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68th Missile Squadron

Coordinates : 44°08′42″N 103°06′13″W / 44.14500°N 103.10361°W / 44.14500; -103.10361 ( Ellsworth AFB ) [[File:World War II - American Campaign Streamer (Plain).png|150px]] (Amer...

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Coordinates: 44°08′42″N103°06′13″W / 44.14500°N 103.10361°W / 44.14500; -103.10361 (Ellsworth AFB)

The 68th Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 44th Operations Group, stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota.

The 68th was equipped with the LGM-30F Minuteman IIintercontinental ballistic missile, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. With the end of the Cold War, the 68th was inactivated on 5 July 1994.

History

World War II

Squadron B-24D Liberator[note 3]

The squadron was first activated in January 1941 as the 68th Bombardment Squadron at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original squadrons of the 44th Bombardment Group. The squadron was equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron began to participate in antisubmarine patrols.[1][3][4][5] Although the squadron briefly became an Operational Training Unit in February 1942, it began intensive training for deployment to the European Theater of Operations in July.[1][5]

It deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), where it was assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England during the summer of 1942. One of the first B-24 Liberator units assigned to the ETO, it was soon engaged in very long range strategic bombardment missions over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking strategic targets in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Among the targets attacked were submarine installations, industrial establishments, airfields, harbors and shipyards.

A detachment deployed to the Twelfth Air Force in Algeria in June 1943 to help facilitate the Allied invasion of Sicily by bombing airfields and marshalling yards in Italy. The detachment also participated in the low-level raid on the Ploiești oil fields in Romania on 1 August 1943. Most of the detachment returned to England at the end of August, however some crews and aircraft remained in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and flew very long range attacks over Italy, Romania, Austria and Sicily and supported Allied ground forces in Sicily as well as attacking Axis forces in Italy opposing the Salerno landing. All aircraft and personnel returned to England in October.

The squadron returned to VIII Bomber Command operations, and supported the Allied Invasion of France in June 1944 by attacking strongpoints in the beachhead area and transportation targets behind the front line. The group aided the Caen offensive and the Saint-Lô breakthrough in July. It also dropped food, ammunition and other supplies to troops engaged in the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September. The unit attacked enemy targets during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945, by striking bridges, tunnels, rail and road junctions and communications in the battle area. The squadron attacked airfields and transportation in support of the Western Allied Invasion of Germany, and flew a resupply mission during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945. Combat operations ceased with the German surrender in May 1945.

The squadron returned to the United States in June 1945, being reassigned to the Second Air Force and reorganized as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment unit. It trained with B-29s and planned to deploy to the Western Pacific, however the Japanese capitulation in August canceled these plans. It was assigned to Kansas as part of the Continental Air Forces (later Strategic Air Command or SAC), but it was inactivated in July 1946 as part of the general demobilization of the AAF.

Strategic Air Command

Bomber operations

The squadron was reactivated in 1947 under SAC as a paper unit; it was not manned or equipped and inactivated in 1949 due to budget constraints.

Reactivated once more in 1950, it was used as an operational training unit for B-29 aircrews and maintenance personnel. It was deployed to the Far East Air Forces during the Korean War. The unit replaced its propeller-driven B-29s with new Boeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1953. These machines were capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. In the late 1950s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. The squadron began sending aircraft to other B-47 wings as replacements in late 1959, while being phased down for inactivation in 1960.

Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron

68th Missile Squadron Launch Facilities

LGM-30 Minuteman Missile Alert and Launch Facilities
Missile Alert Facilities (K-O flights, each controlling 10 missiles) are located as follows:
K-01 5.6 mi N of Spearfish SD, 44°34′22″N103°51′42″W / 44.57278°N 103.86167°W / 44.57278; -103.86167 (K-01)
L-01 6.2 mi SxSE of Vale SD, 44°32′29″N103°20′42″W / 44.54139°N 103.34500°W / 44.54139; -103.34500 (L-01)
M-01 17.7 mi NxNW of Belle Fourche SD, 44°55′09″N103°56′07″W / 44.91917°N 103.93528°W / 44.91917; -103.93528 (M-01)
N-01 6.7 mi NW of Newell SD, 44°47′41″N103°30′09″W / 44.79472°N 103.50250°W / 44.79472; -103.50250 (N-01)
O-01 38.5 mi W of opal, SD, 44°55′29″N103°14′13″W / 44.92472°N 103.23694°W / 44.92472; -103.23694 (O-01)

The unit was reactivated in 1962 as a SAC intercontinental ballistic missile squadron. It trained with the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron in HGM-25A Titan I operations in 1962 and was made operational with LGM-30B Minuteman I missiles in 1963.

En marzo de 1965, el escuadrón fue responsable del lanzamiento del misil desde un November Flight LF, a 16 kilómetros al norte de Newell, Dakota del Sur . El programa se denominó Proyecto Longlife y fue el único lanzamiento exitoso de un misil Minuteman LGM-30 desde una base operativa. El objetivo del Proyecto Longlife era probar las capacidades de lanzamiento desde una base operativa y evaluar el daño que el misil causaba al silo de lanzamiento. El misil contenía combustible suficiente para arder durante 7 segundos, con un tiempo total de vuelo de 43 segundos. Muchos misiles Minuteman se han lanzado con éxito desde la Base de la Fuerza Aérea Vandenberg .

El escuadrón fue modernizado con el LGM-30F Minuteman II en 1972. Estaba ubicado justo al norte de Black Hills , Dakota del Sur, como parte de la 44.ª Ala de Misiles Móviles.

El escuadrón era responsable de 50 silos de misiles, también llamados Instalaciones de Lanzamiento, divididos en grupos de 10. Cada diez silos de misiles tenían un centro de control, o Instalación de Control de Lanzamiento (LCF), donde dos oficiales de misiles estaban de servicio las 24 horas del día. Estas LCF fueron nombradas según el alfabeto fonético, comenzando con Kilo. Lima, Mike, November y Oscar eran las otras LCF. Las LCF fueron designadas como "una", por lo tanto, Kilo 1 era la LCF, y Kilo 2 a 11 representaban los silos de misiles reales controlados desde Kilo 1. Además de ser una LCF normal, Kilo 1 también era el Puesto de Mando Alternativo. Todos los demás sitios de misiles dentro de la 44.ª Ala de Misiles (incluidos los Escuadrones de Misiles 66.º y 67.º) reportaban a Kilo 1.

El escuadrón permaneció en alerta nuclear durante la Guerra Fría hasta la orden del presidente Bush de desactivar el Minuteman II. Se eliminaron los códigos de lanzamiento y los interruptores de seguridad en 15 centros de control de lanzamiento. La desactivación de todo el complejo de misiles finalizó en la primavera de 1994; el escuadrón fue desactivado el 5 de julio.

Sistema de control de lanzamiento aerotransportado

En 1967, se creó el Sistema de Control de Lanzamiento Aerotransportado (ALCS) para proporcionar una capacidad de lanzamiento con capacidad de supervivencia para la fuerza de misiles balísticos intercontinentales Minuteman. Entre 1967 y 1970, uno de los escuadrones a los que pertenecían las tripulaciones de misiles ALCS era el 68. Estas tripulaciones trabajaban junto con el 28.º Escuadrón de Reabastecimiento Aéreo , que operaba varias variantes del Boeing EC-135 , incluidas las EC-135A, EC-135G y EC-135L, todas las cuales tenían instalado el equipo ALCS a bordo. [ 6 ] [ 7 ]

