327th Bombardment Squadron The 327th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 4170th Strategic Wing , stationed at Larson Air Force Base , Washington . It was inactivated on 1 February 1963 . History . World War II . Activated as a B - 17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb squadron in early 1942 ; trained by Third Air Force in the southeastern United States . As part of its training program , the Squadron flew anti - submarine operational missions . Deployed to European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) , being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England , one of the first squadrons being assigned to the command . Initially assigned to RAF Bovingdon , squadron exchanged B - 17Fs with the 97th Bombardment Group ' s B - 17E aircraft . The 97th BG would move to North Africa and assigned to Twelfth Air Force as part of the Operation Torch landings . At Bovington , The squadron was directed to set up and operate the 1 / 11 CCRC ( Combat Crew Replacement Center ) . The Squadron flew four combat missions beginning on 6 September 1942 . Moved to RAF Alconbury in January 1943 to re - equip , fly support missions to North Africa and train for combat . The 327th became the only to be equipped with the experimental Boeing YB - 40 Fortress gunship from May through August 1943 . The YB - 40 was the bomber escort variant of the Flying Fortress , where the Y stood for " service test " . It was developed to test the escort bomber concept for B - 17 daylight bomber forces which were suffering appalling losses in their raids against German targets on the European continent . Because there were no fighters capable of escorting bomber formations on deep strike missions early in World War II , the USAAF tested heavily armed bombers to act as escorts and protect the bomb - carrying aircraft from enemy fighters . Twelve of the 22 B - 17F bombers modified to the YB - 40 configuration were dispatched to Alconbury for testing and evaluation . The first operational YB - 40 sortie took place on 29 May 1943 against U - boat Sub pens at Saint - Nazaire , France . Very early on , it was found that the net effect of the additional drag of the turrets and the extra weight of the guns , armor , and additional ammunition was to reduce the speed of the YB - 40 to a point where it could not maintain formation with the standard B - 17s on the way home from the target once they had released their bombs . The YB - 40 could protect itself fairly well , but not the bombers it was supposed to defend . Consequently , it was recognized that the YB - 40 project was an operational failure , and the surviving YB - 40s were converted back to standard B - 17F configuration or used as gunnery trainers back in the States . Squadron ended YB - 40 operations on 29 July 1943 . Was non - operational until 15 September 1943 . Re - equipped with operational B - 17Gs and moved to RAF Podington on 15 September 1943 . Began long - range strategic bombardment missions , primarily over Germany and resulted immediately in heavy losses . One of these missions was flown on Thursday , 14 October 1943 , against the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt . For what was to become a famous mission called " Black Thursday " . Some of the notable successes of the squadron included missions against German troop concentrations in Normandy after D - Day . On 24 July 1944 , the Squadron participated in a raid that virtually destroyed the elite " Panzer Lehr " armored division outside St . Lo . Artillery positions were wiped out , tanks overturned and buried , infantry positions flattened and all roads and tracks destroyed . Another notable success was a raid against the virtually indestructible German submarine pens at IJmuiden . Using experimental rocket - propelled bombs , the Squadron destroyed these pens in a single raid after hundreds of conventional bombs dropped in earlier raids had failed . The Squadron flew its last mission of the Second World War on 25 April 1945 . By the end of the war against Germany , the group had flown over 300 combat missions , 154 aircraft missing in action and more than 150 returned with battle damage that it would not fly again . Reassigned to Air Transport Command in June 1945 as part of the Operation Green Project and Blue Projects . Used B - 17s as transports , flying demobilized personnel to ATC sites in Morocco and Azores from France . Aircraft turrets were removed and re - skinned , the bomb racks removed , flooring and seating installed to accommodate 30 passengers . The flight crew was reduced to pilot , co - pilot , navigator , flight engineer and radio operator . In addition the engineer and radio operator would act as stewards , to assist and calm the many first time flyers . Inactivated in February 1946 . Strategic Air Command . Reactivated as a Strategic Air Command B - 29 Superfortress squadron in July 1946 . Performed strategic bombardment training and operations directed by the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) . In March 1948 deployed to England and Germany to support the Berlin Airlift . Deployed to Far East Air Forces and flying combat missions over North Korea . Under control of the FEAF Bomber Command ( Provisional ) until 20 October , the squadron bombed factories , refineries , iron works , hydroelectric plants , airfields , bridges , tunnels , troop concentrations , barracks , marshalling yards , road junctions , rail lines , supply dumps , docks , vehicles and other strategic and interdiction targets . Released from combat by General MacArthur on 20 October 1950 . Many of the still operational B - 29s remained with Far East Air Forces to serve on with the 19th BG and 307th BG at Kadena AB , Okinawa ; and the 98th BG at Yokota , Japan . Returned without most personnel and equipment to Spokane AFB , Washington in late October and November 1950 . Re - equipped with B - 36 Peacemaker intercontinental strategic bomber in 1951 . Engaged in training operations on a worldwide scale . Deployed n August 1953 to the Far East was to survey suitable bases for B - 36 use and to reinforce the Korean armistice of July 1953 . 20 B - 36D aircraft landed at Kadena AB , for ' Operation Big Stick ' . B - 36 aircraft visited Yokota AB and Anderson AFB Guam . The squadron returned to Fairchild after a short stay . Redeployed to Guam 14 October 1954 for 90 days , which established a succession of deployed B - 36 squadrons to maintain a heavy bomber presence in the western Pacific . Returned for its second 90 - day deployment in April 1956 . During the 1956 deployment to Guam , four 327th B - 36J aircraft were deployed to Hickam AFB HI . They would support the 1956 Eniwetok Tests . B - 36 operations were not without casualties . On 15 April 1952 , a borrowed 327th B - 36 with a 326th crew crashed on takeoff , killing 15 crewmen , 2 survived , severely burned . The Magnesium Overcast would burn very hot . In May 1955 , the 327th was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ( AFOUA ) for Operation Big Stick . In October 1956 , the Squadron was scheduled to convert to the B - 52D Stratofortress retaining its designation . Events in the fall of 1956 would delay the conversion to B - 52 . The Suez Crisis and Eastern Europe conflicts required the wing and squadrons to remain operational , and were on " cocked ground alert " into the second week of December . The 327th was not operational from 5 February 1957 to 1 June 1957 . 327th B - 52 operations continued through February 1963 , with training missions to improve and maintain proficiency , served on Ground Alert , and participated in a seven - month test of Airborne Alert missions during 3 March , to 6 October 1959 . The airborne alert test would earn the second AFOUA . In July 1960 , the 327th began the movement of the squadron ’ s personnel , aircraft and equipment to Larson AFB , WA . This was the completion of the dispersal program to reduce vulnerability of large ( three squadron 45 B - 52 ) unit at one base . The 326th would move to Glasgow AFB MT in February 1961 . On setup at Larson , the squadron resumed alert duties and training under the command of the 4170th Strategic Wing . In an effort to honor heritage units of the past , on 1 February 1963 , the 4170th SW and 327th BS when SAC inactivated its provisional Strategic Wings , redesignating them permanent Air Force Wings . Squadron was inactivated with aircraft / personnel / equipment being redesignated 768th Bombardment Squadron in an in - place , name - only transfer .