423d Bombardment Squadron The 423d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the 306th Bombardment Wing at MacDill Air Force Base , Florida . The squadron was first activated as the 34th Reconnaissance Squadron in the spring of 1942 , but was soon renamed the 423d Bombardment Squadron , one of the original four bombardment squadrons assigned to the 306th Bombardment Group . After training with Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress es , the squadron moved overseas and participated in combat in the European theater , earning two Distinguished Unit Citation s for its efforts . After the war the 423d remained in Europe with the occupation forces until inactivating in 1946 . The squadron was activated again at Langley AFB , Virginia and served as a combat crew training squadron for aircrew s flying the Douglas B - 26 Invader . It was inactivated in 1954 as the B - 26 was being withdrawn from active service and the need for crew training on the aircraft decreased . The third active period for the unit began in 1958 when Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) expanded its Boeing B - 47 Stratojet wings from three to four squadrons . It flew the Stratojet until 1962 when SAC drew down its medium bomber force in favor of the Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress . History . World War II . The squadron was first established as the 34th Reconnaissance Squadron , a B - 17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber unit in early 1942 . Shortly after activation , the squadron was redesignated as the 423d Bombardment Squadron . It trained under Second Air Force before deploying for England in September 1942 , becoming one of the first heavy bombardment squadrons of the VIII Bomber Command ' s 1st Bombardment Division . The squadron operated primarily agains strategic targets , including the locomotive factory at Lille , France , rail yards at Rouen , France and Stuttgart Germany . The squadron took part in the first strike into Germany by bombers of Eighth Air Force on 27 January 1943 when it struck U - boat yards at Wilhelmshaven . It struck shipbuilding yards at Vegesack , ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt , the aircraft factory at Leipzig , Germany and similar facilities . On 1 May 1943 the aircraft in which Staff Sergeant Maynard Smith was a gunner was struck by enemy fire , igniting fires in the plane ' s radio compartment and waist . Sgt Smith threw exploding ammunition overboard , extinguished the fire , administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner and manned his gun until enemy fighter aircraft were driven off . Sgt Smith was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on this mission . On 11 January 1944 the squadron and its parent group completed an attack on aircraft factories in central Germany without fighter escort and in the face of strong opposing forces . For this mission , the squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation ( DUC ) . The following month the squadron earned a second DUC for its performance during Big Week , an intensive bombing campaign against the German aircraft industry . Despite adverse weather on 22 February that led supporting elements to abandon the mission the squadron and group effectively bombed the aircraft assembly plant at Bernberg , Germany . The squadron also performed in a tactical role , assisting ground forces in the St Lo breakthrough , the airborne invasion of the Netherlands , stopping German attacking forces in the Battle of the Bulge , and bombing enemy positions during the airborne assault across the Rhine river in the spring of 1945 . After the German surrender the 423d and other elements of the 40th Bombardment Wing participated in the Green Project using B - 17s as transports along ATC routes from Western Europe , Italy and the United Kingdom to North Africa to return servicement to the United States . The squadron became part of the occupation forces in late 1945 and participated in Project Casey Jones , the photographic mapping of portions of Europe and North Africa . When the squadron ' s parent group began to phase out of the project in July the squadron was attached to the 305th Bombardment Group . Toward the end of 1946 responsibility for the unfinished portion of the project was transferred to XII Tactical Air Command and the squadron was inactivated at the end of 1946 . Note : Oregon Chapter – Eighth Air Force Historical Society B - 17 Squadrons 367 , 368 , 369 , & 423 lists crew photos taken during World War II . Cold War . During and immediately after the Korean War , Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) trained aircrew s for the Douglas B - 26 Invader at Langley AFB , Virginia . The three squadrons of the 4400th Combat Crew Training Group performing this mission were Air National Guard units that had been called up for the war . At the start of 1953 , these squadrons were released to state control and the 423d Bombardment Squadron was activated and took over the mission , personnel , and equipment of the 117th Bombardment Squadron , which returned to the Pennsylvania guard . In January 1954 , the group mission shifted to tactical bombardment and it was redesignated the 4400th Bombardment Group . As the group began to anticipate the transition to Martin B - 57 Canberra aircraft , TAC decided to replace the Table of Distribution 4400th group and its squadrons with the regular 345th Bombardment Group , which took over their mission in July 1954 as the 423d was inactivated . The squadron was activated for a third time in 1959 as Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) ' s Boeing B - 47 Stratojet fleet reached a peak of twenty - seven wings and SAC added a fourth squadron to each wing . However , newer and more capable Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es and the number of Strategic Wings equipped with dispersed B - 52s more than doubled between 1959 and 1960 . In March 1961 , President John F . Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B - 47 be accelerated . As a result , the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962 , and its aircraft were sent to storage with the 2704th AF Aircraft Storage and Disposition Group at Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona . See also . List of B - 47 units of the United States Air Force