Linaje

  • Constituido como el 68.º Escuadrón de Bombardeo (Pesado) el 20 de noviembre de 1940.
Activado el 15 de enero de 1941.
Redesignado como 68.º Escuadrón de Bombardeo Pesado el 20 de agosto de 1943.
Redesignado como 68.º Escuadrón de Bombardeo , Muy Pesado, el 5 de agosto de 1945.
Desactivado el 12 de julio de 1946.
Activado el 1 de julio de 1947.
Desactivado el 6 de septiembre de 1948.
Redesignado como 68.º Escuadrón de Bombardeo , Medio, el 20 de diciembre de 1950.
Activado el 2 de enero de 1951.
Se dejó de fabricar el 15 de junio de 1960.
Redesignada como 68.º Escuadrón de Misiles Estratégicos el 19 de marzo de 1962.
Organizada el 1 de septiembre de 1962 [ 8 ]
Redesignado como 68.º Escuadrón de Misiles el 1 de septiembre de 1991.
Desactivada el 1 de julio de 1994.

Tareas

  • 44.º Grupo de Bombardeo, 15 de enero de 1941 – 12 de julio de 1946
  • 44.º Grupo de Bombardeo, 1 de julio de 1947 – 6 de septiembre de 1948
  • 44.º Grupo de Bombardeo, 2 de enero de 1951 (adscrito al 44.º Ala de Bombardeo después del 10 de febrero de 1951)
  • 44.ª Ala de Bombardeo , 16 de junio de 1952
  • Departamento de la Fuerza Aérea , 15 de junio de 1960 (no organizado)
  • Comando Aéreo Estratégico , 19 de marzo de 1962 (no organizado)
  • 44.ª Ala de Misiles Estratégicos, 1 de julio de 1962 [ 8 ]
  • 44.º Grupo de Operaciones, 1 de septiembre de 1991 – 1 de septiembre de 1993

Estaciones

Aviones y misiles

  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1941–1945
  • Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1945–1946; 1951–1952
  • Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1953–1960
  • LGM-30B Minuteman I, 1963–1973
  • LGM-30F Minuteman II, 1972–1993

Véase también

44°08′42″N 103°06′13″W / 44.14500°N 103.10361°W / 44.14500; -103.10361 ( Base de la Fuerza Aérea Ellsworth )

Referencias

Notas

Notas explicativas
  1. ↑Approved 18 February 1952. Description: On a shield sky blue, between a cross red, edged white, in the two upper quarters, six bombs, points downward, three on either side of the cross, white, shaded blue, in the two lower quarters eight stars, four on each side of the cross, white, markings blue, in base over the cross a sphere white, markings blue, over the center of the cross a star white. thereover an eagle flying blue, markings white.
  2. ↑In England during World War II, the four squadrons of the 44th Bombardment Group used the same 8 Ball emblem with the squadron color on the tip of the nose. Watkins, pp. 32-33
  3. ↑Aircraft is Consolidated B-24D-5-CO Liberator, serial 41-23819. This plane was lost on the 14 May 1943 mission to Kiel, Germany.
Citations
  1. 12345Maurer, pp. 253-254
  2. ↑Watkins, pp. 32-33
  3. ↑Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 250–251
  4. ↑Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 253–254
  5. 12Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 101-103
  6. ↑"ALCS Article, page 14"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  7. ↑[Hopkins III, Robert S. 1997. Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: More Than Just a Tanker. Leicester, England: Midland Publishing Limited, p. 196]
  8. 123Lineage, assignment, station information through March 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 248, except as noted.
  9. 12Station number in Anderson, p. 20.

Bibliography

Dominio público This article incorporates public domain material from theAir Force Historical Research Agency

  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 December 2016.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 December 2016.
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF) . Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9Consultado el 17 de diciembre de 2016 .
  • Watkins, Robert (2008). Colores de batalla: Insignias y marcas de la Octava Fuerza Aérea en la Segunda Guerra Mundial . Vol.  I (VIII) Comando de Bombarderos. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-1987-7.
  • Coordenadas del emplazamiento del misil Minuteman en la Base Aérea Ellsworth
  • "Sitio web histórico del B-47 Stratojet" . Asociación B-47 . Consultado el 14 de mayo de 2026 .