487th Training Squadron

The squadron's mission is to maintain administrative control for all Air Force Reserve Command initial aircrew training students including pilots, combat systems officers, air battle managers, career enlisted aviators, and remotely piloted aircraft pilots.{{cite web |url= https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4062149/340th-flying-training-group-welcomes-back-reactivates-487th-training-squadron/ |last1=Fabara|first1=Jet|title=340th Flying Training Group welcomes back, reactivates 487th Training Squadron|date=February 10, 2025|publisher=Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs|access-date=March 19, 2025}}

File:B-25J-1 43-27784 486th Bomb Squadron approaching Alesan Airfield Corica early 1944.jpg

The squadron was first activated at Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina on 20 August 1942 as one of the four original squadrons of the 340th Bombardment Group.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 218-219Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 585-588 However, it was not until September that the squadron received its initial cadre, mostly drawn from the 309th Bombardment Group.{{cite web |url= https://57thbombwing.com/340th_History/487th_History/4a_Hist_Aug_1943.pdf |author=Squadron S-2|title=History, 487th Bombardment Squadron, Aug 1942-Aug 1943|date=|publisher=57th Bomb Wing Association|access-date=March 19, 2025}} It completed Phase I and Phase II training{{efn|Phase I training concentrated on individual training in crewmember specialties. Phase II training emphasized the coordination for the crew to act as a team. The final phase concentrated on operation as a unit. Greer, p. 606.}} at Columbia with North American B-25 Mitchells, then moved to Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina in November, where it completed Phase III training and departed for the Mediterranean Theater of Operations at the end of January 1943.

The squadron's ground echelon travelled by train to Camp Stoneman, California, where it boarded the USS West Point (AP-23) for the combat zone via the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The air echelon travelled by train to Kellogg Field, Michigan, where it received new B-25s to ferry across the Atlantic. It departed Morrison Field, Florida on 25 February 1943.See {{cite web |url= https://57thbombwing.com/340th_History/486th_History/transcripts/2_Outline_Transcript_Sep_Dec_1943.pdf |author=No byline|title=486th Bombardment Squadron Outline History 20 August 1942 – 31 December 1943|date=|publisher=57th Bomb Wing Association|access-date=March 14, 2025}}

The squadron arrived at its first combat base, RAF Kabrit, Egypt in March 1943, with the air echelon arriving between 10 and 20 March and the ground echelon on 29 March. It began combat operations from Medenine Airfield, Tunisia in April, where the 340th Group flew its initial seven missions with the 12th Bombardment Group. Shortly thereafter it moved to Sfax Airfield, Tunisia and began operations on its own. The 487th engaged primarily in air support and interdiction operations, targeting airfields, roads, bridges, road junctions, supply depots and marshalling yards. It participated in Operation Corkscrew, the reduction of defenses in Pantelleria and Lampedusa in June 1943. Although the squadron's operations were hindered by primitive living conditions at its base and unfavorable weather, the squadron supported the British Eighth Army in Tunisia and Allied forces in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. For these actions, it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).

File:340th Bombardment Group B-25 Mitchell covered with ash from Mount Vesuvius.jpg

As the Germans retreated from Sicily, the squadron attacked their evacuation beaches near Messina the following month. In September, it supported Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy near Salerno. During the first six months of 1944, it provided air support for the Allied drive on Rome. In March 1944, Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering 340th Group aircraft at Pompeii Airfield with volcanic ash. As a result, the squadron was forced to move to Gaudo Airfield.{{efn|88 of the 340th Group's Mitchells were destroyed at Pompeii by the eruption.}} In April, it moved to Alesan Airfield, on Corsica.

The squadron sometimes bombed strategic targets as well. It operated against factories in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Yugoslavia. After September 1944, these targets included German lines of communication, particularly in the Alps, where it conducted raids on targets in the Brenner Pass. It also engaged in psychological warfare operations, dropping propaganda leaflets behind enemy lines. The squadron received a second DUC for action on 23 September 1944. The Italian Navy was attempting to block access to the heavily defended harbor of La Spezia by sinking a cruiser to block the entrance to the harbor. The squadron attacked and sank the cruiser before it could be maneuvered into position.

Just prior to V-E Day, the squadron returned to Italy, leaving for the United States in July 1945. The air echelon ferried its Mitchells, turning them in upon arrival in the United States. It arrived at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina in August, although its personnel were granted leave and the squadron only began to reassemble in September. It returned to Columbia in October, but was inactivated in November.

