408th Bombardment Squadron The 408th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the Strategic Air Command 22d Bombardment Wing stationed at March AFB , California . It was inactivated on January 1 , 1962 . The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force , its origins dating to 16 June 1917 , being organized at Rockwell Field , San Diego , California , as a pilot training Squadron during World War I . The squadron saw combat during World War II , and became part of the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) during the Cold War . History . Established in the summer of 1917 as the Air Service 18th Aero Squadron , providing flying training to aviation cadets during World War I at Rockwell Field in Southern California . Became a permanent flying squadron at Rockwell until the demobilization of the air service in late 1918 . Re - established at Bolling Field , D . C . in 1921 as the 18th Observation Squadron , flying aerial photographic missions with Army units in Northern Virginia , and as an airborne observation post during maneuvers ; in 1925 becoming the primary host unit at Bolling responsible for station administration . Inactivated in 1928 with personnel being redesignated as Headquarters Detachment , Bolling Field . Re - established in 1935 at Mitchel Field on Long Island , New York assigned to the GHQ Air Force 2d Wing . Equipped with Martin B - 10 bombers and flew reconnaissance and coastal patrol flights over Long Island Sound and southern New England . Received B - 18 Bolo s in 1937 along with a mixture of obsolete attack and light observation aircraft . In the build - up of the and received early model B - 26 Marauder s while retaining the B - 18s . After the Pearl Harbor Attack , the squadron was transferred to the West Coast , flying anti - submarine patrols from Muroc AAF , California from December 1941 to the end of January 1942 . It was then assigned to the new Fifth Air Force , originally based on the Philippines , leaving the B - 18s at Muroc , being redesignated as the 408th Bombardment Squadron . By the time the squadron arrived in the theater the situation on the Philippines was desperate , and the squadron was based in Australia . From there it attacked Japanese targets on Papua New Guinea and New Britain . In October 1943 the B - 26 Marauders were joined by B - 25 Mitchell s , and for the rest of the year the group continued to operate in support of Allied troops on New Guinea . In February 1944 the unit was redesignated as a Heavy Bombardment Squadron , and was assigned very long range Consolidated B - 24 Liberator s , built by Ford and optimized for long range bombing missions in the Pacific . With its new heavy bombers the group attacked targets on Borneo , Ceram and Halmahera , amongst them the crucial oil fields of the Dutch East Indies . In September 1944 the squadron moved its attention to the Philippines , attacking targets on Leyte . It moved onto Leyte on 15 November 1944 . From then until August 1945 it flew against targets on Luzon , as well as supporting the campaign on Borneo and even ranging out as far as China . Finally , on 15 August 1945 the unit moved to Okinawa , from where it flew a number of armed reconnaissance missions over southern Japan to make sure the surrender terms were being obeyed . The squadron was demobilized on Okinawa after the war , being inactivated as a paper unit in the Philippines in early 1946 . The squadron was activated in 1958 as a result of Strategic Air Command phasing out the B - 47 Stratojet , and additional squadrons were activated as part of the consolation of Stratojet wings , and the replacement of the B - 47 by B - 52 Stratofortress es . In March 1961 , President John F . Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B - 47 be accelerated . and the squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1962 as part of the drawdown of the USAF B - 47 force .