491st Bombardment Squadron

491st Bombardment Squadron
Emblem of the 491st Bombardment Squadron
Active	1917-1961
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Bombardment

The 491st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 341st Bombardment Wing, stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. It was inactivated on 25 June 1961.

History

Constructed and maintained facilities, February–December 1918. Apparently never active during period 1924-1942 when allotted to the reserve with assignment to Ninth Corps Area and designated station at Seattle, Wash.

Constituted 491st Bombardment Squadron (M) on August 2, 1942, the B-25 Mitchell bomber squadron was activated in place at Karachi, India on September 15, assigned to the newly activated 341st Bombardment Group, Tenth Air Force. Full complement of aircraft and personnel was not achieved until the end of the year. After moving to Chakulia Air Base, the squadron began combat operations with its first mission January 10, 1943. For the remainder of the year the squadron was primarily tasked with interdicting Japanese lines of communication in Burma.

Reassigned along with HQ 341st and 22nd Bombardment Squadron (M) to Fourteenth Air Force in China, January 1944. Again the primary tasking was interdiction of Japanese lines of communication in China and eastern French Indochina (now Vietnam). In addition to strikes against airfields, bivouac and storage areas, and bridges, they performed target of opportunity sweeps along roads, rivers and over the Gulf of Tongking and the South China Sea.

When Japan surrendered sixteen Squadron aircrews and several aircraft maintenance personnel were in India undergoing transition training to A-26 Invader. On/about August 31, 1945 the remaining 491st personnel were transferred to join those in India. Those determined to meet requirements embarked on a transport ship, when it became available, and returned to the United States, arriving on November 1. These personnel were demobilized and the Squadron inactivated at Newark, New Jersey on November 1–2, 1945.

Postwar—redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron (Light)on May 26, 1947; activated in the Air Force reserves on June 5 and inactivated June 27, 1949.

Again redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on August 20, 1958, the squadron was activated November 1, and assigned to the 341st Bombardment Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, operating the B-47 Stratojet. As a result of Strategic Air Command phasing out the B-47, and the replacement of the B-47 by B-52 Stratofortress, in March 1961, President John F. Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B-47 be accelerated. The squadron was inactivated on 25 June 1961 as part of that draw down, and the aircraft were sent to AMARC storage at Davis-Monthan.

Lineage

• Organized as 79th Aero Squadron on 15 August 1917

Redesignated 491st Aero Squadron on 1 February 1918

Demobilized on 31 January 1919

• Reconstituted and consolidated (1936) with 491st Bombardment Squadron, which was constituted and allotted to the reserve on 31 March 1924

Disbanded on 31 May 1942

• Consolidated (1958) with 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) which was constituted on 14 August 1942

Activated on 15 September 1942

Inactivated on 2 November 1945

• Redesignated 491st bombardment Squadron (Light) on 26 May 1947

Activated in the reserve on 5 June 1947

Inactivated on 27 June 1949

• Redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 20 August 1958

Activated on 1 November 1958

Discontinued, and inactivated, on 25 June 1961.

Assignments

• Unknown, 15 August–December 1917
• Seventh Aviation Instruction Center, December 1917-December 1918
• Unknown, December 1918-31 January 1919
• 341st Bombardment Group, 15 September 1942 – 2 November 1945; 5 June 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 341st Bombardment Wing, 1 November 1958 – 25 June 1961.

Stations

• Kelly Field, Texas, 15 August 1917
• Garden City, New York, 3–22 November 1917
• Aulnat (near Clermont-Ferrand), France, 18 December 1917
• St. Nazaire, France, c. 30 December 1918-c. 12 January 1919
• Garden City, New York, c. 23–31 January 1919.
• Karachi Airport, Karachi, India September 15, 1942 – January 4, 1942

• Chakulia Airfield, India, January 5, 1942 – January 7, 1944
• Yangkai Airfield, China, January 10, 1944 – September 1945
• Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, November 1–2, 1945
• New Haven, Conn, 5 June 1947 – 27 June 1949
• Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 November 1958 – 25 June 1961

Aircraft

• B-25 Mitchell, 1942–1945
• A-26 Invader, 1945
• B-47 Stratojet, 1958-1961.

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 (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/combat_sq_of_the_af_wwii.pdf. 
• Official History Summaries of 491st Bombardment Squadron (M), on file, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.