6th Air Defense Missile Squadron


The 6th Air Defense Missile Squadron was an air defense unit of the United States Air Force. It was assigned to the New York Air Defense Sector of Aerospace Defense Command, at Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York, where it was inactivated on 15 December 1964.
The 6th ADMS had its headquarters at Suffolk County Air Force Base, while the firing batteries of the squadron were at the nearby Suffolk County Air Force Base Missile Annex.
The squadron was consolidated in 1985 with two earlier units. The first is the 6th Antisubmarine Squadron. It participated in the antisubmarine campaign in the Atlantic from bases in the United States and Europe until disbanding in 1943, when the Navy assumed the land based antisubmarine mission from the Army Air Forces in 1943.
The other predecessor of the squadron is the 6th Combat Cargo Squadron, which participated in the Southwest Pacific Theater, earning a Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation. After V-J Day, it formed part of the army of occupation in Japan, until inactivating in 1946. It was disbanded while inactive in 1948.
These three units were consolidated into the renamed 6th Tactical Missile Squadron. The consolidated squadron has, up until early 2020, never been active.

History

World War II antisubmarine operations

What is now the 6th Tactical Missile Squadron was originally activated as the 3d Reconnaissance Squadron in early 1941, equipped with North American B-25 Mitchells as part of First Air Force. After the United States entered World War II the squadron was ordered to search for German U-Boats and to fly aerial coverage of friendly convoys initially off the southeast coast. It then moved to Mitchel Field, New York to patrol the sea approaches to New York City. In April 1942, the squadron was redesignated as the 393d Bombardment Squadron.
Later in 1942, the squadron was redesignated as 6th Antisubmarine Squadron, and reassigned to 25th Antisubmarine Wing of Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command. After joining AAFAC, it moved to Westover Field, Massachusetts to patrol the sea approaches to Boston, then to Gander, Newfoundland to fly antisubmarine patrols over North Atlantic convoy routes. The squadron was reassigned to 479th Antisubmarine Group in Southwest England in August 1943 and flew killer hunts against German U-Boats in the Bay of Biscay off the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border. Along this part of the occupied French coast were major Kriegsmarine U-Boat bases at Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle and Bordeaux. Its ground echelon was ordered in September, just prior to inactivation of AAFAC, to move to Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah, where it was inactivated on 30 October 1943, while the air echelon was disbanded in England in late November 1943 with squadron aircraft reassigned to the United States Navy. Squadron personnel remaining in England were reassigned to Eighth Air Force units as replacement personnel.

World War II Pacific Theater and occupation of Japan

The second birth of the squadron was in 1944, when it was activated as the 6th Combat Cargo Squadron at Syracuse Army Air Base, New York as part of the 2d Combat Cargo Group. After training in New York and moving briefly to Baer Field, Indiana for overseas processing, the squadron moved to the Pacific. Operating from Biak Island, it flew passengers and cargo to American bases in Australia, New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, and the Philippines. The squadron also dropped supplies to American and Philippine resistance forces. It transported personnel and supplies to the Ryukus and evacuated casualties on the return flights until moving to Okinawa. It then transported personnel and equipment to Japan and ferried liberated prisoners of war to the Philippines. It moved to Japan, where it served as part of the Occupation Forces, until it was inactivated in 1946. The squadron was disbanded in 1948.

Cold War air defense

The third activation of the squadron was as the 6th Air Defense Missile Squadron on 1 February 1959.
In 1955, plans were made that the Suffolk County Air Force Base Missile Annex should be ready in February 1960. It was activated as the second operational BOMARC complex on 1 December 1959. It was part of the New York Air Defense Sector. The annex included a launch area with 56 Mode II Launcher Shelters in two flights - that meant that two compressor buildings were available to simultaneously ready two missiles to the "Standby" stage prior to "Fire-up".
The squadron stood alert from 1960 to 1964, equipped with IM-99 BOMARC surface to air antiaircraft missiles. The squadron was tied into a Semi-Automatic Ground Environment direction center which could use analog computers to process information from ground radars, picket ships and airborne aircraft to accelerate the display of tracking data at the direction center to quickly direct the missile site to engage hostile aircraft.
The BOMARC missile site was located southwest of Suffolk County AFB at. Although geographically separated from the base, the annex was an off base facility of Suffolk County Air Force Base and the squadron command, administrative and logistic elements were on the base. The squadron was inactivated on 15 December 1964.
In 1985, the squadron was consolidated "on paper" with the 6th Antisubmarine Squadron and the 6th Combat Cargo Squadron, but has never been active with this designation.

Lineage

6th Antisubmarine Squadron
6th Combat Cargo Squadron
6th Air Defense Missile Squadron
Campaign StreamerCampaignDatesNotes
Antisubmarine7 December 1941-21 August 19433d Reconnaissance Squadron
Air Offensive, Europe21 August 1943-11 November 19436th Antisubmarine Squadron
Air Offensive, JapanNovember 1944-2 September 19456th Combat Cargo Squadron
New GuineaNovember 1944-31 December 19446th Combat Cargo Squadron
Western PacificNovember 1944-2 September 19456th Combat Cargo Squadron
LeyteNovember 1944-1 July 19456th Combat Cargo Squadron
Luzon15 December 1944-4 July 19456th Combat Cargo Squadron
Southern Philippines27 February 1945-4 July 19456th Combat Cargo Squadron
World War II Army of Occupation2 September 1945-15 January 19466th Combat Cargo Squadron

Aircraft and missiles