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The Commander of the 330th Combat Training Squadron is an Air Force position generally held by a Lieutenant Colonel. The 330 CTS is responsible for organizing, equipping, and ensuring the combat capability of all student Airman for the Battle Control Center (BCC), in a competitive and challenging training environment.
Engaged in long-range strategic bombardment operations over
Occupied Europe. Deployed to
IX Bomber Command in Egypt in December 1942; operating from airfields in Libya and Tunisia. Raided enemy military and industrial targets in Italy and in the southern Balkans, including the
Nazi-controlled oilfields at
Ploiești, Romania, receiving a Distinguished Unit Citation for its gallantry in that raid. Also flew tactical bombing raids against
Afrika Korps defensive positions in Tunisia; supporting
British Eighth Army forces in their advance to
Tunis, in September and October 1943.
Returned to England with disestablishment of IX Bomber Command in North Africa. From England, resumed long-range strategic bombardment raids on Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking enemy military and industrial targets as part of the United States' air offensive. The squadron was one of the most highly decorated units in the
Eighth Air Force, continuing offensive attacks until the German capitulation in May 1945.
Returned to the United States in June 1945; being re-manned and re-equipped with
Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers. Trained for deployment to the
Central Pacific Area to carry out very long range strategic bombing raids over Japan. Japanese capitulation in August canceled plans for deployment, instead became Continental Air Command (later
Strategic Air Command) B-29 squadron.
Cold War
During the Cold War, the squadron was equipped with new weapons systems as they became available, performing strategic bombardment training with the
B-50 Superfortress, an advanced version of the B-29 in 1950. The B-50 gave the unit the capability to carry heavy loads of conventional weapons faster and farther as well as being designed for atomic bomb missions if necessary. By 1951, the emergence of the Soviet
MiG-15 interceptor in the skies of
North Korea signaled the end of the propeller-driven B-50 as a first-line strategic bomber. Received
Boeing B-47 Stratojet jet bombers in 1954, and in 1955 began receiving early model of the
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Inactivated in 1963 due to retirement of the B-52B and also budget restrictions.
Post Cold War
Reactivated in 1988 as the 330th Combat Flight Instructor Squadron. The squadron received aircraft from the inactivating
320th Bombardment Wing at
Mather Air Force Base. In 1992 after the deactivation of SAC, the 330 FTS aligned under the 398th Operations Group at Castle Air Force Base, California and continued training KC-135 and B-52 crew members to become flight instructors. The squadron inactivated in 1994 after the end of the Cold War and the reduction of the B-52 fleet. Reactivated in 2002 at
Robins Air Force Base as an advanced training unit for the
E-8 Joint STARS aircraft. Transferred to the
Georgia Air National Guard when the Guard became the primary operator of the JSTARS. Returned to the regular Air Force in 2011 as the
461st Air Control Wing assumed the JSTARS mission which ran successfully until February 2023. In April 2023, the 330th Combat Training Squadron began its present mission, training disciplined combat ready warriors to execute the Battle Management Control Squadron taskings.
Lineage
Constituted as the 330th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 1 March 1942
Redesignated 330th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Redesignated 330th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 23 May 1945
Redesignated 330th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948
Redesignated 330th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 February 1955
Inactivated on 15 September 1963
Redesignated as 330th Combat Flight Instructor Squadron on 5 August 1988
Activated on 24 August 1988.
Redesignated as 330th Flying Training Squadron on 1 June 1992
Inactivated on 20 January 1994
Redesignated as 330th Combat Training Squadron on 28 June 2002
Activated on 13 August 2002
Allotted to the National Guard Bureau on 1 October 2002
Relieved from allotment to the National Guard Bureau on 1 October 2011[1]
RAF Hardwick (AAF-104),[3] England, c. 6 December 1942 – 15 June 1945
Air echelon operated from
Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, 7–15 December 1942;
RAF Gambut, Libya, 16 December 1942 – 25 February 1943;
Benghazi Airport, Libya, 27 June-26 August 1943;
Oudna Airfield, Tunisia, 18 September-3 October 1943
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force In World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd.
ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
External links
The
93rd Bombardment Group Museum, Station 104, Hardwick. A small museum on the actual airfield site in Nissen (Quonset) and brick built huts.