The 487th Bombardment Squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit under Air Defense Command (ADC) at Tulsa Municipal Airport, Oklahoma on 31 October 1947. It is not clear if the squadron was fully staffed or equipped with operational aircraft.See Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 585 (no operational aircraft listed as assigned to the squadron from 1947 to 1949) In 1948 Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing air reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/896/983.xml |last1=|first1=|title=Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command|date=27 December 1961|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=March 24, 2014}} President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,Knaack, p. 25 and the 487th was inactivated in August 1949 and not replaced as reserve flying operations at the Tulsa airport ceased.

In July 1951, Strategic Air Command (SAC) reopened Sedalia Air Force Base, Missouri, which had served as an air transport base during World War II. On 1 August, it activated the 4224th Air Base Squadron to expand the field to accommodate strategic bombers, and on 1 October 1952, the 340th Bombardment Wing, including the 487th Squadron, was activated to replace the 4224th.Mueller, p. 589 However, the wing initially concentrated is activities on bringing Sedalia to operational status and the squadron was only nominally manned, and did not become operational until 1954, when it began to receive Boeing B-47 Stratojets.Ravenstein, pp. 179-80

From 13 September to 3 November 1955, the squadron deployed to the United Kingdom along with the other operational elements of the 340th Wing, which was attached to SAC's 7th Air Division. Starting in 1957, deployments of entire wings was replaced by Operation Reflex, which placed Stratojets and Boeing KC-97s on alert at bases closer to the Soviet Union for 90 day periods, although individuals rotated back to home bases during unit Reflex deployments Narducci, p. 2 After 1958, SAC's Stratojet units began to assume an alert posture at their home bases, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases. General Thomas S. Power’s initial goal was to maintain 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.Schake, p. 220 (note 43) The SAC alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/010/802.xml|last1=|first1=|title=Abstract (Unclassified), History of the Strategic Bomber since 1945 (Top Secret, downgraded to Secret)|date=1 April 1975|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=March 4, 2014}}

Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, SAC brought all degraded and adjusted alert sorties up to full capability.Kipp, et al., p. 30. It dispersed its B-47s on 22 October 1962.Kipp, et al., p. 49 Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard units. B-47s were configured for execution of the Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersal. On 15 November 1/6 of the dispersed B-47s were recalled to their home bases.Kipp. ‘’et al.’’, p. 53 On 21 November SAC went to DEFCON 3. Dispersed B-47s and supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned to normal alert posture.Kipp, et al., p. 61

In the summer of 1963, the squadron began phasing down its operations at what was now Whiteman Air Force Base in preparation for Whiteman becoming a base for LGM-30 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles and the transfer of the base to the 351st Strategic Missile Wing.Ravenstein, p. 186Mueller, p. 589 The squadron was inactivated on 1 September 1963See Ravenstein, p. 179 (end of assignment to 340th Wing); Mueller, p. 589 (end of stationing at Whiteman).

The squadron was redesignated the 487th Training Squadron. Its activation was marked in a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph on 24 January 2025. Its mission of supporting reserve flight trainees had been performed by a staff section within the 340th Flying Training Group since 2015. That section typically supported 350 students annually from completion of Officer Training School or Basic Military Training until they complete flying training, a process that typically lasts two years.

• Constituted as the 487th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 10 August 1942

: Activated on 20 August 1942

: Redesignated 487th Bombardment Squadron, Medium 20 August 1943See {{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/432226/340-flying-training-group-afrc/ |last1=Haulman|first1=Daniel|title=Factsheet 340 Flying Training Group (AFRC)|date=November 1, 2016|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=February 13, 2021}} (redesignation of 340th Group).

: Inactivated on 7 November 1945

• Redesignated 487th Bombardment Squadron, Light on 8 October 1947

: Activated in the reserve on 31 October 1947

: Inactivated on 19 August 1949

• Redesignated 487th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 3 October 1952

: Activated on 20 October 1952

: Inactivated on 1 September 1963Lineage information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 585, except as noted

• Redesignated 487th Training Squadron

: Activated c. 24 January 2025

• 340th Bombardment Group, 20 August 1942 – 7 November 1945
• 340th Bombardment Group, 31 October 1947 – 19 August 1949
• 340th Bombardment Wing, 20 October 1952 – 1 September 1963Ravenstein, p. 179
• 340th Flying Training Group, c. 24 January 2025 – present

