page_title: Air Education and Training Command Studies and Analysis Squadron
section_title: Antisubmarine and Alaskan service
hierarchical_section_title: Air Education and Training Command Studies and Analysis Squadron / History / World War II / Antisubmarine and Alaskan service
caption_attribution_description: English: 21st Bombardment Squadron B-24 Liberator Amchitka Alaska Mar 1943. Sleds were used to transport bombs to the aircraft in the snow.
context_page_description: The Air Education and Training Command Studies and Analysis Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force stationed at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, where it reports directly to the headquarters of Air Education and Training Command, evaluating training programs and systems.
  The squadron's first two predecessor units served in combat during World War II. The 21st Bombardment Squadron flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators in the Aleutian Campaign, where it participated in one of the earliest direct attacks against Japan. The 21st Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy flew Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for attacks on the Japanese petroleum industry.
  The squadron's other predecessor, the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron served in combat in the Vietnam War from spring 1965 until the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973, earning several combat decorations. One squadron member, Captain Hilliard A. Wilbanks, was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions that helped rescue Vietnamese Rangers that had been ambushed by Viet Cong forces.
context_section_description: The first predecessor of the squadron was activated at March Field, California in January 1941 as the 21st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy),one of the original squadrons of the 30th Bombardment Group.  The 21st was equipped with a mix of Douglas B-18 Bolo, Boeing YB-17 Flying Fortress, and Lockheed A-29 Hudson aircraft.  In May, the squadron moved to New Orleans Airport, where it continued training as a bomber unit.
  When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the squadron began antisubmarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico and dispatched a detachment to Savannah Army Air Base, Georgia to hunt for U-boats off the Atlantic Coast.  By the end of the month, though, the squadron was patrolling the Pacific Coast with its Hudsons, the 30th Group having returned to March Field after a brief stay at Muroc Army Air Field, California.  From May through June 1942, the squadron operated through detachments at McChord Field, Washington and Hamilton Field as well as at civilian airports in Southern California.
  in June 1942, the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor, Alaska.  The squadron's air echelon moved to Fort Glenn Army Air Base, on Umnak Island, Alaska to reinforce the 28th Composite Group in the Aleutian Islands, using the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the LB-30 model of the Liberator.  By September, the rest of the squadron had joined it in Alaska.  The squadron frequently operated from advanced bases in the Aleutian Chain.  On 14 September, along with the 404th Bombardment Squadron of the 28th Group, it conducted the first raid from Adak Army Air Field, an attack on Japanese naval forces at Kiska.  By February 1943, American forces had occupied Amchitka, and the squadron began operating from Amchitka Army Air Field.  On 18 July, the squadron provided planes that, along with planes from the 36th and 404th Squadrons, attacked Shimushu and Paramushiru in the Kuril Islands.  Although the attack caused little damage, it was the first attack on Japan itself after the Doolittle Raid.
  Although the squadron spent fifteen months operating under the control of the 28th Group in Alaska, it remained formally assigned to the 30th Group at March Field.  By September 1943, when the Aleutian Campaign had ended and the squadron was released to return to the United States, the 30th Group and its remaining squadrons had departed for the Pacific, and the squadron was disbanded at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 November.
caption: 21st Bomb Squadron B-24 Liberator at Amchitka in March 1943
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