valor “V” device

Meritorious Unit Award

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm

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text & picture sources : own collection & library + the world wide web / No copyright infringement intended : drawings, photos, etc. belong to the rightful owners.