The 784th Bombardment Squadron is the senior predecessor of the 784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron.  It was organized in August 1943 as a heavy bomber unit.  After training in the United States with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the 784th moved to England, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany.  Following V-E Day, it returned to the United States, where it began training with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, but was inactivated in October 1945.

The unit's second predecessor is the 784th Tactical Fighter Squadron, which was briefly active at George Air Force Base, California in 1964.  The two inactive squadrons were consolidated in September 1985, but the consolidated 784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron has never been active.

History

World War II

Training in the United States
The 784th Bombardment Squadron was activated at Alamogordo Army Air Field on 1 August 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the 466th Bombardment Group.  After training there with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the squadron departed for the European Theater of Operations in February 1944.  The ground echelon proceeded to the port of embarkation for transport to Europe by ship, while the air echelon ferried their Liberators via the South Atlantic Ferry route.

Combat in Europe
The squadron arrived at its combat station, RAF Attlebridge in England in March 1944.  It flew its first combat mission on 22 March in an attack on Berlin, Germany.  It engaged primarily in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, with targets that included oil refineries and facilities at Bohlen and Misburg, marshalling yards at Liège and Saarbrücken, factories at Brunswick, Kempten and Eisenach, repair facilities at Reims, mining facilities near Hamburg and airfields at Saint-Trond and Chartres.

The squadron also flew air support and air interdiction missions.  It attacked pillboxes in Normandy on D-Day to support Operation Overlord and performed interdiction missions against targets beyond the beachhead in the following days.  During Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo in July, it bombed German positions in the city.  It attacked lines of communication during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945.  On 24 March 1945, it supported Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine by attacking a military air base at Nordhorn.  The squadron's last mission of the war was flown on 25 April 1945 against electrical facilities at Traunstein.

Return to the United States and inactivation
Following V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States.  The air echelon began flying their B-24s back to the United States in the middle of June, while the ground echelon sailed aboard the  on 6 July.  The squadron reassembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in late July 1945.  In August, the squadron moved to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona to begin training with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.  However, with the surrender of Japan, the squadron was inactivated in October as Davis-Monthan transitioned from a training base to a storage facility.

Tactical fighter training

The squadron's other predecessor, the 784th Tactical Fighter Squadron, was activated at George Air Force Base, California in April 1964 as an element of the 32d Tactical Fighter Wing.  The unit began training with the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, when the Air Force decided to replace the 32d Wing with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, which moved on paper to George from Japan.  The squadron inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 68th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

The two squadrons were consolidated as the  784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron on 19 September 1985.

Lineage
 784th Bombardment Squadron
 Constituted as the 784th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 May 1943
 Activated on 1 August 1943
 Redesignated 784th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy in 1944
 Redesignated 784th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 5 August 1945
 Inactivated on 17 October 1945
 Consolidated with the 784th Tactical Fighter Squadron as the 784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron on 19 September 1985

 784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron
 Constituted as the 784th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 6 April 1964 
 Activated on 1 April 1964
 Inactivated on 25 July 1964
 Consolidated with the 784th Bombardment Squadron as the 784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron on 19 September 1985

Assignments
 466th Bombardment Group, 1 August 1943 – 17 October 1945
 32d Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 April–25 July 1964

Stations
 Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 1 August 1943
 Kearns Army Air Base, Utah 31 August 1943
 Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 24 November 1943 – 10 February 1944
 RAF Attlebridge (AAF-120), England 9 March 1944 – c. 6 July 1945
 Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, 15 July 1945
 Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, 25 July 1945
 Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 26 August–17 October 1945
 George Air Force Base, California, 1 April–25 July 1964

Aircraft
 Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
 Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1945
 McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, 1964

Campaigns

References

Notes
 Explanatory notes

 Citations

Bibliography

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Military units and formations established in 1943
Bombardment squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces