11th Bomb Squadron The 11th Bomb Squadron ( 11 BS ) is a unit of the United States Air Force 2d Operations Group located at Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana . The 11th is equipped with the B - 52H Stratofortress . The 11 BS is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force , first being organized as the 11th Aero Squadron on 26 June 1917 at Kelly Field , Texas . The squadron deployed to France and fought on the Western Front during World War I as a Day Bombardment squadron . It took part in the St . Mihiel offensive and Meuse - Argonne offensive . During World War II the unit served in the Pacific Theater of Operations ( PTO ) as a B - 17 Flying Fortress heavy and later B - 25 Mitchell medium bomber squadron as part of Fifth Air Force . During the Cold War it was both a tactical MGM - 1 Matador and BGM - 109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile squadron as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe . Mission . Exceptional warriors ready now to provide responsive , flexible and accurate bomber combat power and expeditionary combat support to warfighting commanders … anytime … anywhere . History . World War I . The 11th saw combat as a day bombardment unit with First Army , 14 September 1918 , which was a bloody baptism of fire . But an attempted raid the following day practically devastated the fledgling squadron . " Out of a formation of six planes which crossed the lines , " remembered surviving veteran Paul S . Green , " only one succeeded in staggering back in a riddled condition . " Henceforward , the 11th Squadron , earlier and officially designated the " Jiggs Squadron " was unkindly referred to throughout the U . S . Air Service as the " Bewilderment Group . " Jiggs was a cartoon character invented five years before by an 11th Squadron officer , George McManus , whose comic strip , " Bringing Up Father , " was the first of its kind to attract a worldwide readership . The Bewilderment Group ' s emblem featured the famous Jiggs with a bomb tucked under his arm . The 11th flew from then to the 5 November 1918 and went on to fly Mexican border patrol from c . August – November 1919 . It participated in demonstrations of effectiveness of aerial bombardment on warships on 5 September 1923 . Intra - War period . With the end of World War I , the 11th Aero Squadron returned to New York Harbor . It arrived in about 30 April where it transferred to Camp Mills , Long Island the next day . There most of the men of the 11th Aero Squadron were demobilized , and returned to civilian life . On 26 May 1919 , the 11th was transferred administratively to Ellington Field , Texas , where it was manned and equipped with war surplus Dayton - Wright DH - 4s . It ' s mission was to take part in the United States Army Border Air Patrol along the Mexican Border . Between August and November 1919 , it operated from Marfa Field , and flew a border patrol along the Rio Grande between Lajitas to El Paso , Texas . It moved to Kelly Field , Texas on 8 November 1919 and became part of the 1st Day Bombardment Group , although it remained on standby if needed along the Mexican Border . In 1921 the Squadron was re - designated 11th Squadron ( Bombardment ) , and in 1922 as the 11th Bombardment Squadron . Transferred on 30 June 1922 to Langley Field , Virginia , and conducted bombing tests on obsolete warships off Chesapeake Bay . Transferred on 3 June 1927 to March Field , CA , and assigned to the Air Corps Training Center . Inactivated on 31 July 1927 due to budget issues at March Field and personnel transferred to the 54th School Squadron . Activated on 1 June 1928 at Rockwell Field , CA , and assigned to the 7th Bombardment Group . Transferred on 29 October 1931 to March Field , CA . Conducted food relief airdrop missions to Indians snowed - in on reservations in Arizona , New Mexico , and Utah 16 – 21 January 1932 and for marooned miners north of Las Vegas , NM , 13 February 1933 . Awarded the Mackey Trophy for 1933 . Transferred on 5 December 1934 to Hamilton Field , CA . The 11th furnished the cadre to activate the 22nd when they were constituted as the 11th and 22nd Bombardment Squadrons ( Heavy ) , activated and assigned to 7th Bombardment Group at Hamilton Field , California on 20 October 1939 . These future ' Flying Falcons ' operated the B - 18 bomber and the A - 17 attack aircraft . After gathering personnel and equipment at Hamilton Field and conducting training the units then re - equipped with the B - 17 Flying Fortress , moving on to Fort Douglas , Utah on 7 September 1940 , and later to Salt Lake City , Utah in June 1941 . Both Squadrons performed rescue and patrol duties from Fort Douglas , UT , c . 21 Jun - 13 Nov 41 . In November 1941 the Squadrons prepared for reassignment to the Philippines . The ground echelons sailed from San Francisco on 21 November with the air echelons expected to remain in the States until the ground echelon arrived in the Philippines . Before their arrival , however , the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7 , and shortly thereafter began the campaign against the Philippines . World War II . Dutch East Indies campaign . Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the air echelons of the 11th conducted anti - submarine patrols along the California coast from Muroc , California from 8 to 12 December 1941 before moving on out into the Pacific Theater . Assigned to detached duty to USN at Brisbane , Australia , 22 Dec 41 , the Squadron flew combat while operating from Hickam Field , HI , 18 Dec 41 - 5 Jan 42 Japanese forces attacked the Netherlands East Indies at about the same time the air echelon of the 11th arrived , beginning a battle that ended in the withdrawal of United States forces in early March . During the unsuccessful defense of the Indies , the main body of the Squadron flew from Jogjakarta , meanwhile a detachment operated under Navy control from the Fiji Islands and then from Australia . Major Austin A . Straubel ( September 4 , 1904 – February 3 , 1942 ) was commander of the 11th Bombardment Squadron and acting commander of the 7th Bombardment Group when he died from burns received in the crash of a B - 18 Bolo near Surabaya , Java . Austin Straubel International Airport , near Green Bay , Wisconsin , is named after him Austin Straubel . On / about 4 March 1942 the 11th withdrew to Melbourne , Australia , where they remained for about a month . In April 1942 the Squadron transferred all of their equipment and personnel to the 19th Bombardment Group . China Air Task Force . The squadron returned to the United States in mid - 1942 , leaving B - 17s in Australia and being re - equipped under Third Air Force as a B - 25 Mitchell medium bombardment squadron . With the cadre units in place at Columbia , other personnel began to arrive from various parts of the U . S . , by far the biggest contingent coming in from Keesler Field , Miss . While this build up was going on an advance cadre of the ground element of the 11th were establishing the organization in the China - Burma - India Theater . That cadre arrived at Karachi , India , 20 May 1942 , working their way to their staging base at Allahabad , India , by 27 May , and moving on to Kunming , China by 14 June . The unit was one of the first bomber units in the CBI . The aircraft were readied for flight operations by Air Technical Service Command at Karachi Air Depot and dispatched to Chakulia Airfield , now in Bangladesh in December . In the middle of April , 1942 , the air element of the 11th consisting of trained B - 25 combat crews began to arrive at Morrison Field , Fla . , as part of Project 157 . Each crew was assigned an aircraft . Some two weeks were spent outfitting the B - 25s , testing all the apparatus , and getting the crews accustomed to working together . The night of 2 May 1942 , the first crews left for overseas , flying along the South Atlantic Ferry Route initially bound for Natal , Brazil . The B - 25s were not only completely fitted and ready for immediate combat , but were loaded with a great variety of extra ground equipment for maintaining planes and crews . Every one of the planes had at least 500 pounds over the maximum weight overload for safe flight and this route had never been flown over by combat crews before , as Ferrying Command pilots had flown Mitchells along the route only with gasoline in the fuel tanks carrying little else . Once reaching Natal , the ferrying route to Accra on the African Gold Coast was taken , then across southern Africa to Kartum , Sudan . Then the planes were flown through Aden and followed the old British Imperial airlines route around the southern part of Arabia and Iran to Karachi , India . At Accra , several B - 25 ' s picked up formations of six to eight P - 40 ' s which had landed from a carrier . Many of these same P - 40 ' s and pilots later flew escort on missions in China . Several planes never reached India and some arrived several months after the others . By the end of May , 1942 most of the other crews of Project 157 arrived in Karachi and were assigned to the 11th Bombardment Squadron . On 2 June 1942 , six B - 25s left Allahabad on a secret mission of 15 days duration . Each aircraft carried one extra crewman to act as relief during the expected two weeks ' activity . This was to be the first tactical mission of the 11th Bombardment Squadron as a B - 25 squadron . That night saw them at Dinjan , India , in the Assam Valley and the western end of the ferry route across the Himalayan Mountains " Hump " into Southern China . At 0600 hours the next morning the flights took off for Kunming , China , detouring by way of Lashio , Burma . By 10 June , eight B - 25s had reached their base at Kunming . The 11th Bombardment Squadron was the first United States air combat unit in China . Until their arrival , only the American Volunteer Group ( AVG ) was flying combat missions . Operating under the provisional China Air Task Force ( CATF ) at Kumming , the combat first mission in China was on 1 July 1942 , against shipping in the Hankow area . It must have been a surprise to the enemy for no opposition of any kind was found . The next day , three ships made a return trip to Hankow , this time concentrating on the warehouse and docking facilities . On 15 September 1942 the 11th was transferred from the 7th Bombardment Group to the 341st Bombardment Group . The 341st Bomb Group usually functioned as if it were two groups , with its headquarters and two of its squadrons , the 22d and 491st operating under Tenth Air Force in India and flying missions against the Japanese in Burma . The 11th , although assigned to the 341st , received its operational orders from the CATF , which later became Fourteenth Air Force . From several airfields in China the group engaged primarily in attacking enemy concentrations and storage areas and in conducting sea sweeps and attacks against inland shipping . They also bombed and strafed such targets as trains , harbors , and railroads in French Indochina and the Canton - Hong Kong area of China . Received a DUC for developing and using a special ( glip ) bombing technique against enemy bridges in French Indochina . The 11th remained in China until the end of the Pacific War , then flying back to India and leaving it ' s surviving aircraft in Karachi before its personnel sailed back to the United States . It was inactivated on 2 November 1945 , the day after the Squadron personnel debarked at Newark , New Jersey . Cold War . Activated in 1954 as a MGM - 1 Matador tactical missile squadron under Ninth Air Force . It was subsequently redesignated the 11th Tactical Missile Squadron on 8 June 1955 , and on 1 July 1956 the 11th deployed to Europe attached to the 7382nd Guided Missile Group ( Tactical ) at Hahn AB , West Germany , assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe . It was reassigned to the 587th Tactical Missile Group , also at Hahn AB . On 18 June 1958 , the 11th TMS was inactivated and replaced with the 822d Tactical Missile Squadron , 587th Tactical Missile Group , with the activation of the 38th Tactical Missile Wing at Hahn AB and the inactivation of the 701st Tactical Missile Wing . Reactivated in 1982 as a BGM - 109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile squadron at RAF Greenham Common , England . Inactivated in 1991 with the elimination of GLCMs from Europe as a result of the Intermediate - Range Nuclear Forces Treaty . Modern era . Re - designated as a Heavy Bomb Squadron and equipped with B - 52Hs at Barksdale AFB in 1994 as part of Air Combat Command ; reassigned to Global Strike Command in 2010 . Since 1994 , it has trained B - 52 combat crews , maintained readiness to deploy in support of national objectives , and maintained ability to sustain heavy firepower in global situations .