668th Bomb Squadron

668th Bombardment Squadron
A 668th Bomb Squadron B-52G Stratofortress armed with AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missiles
Active	1943–1945; 1963–1995
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Bombardment
Part of	Strategic Air Command
Motto(s)	We Maintain the Balance
Engagements	European Theater of Operations
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
668 Bombardment Sq emblem (approved 3 June 1943)
668 Bombardment Squadron emblem (1963)

The 668th Bomb Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 416th Operations Group. It was last stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York and was inactivated on 1 January 1995.

History

Established in early 1943 as a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber Operational Training Squadron under the Third Air Force, it received A-20 Havoc light bombers and trained in ground attack and light bombardment tactics. It deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in early 1944, assigned to the Ninth Air Force in England.

From there, the squadron engaged in the tactical bombardment of enemy targets, mainly in the coastal areas of France and the Low Countries and attacked V-weapon sites in France. It flew a number of missions against airfields and coastal defenses to help prepare for D-Day. The unit supported the invasion in June 1944 by striking road junctions, marshalling yards, bridges, and railway overpasses. It assisted ground forces at Caen and St Lo in July and at Brest later in the summer, by hitting transportation facilities, supply dumps and radar installations. In spite of intense resistance, the group bombed bridges, railways, rolling stock and a radar station to disrupt the enemy's retreat through the Falaise gap between 6 and 9 August. The squadron assisted the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September. It supported the assault on the Siegfried Line by pounding transportation, warehouses, supply dumps and defended villages in Germany.

Converted to the A-26 Invader in November 1944, it attacked transportation facilities, strong points, communications centers and troop concentrations during the Battle of the Bulge, (from December 1944 to January 1945). The squadron also aided the Allied thrust into Germany by continuing its strikes against transportation, communications, airfields and storage depots between February and May 1945. It bombed flak positions in support of the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945. The unit demobilized in France after the German surrender during the summer of 1945; the squadron inactivated as a paper unit in November.

Activated as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52 Stratofortress squadron in 1963, it replaced a provisional squadron at Griffiss AFB, New York. It conducted strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC commitments, including supporting SAC operations in the Far East and Southeast Asia with B-52 crews, June 1968 – 1975. It flew combat missions over Indochina as part of Operation Arc Light, Linebacker I and Linebacker II.
The squadron deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–1991 and flew combat missions over Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Desert Storm.

It was inactivated in 1995 at the time of the closure of Griffiss AFB.

See also

• List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• 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.

External links