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• Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina, 20 August 1942
• Walterboro Army Air Field, South Carolina 30 November 1942 – 29 January 1943
• RAF Kabrit, Egypt 29 March 1943
• Medenine Airfield, Tunisia c. 11 April 1943
• Sfax Airfield, Tunisia 17 April 1943
• Hergla Airfield, Tunisia 3 June 1943
• Comiso Airfield, Sicily 3 August 1943
• Catania Airport, Sicily 27 August 1943
• San Pancrazio Airfield, Italy 29 October 1943

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• Salsola Airfield (Foggia Satellite III), Italy 26 November 1943
• Pompeii Airfield, Italy 28 December 1943
• Gaudo Airfield, Italy 24 March 1944
• Alesan Airfield, Corsica, France c. 15 April 1944
• Rimini Airfield, Italy 7 April – c. 16 July 1945
• Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina 9 August 1945
• Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina 2 October – 7 November 1945
• Tulsa Municipal Airport, Oklahoma, 31 October 1947 – 19 August 1949
• Sedalia Air Force Base (later Whiteman Air Force Base), Missouri, 20 October 1952 – 1 September 1963Station information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 585Mueller, p. 589
• Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, c. 24 January 2025 – present

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• North American B-25 Mitchell, 1942–1945
• Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1955–1963

{{unit awards table

|award_image1=AF PUC

|award_name1=Distinguished Unit Citation

|award_date1=c. 11 April 1943–17 August 1943

|award_notes1=487th Bombardment Squadron, North Africa and Sicily{{efn|Maurer only lists the beginning date of the award as May.}}

|award_image2=AF PUC

|award_name2=Distinguished Unit Citation

|award_date2=23 September 1944

|award_notes2=487th Bombardment Squadron, ItalyAF Pamphlet 900-2, p. 404{{efn|Maurer does not list this award, although it lists it for the 340th Group and two of its other squadrons. However, AFP 900-2 cites a primary source for the award to the 487th.}}

}}

• List of B-47 units of the United States Air Force
• List of North African airfields during World War II

; Explanatory notes

{{Notelist}}

; Citations

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

• {{cite book|last=Greer|first=Thomas H.| editor=Craven, Wesley F.|editor2=Cate, James L.|url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2016 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=VI, Men & Planes|year=1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158| lccn=48003657|chapter=Recruitment and Training, Chapter 18 Combat Crew and Unit Training}}
• {{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/896/983.xml | last1=Kipp|first1=Robert|last2=Peake|first2=Lynn|last3=Wolk|first3=Herman|title=Strategic Air Command Operations in the Cuban Crisis of 1962, SAC Historical Study No. 90 (Top Secret NOFORN, FRD, redacted and declassified)|date=|publisher=Strategic Air Command|access-date=November 21, 2014}}
• {{cite book|last=Knaack|first=Marcelle Size|title=Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems|url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/26/2001330264/-1/-1/0/AFD-100526-026.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2016|volume=2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973|year= 1978 |publisher= Office of Air Force History|location= Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-59-5 }}
• {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 20 December 2016|access-date= December 17, 2016|edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher= Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
• {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|access-date= December 17, 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
• {{cite book|last1=Narducci|first1=Henry M.|title=Strategic Air Command and the Alert Program: A Brief History|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31210023608670;view=1up;seq=3 |access-date=February 18, 2018|year=1988|publisher=Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command|location=Offutt AFB, NE|isbn= |asin= }}
• {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977|url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330257/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-047.pdf|access-date= December 17, 2016|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Schake|first=Col Kurt W.|title=Strategic Frontier: American Bomber Bases Overseas, 1950-1960|url= http://www.theblackvault.com/documents/ADA353633.pdf |access-date=July 27, 2015|year=1998|publisher=Norwegian University of Science and Technology|location= Trondheim, Norway|isbn=978-8277650241}}
• {{cite book|last=Watkins|first=Robert A.|title=Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II|volume=IV, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations|year=2009|publisher=Shiffer Publishing, Ltd.|location=Atglen,PA|isbn=978-0-7643-3401-6}}

• {{cite web |url= https://www.reddog1944.com/340th%20BG%20487th%20BS%20PLANES.htm |last1=Cook|first1=Doug|title=B-25 Photos from Charles Cook’s Photo Collection |date=October 18, 2014 |publisher=340th Bomb Group Association|access-date=March 19, 2025}}

{{United States Air Force}}

{{USAF Air Force Reserve Command}}

{{Strategic Air Command}}

{{USAAF 12th Air Force World War II}}

{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II}}

Category:Training squadrons of the United States Air Force

Category:Military units and formations of the United States Air Force Reserves