328th Weapons Squadron

328th Weapons Squadron
USAF Cyberwarriors at the 624th Operations Center, located at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas
Active	1942–1994; 2003–Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Advanced Space Superiority and Cyberspace Warfare Operations Training
Part of	Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQ	Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Engagements	World War II American Antisubmarine Theater EAME Theater 1991 Gulf War (Defense of Saudi Arabia; Liberation of Kuwait)
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation (2x) Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (9x)
Insignia
328th Weapons Squadron emblem (approved 12 April 1955)
328th Bombardment Squadron emblem (c. 1943)

The United States Air Force's 328th Weapons Squadron is an USAF Weapons School training unit located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

The squadron's origins trace back to the 328th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) activated on 28 January 1942. The 328th Bombardment Squadron received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its gallantry during the raid on the Ploiești, Romania oil refineries during August 1943. The 328th flew the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Boeing B-47 Stratojet, Boeing B-50 Superfortress, and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress during the Cold War.

Mission

The 328 WPS is one of eighteen squadrons at the United States Air Force Weapons School. The 328 WPS is the largest squadron within the USAF Weapons School and manages two separate syllabi: the Space Superiority Weapons Instructor Course (WIC) and the Cyberspace Warfare Operations WIC.

History

World War II

328th Bomb Sq B-24 Liberator

Established in early 1942 initially as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator reconnaissance squadron, flying antisubmarine patrols. Later trained under Third Air Force in Florida. Completed training in late 1942; deployed to the European theater of operations as one of the initial heavy bomber squadrons assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England, September 1942.

Engaged in long-rang strategic bombardment operations over Occupied Europe. Deployed to IX Bomber Command in Egypt in December 1942; operating from airfields in Libya and Tunisia. Raided enemy military and industrial targets in Italy and in the southern Balkans, including the Nazi-controlled oilfields at Ploiești, Romania, receiving a Distinguished Unit Citation for its gallantry in that raid. Also flew tactical bombing raids against Afrika Korps defensive positions in Tunisia; supporting British Eighth Army forces in their advance to Tunis, in September and October 1943.

Returned to England with disestablishment of IX Bomber Command in North Africa. From England, resumed long-range strategic bombardment raids on Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking enemy military and industrial targets as part of the United States' air offensive. The squadron was one of the most highly decorated units in the Eighth Air Force, continuing offensive attacks until the German capitulation in May, 1945.

Returned to the United States in June, 1945; being remanned and re-equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers. Trained for deployment to the Central Pacific area to carry out very long range strategic bombing raids over Japan. Japanese capitulation in August canceled plans for deployment, instead became Continental Air Forces (later Strategic Air Command) B-29 squadron.

Cold War

During the Cold War, the squadron was equipped with new weapons systems as they became available, performing strategic bombardment training with the Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1950. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary.

By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet Mig-15 interceptor in the skies over North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. The squadron received Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bombers in 1954. In 1955 it began receiving an early model of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and upgraded to various models over the next 40 years. Taken off nuclear alert after the end of the Cold War, the squadron was inactivated in 1994 with the inactivation of its parent unit and the close of Castle Air Force Base.

The squadron deployed aircraft and personnel to the 1708th Provisional Bombardment Wing at Prince Abdullah Air Base, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from August 1990 and to the 4300th Provisional Bombardment Wing at Diego Garcia Air Base, British Indian Ocean Territories from January 1991 for Operation Desert Storm. Both deployments terminated in March 1991.

Modern era

The Air Force Weapons School's Space Division was activated in July 1996 and the Space Division was replaced by the 328th Weapons Squadron on 3 February 2003. The unit has graduated over 250 weapons officers.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 328th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942

Activated on 1 March 1942

Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943

Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 23 May 1945

Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948

Redesignated 328th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 February 1955

Redesignated 328th Bomb Squadron on 1 September 1991

Inactivated on 15 June 1994

• Redesignated 328th Weapons Squadron on 24 January 2003

Activated on 3 February 2003

Assignments

• 93d Bombardment Group, 1 March 1942 (attached to 93d Bombardment Wing after 10 February 1951)
• 93d Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952
• 93d Operations Group, 1 September 1991 – 15 June 1994
• USAF Weapons School, 3 Feb 2003 – present

Stations

• Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 1 March 1942
• Page Field, Florida, 18 May-13 August 1942
• RAF Alconbury (AAF-102), England, 7 September 1942
• RAF Hardwick (AAF-104), England, c. 6 December 1942 – 15 June 1945

Air echelon operated from Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, 7–15 December 1942, RAF Gambut, Libya, 16 December 1942 – 25 February 1943, Benghazi Airport, Libya, 27 June–25 August 1943, Oudna Airfield, Tunisia, 18 September–3 October 1943

• Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, 26 June 1945

• Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas, 24 July 1945
• Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico, 13 December 1945
• Castle Field (later Castle Air Force Base), California, 21 June 1946 – 15 June 1994
• Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, 3 February 2003 – present

Aircraft operated

• Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1942–1945)
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1945–1949)
• Boeing B-50 Superfortress (1949–1954)
• Boeing B-47 Stratojet (1954–1955)
• Boeing B-52B Stratofortress (1955–1965)
• Boeing B-52D Stratofortress (1956–1958)
• Boeing B-52E Stratofortress (1957–1958; 1967–1970)
• Boeing B-52F Stratofortress (1958–1974)
• Boeing B-52G Stratofortress (1966–1967; 1974–1994)
• Boeing B-52H Stratofortress (1974–1993)

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air 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. Retrieved 17 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. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force In World War II. Vol. Vol I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7643-1987-6. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)

External links

• The 93rd Bombardment Group Museum, Station 104, Hardwick. A small museum on the actual airfield site in Nissen (Quonset) and brick built huts.