568th Strategic Missile Squadron


The 568th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 462d Strategic Aerospace Wing at Larson Air Force Base, Washington. It was equipped with the first-generation SM-68 Titan I intercontinental ballistic missile, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. The squadron was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan I ICBM on 25 March 1965.
The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 568th Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States, it deployed to the European Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It was twice awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions in combat. After V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in August 1945. The squadron was active in the reserve from 1947 until 1949, but does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped at this time.

History

World War II

Activation and training in the United States

The squadron was first activated at Geiger Field, Washington in January 1943 as the 568th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 390th Bombardment Group. A cadre from the squadron and group went to the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for advanced training. The 390th Group was the first to go through this training process, which was followed by later combat groups. The squadron was filled out with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers beginning the following month and trained at Geiger and at Great Falls Army Air Base, Montana until early July 1943. The squadron's air echelon ferried their B-17s to England via the north Atlantic ferry route, with the first bombers arriving on 13 July. The ground echelon departed for Camp Shanks and the New York Port of Embarkation, sailing on the on 17 July, reaching England ten days later.

Combat in the European Theater

The squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Framlingham in July 1943 and flew its first combat mission on 12 August against targets in the Ruhr. Five days later, the squadron attacked the Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg, for which it earned its first Distinguished Unit Citation. The Regensburg mission was a "shuttle" mission, and the squadron continued after striking the target to recover at Twelfth Air Force bases in North Africa. Poor weather at the departure bases extended the time required to assemble the strike force, making fuel reserves critical. Half of the fighter cover missed the rendezvous, lessening the bombers' protection. For an hour and a half after its entry into German airspace, the strike force bore attacks from German interceptors. The 390th Group suffered the heaviest losses of the leading wing, but had the best bombing results, which destroyed equipment used for the assembly of the Me 262 jet fighter, delaying its introduction into service.
On 14 October 1943, the squadron carried out an attack on the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt, braving unrelenting attacks by enemy fighters, despite which, the 390th Group had the highest accuracy of the attacking force. For this mission it received a second DUC. In late February 1944, the squadron participated in Big Week, the concentrated assault on Germany's aircraft manufacturing industry, including plants manufacturing aircraft instruments and depots for aviation supplies. Other strategic targets included attacks on navy bases at Bremen, bridges at Cologne, marshalling yards at Frankfurt am Main, factories at Mannheim, synthetic oil plants at Merseburg, oil refineries at Zeitz.
The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing campaign to fly air support and interdiction missions. It bombed near Caen fifteen minutes before the first landings on the Normandy coast on D Day. It provided support during Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo in late July 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 through January 1945, it cut German supply lines to the battle area. It attacked Axis air bases to support Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine, in March 1945. The squadron flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945.

Return to the United States and inactivation

Just prior to and after V-E Day, the squadron dropped food supplies to civilians in the Netherlands. The squadron's aircraft began returning to the United States on 25 June 1945, while the ground echelon sailed on the in early August. The squadron reassembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota later that month and was inactivated there on 28 August 1945.

Reserve operations

The squadron was activated in the reserve at Lowry Field, Colorado, where it trained under the supervision of Air Defense Command 's 138th AAF Base Unit . It is not clear to what degree the squadron was staffed or equipped while a reserve unit. In 1948 Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC. President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force, The 568th was inactivated in June 1949 as reserve flying operations at Lowry came to an end.

Intercontinental ballistic missiles

The squadron was redesignated the 568th Strategic Missile Squadron, organized at Larson Air Force Base, Washington on 1 April 1961 and assigned to the 4170th Strategic Wing. The squadron was equipped with SM-68 Titan I intercontinental ballistic missiles. When the squadron was declared operational on 28 December 1962, the deployment of the Titan I was complete.
The squadron was deployed in a 3x3 configuration, which meant a total of nine missiles were divided into three sites. Each site had three ICBMs ready to launch at any given time. Its three missile sites were:
In May 1963, Headquarters USAF decided that Titan I missiles were to be phased out between 1965 and 1968. One year later, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara directed the acceleration of this program to remove these missiles prior to the end of Fiscal Year 1965 and in November 1964, announced this publicly. The squadron's first Titan Is were taken off alert on 4 January 1965 and the squadron was inactivated on 25 March 1965.

Lineage

Campaign StreamerCampaignDatesNotes
Air Offensive, Europe26 July 1943–5 June 1944568th Bombardment Squadron
Air Combat, EAME Theater26 July 1943–11 May 1945568th Bombardment Squadron
Normandy6 June 1944–24 July 1944568th Bombardment Squadron
Northern France25 July 1944–14 September 1944568th Bombardment Squadron
Rhineland15 September 1944–21 March 1945568th Bombardment Squadron
Ardennes-Alsace16 December 1944–25 January 1945568th Bombardment Squadron
Central Europe22 March 1944–21 May 1945568th Bombardment Squadron