1st Antisubmarine Squadron


The 361st Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was formed in 1985 by the consolidation of the 1st Antisubmarine Squadron and the 661st Bombardment Squadron. However, the squadron was ever active under its new title.
The first predecessor of the squadron was activated in 1942 as the 361st Bombardment Squadron. It engaged in antisubmarine operations off the Pacific Coast. In November 1942, it was redesignated as the 1st Antisubmarine Squadron and operated from bases in England, Morocco, and Tunisia until the antisubmarine mission transferred to the United States Navy. It returned to the United States in January 1944 and its remaining personnel were used to form new heavy bomber units.
The squadron's second predecessor was the 661st Bombardment Squadron, formed in 1958 when Strategic Air Command expanded its Boeing B-47 Stratojet units from three to four squadrons when they began standing alert at their home stations. It was inactivated in 1962 when SAC's alert commitment changed.

History

World War II

The first predecessor of the squadron was organized as the 361st Bombardment Squadron at Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah in July 1942. It was one of the original squadrons of the 304th Bombardment Group. The squadron was only nominally manned until September, when it moved with the 304th Group to Geiger Field, Washington. The squadron moved to Ephrata Army Air Field, Washington, later that month and equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.
The following month, the 304th Group moved to Langley Field, Virginia, where it became part of AAF Antisubmarine Command. In the fall of 1942, the Kriegsmarine began to equip its U Boats with radar receivers capable of detecting the Royal Air Force's long wave radars used for Air-to-Surface Vessel radar. This enabled the subs to dive, avoiding detection while on the surface. RAF's Coastal Command requested reinforcements from the AAFin the form of B-24s equipped with radars operating in the microwave band. In response, the squadron's air echelon was dispatched to RAF St Eval, England on 10 November to support Coastal Command. On arrival in England, it was attached to VIII Bomber Command for operations. Later that month, it was redesignated the 1st Antisubmarine Squadron.
The squadron flew its first mission from St Eval on 10 November, operating under the control of Coastal Command, training on British operational methods and use of radar while conducting operational missions over the Atlantic lasting up to twelve hours. In January, the squadron was joined by the 2d Antisubmarine Squadron, forming a provisional group. In February, the squadron joined RAF units in a concerted attack on German submarines returning from attacks on convoys in the Atlantic. The group conducted its last mission from England on 5 March 1943.
In March the squadron moved to Craw Field, French Morocco, where they augmented two United States Navy squadrons flying Consolidated PBY Catalinas defending the Atlantic approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar. It was administratively attached to the Northwest African Coastal Air Force, but was operationally assigned to Fleet Air Wing 15 of the Moroccan Sea Frontier. Much of the squadron's flying time was spent providing convoy coverage to ships approaching or departing the Straits of Gibraltar, but it also flew patrols as far north as Cape Finisterre and as far west as 1000 miles west of Port Lyautey, French Morocco into the Atlantic.
As the German submarine threat in the Atlantic diminished and moved farther west in August 1943, the squadron moved to Protville Airfield, Tunisia in September. It attacked enemy submarines and shipping in the area of Sicily and the Italian peninsula until Operation Avalanche began with landings at Salerno, Italy. It extended antisubmarine patrols after 9 September to cover the sea west of Sardinia and Corsica. In addition to the antisubmarine patrols, the squadron covered the escape of Italian naval vessels from Genoa and Spezia to Malta following Italy's surrender. The squadron's actions in Europe earned it a Distinguished Unit Citation.
The squadron returned to Morocco on 18 September and returned to the United States in November 1943, it was inactivated in January 1944 and its personnel were used as cadres for newly forming heavy bomber groups.

Cold War

From 1958, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings of Strategic Air Command began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. The SAC alert cycle divided itself into four parts: planning, flying, alert and rest to meet General Thomas S. Power’s initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. To implement this new system B-47 wings reorganized from three to four squadrons. The 661st was activated at Pease Air Force Base as the fourth squadron of the 509th Bombardment Wing. The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962 and the four squadron pattern no longer met the alert cycle commitment, so the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962.
In 1985, the two previous squadrons were consolidated, on paper, under the title of the 361st Tactical Missile Squadron.

Lineage

; 1st Antisubmarine Squadron
; 661st Bombardment Squadron
; Consolidated Squadron
Campaign StreamerCampaignDatesNotes
Air Offensive, Europe10 November 1942–27 November 1943361st Bombardment Squadron
Air Combat, EAME Theater10 November 1942–27 November 1943361st Bombardment Squadron
Antisubmarine, EAME Theater10 November 1942–27 November 1943361st Bombardment Squadron