393rd Bomb Squadron

rdf:langString 393rd Bomb Squadron

rdf:langString 393rd Bomb Squadron

rdf:langString Kosovo War

rdf:langString Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

rdf:langString Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device

rdf:langString The 393rd Bomb Squadron is part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It operates Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit nuclear-capable strategic bomber aircraft. The squadron was first organized in March 1944 as the 393rd Bombardment Squadron. In November 1944, the squadron transferred to the 509th Composite Group and began training for the delivery of nuclear weapons. In May 1945, it deployed to the Mariana Islands, where it became the only unit to use nuclear weapons in combat, when its aircraft dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 August 1945 and 9 August 1945. After V-J Day, the squadron returned to the United States, and was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. During the early years of the Cold War, the squadron was involved in Operation Crossroads, nuclear weapons testing on Bikini Atoll., and has continued to operate nuclear-capable aircraft since then. At Roswell, the squadron upgraded to Boeing B-50 Superfortresses and later, to jet powered Boeing B-47 Stratojets. When Walker Air Force Base closed in 1958, the squadron and its B-47s moved to Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire. At Pease, it replaced its B-47s with Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses in 1966, and in 1970, became one of only two wings in Strategic Air Command to equip with the General Dynamics FB-111. With the phaseout of the FB-111 and closure of Pease, the squadron moved as a paper unit to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri in 1990. In 1993, it began to receive Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and became operational as the only regular Air Force unit to operate these aircraft.