528th Bomb Squadron The 528th Bomb Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 380th Bombardment Wing , based at Plattsburgh AFB , New York . It was inactivated on 30 September 1995 . History . Established in late 1942 as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron ; trained under Second Air Force in Texas , and later in Colorado . Deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area ( SPA ) in April 1943 , being assigned to Fifth Air Force in Australia . The air echelon had already arrived at Fenton Airfield in the Australian Northern Territory when the ground elements started out from Port Darwin by truck . The meaning of " Northern Territory " was made clear to every member who made the trip from Port Darwin to Fenton by truck . There were no signs of life except for the herds of curious kangaroo s that froze on sight and then scampered away . This was to be the home of the 528th for the next fourteen months . From its home at Fenton , the 528th reached out to the Japanese installations in the Netherlands East Indies , striking at well fortified Japanese oil refining and dock facilities , and cutting the Japanese supply lines . On 23 April 1944 , on a bombing run over Noemfoor Island , five aircraft of the 528th Participated in the wildest shooting spree of the war for the squadron . These five B - 24s were intercepted by twenty - five Japanese fighters and a very hot battle ensued for the next hour . Twelve of the enemy fighters were shoot down , all five of the Liberators managed to make it back to Fenton , although heavily damaged . The squadron was not without losses though , one deadly and six wounded . This battle resulted in 21 Distinguished Flying Cross es and 10 Silver Star s being awarded to members of the 528th . Moved to the Philippines where the squadron operated in early 1945 , then to Okinawa where combat operations ended after the Japanese Capitulation in August . After the war , squadron personnel were demobilized and returned to the United States , the B - 24s sent to reclamation in the Philippines . Inactivated as a paper unit in early 1946 . In 1947 , the 528th Bombardment Squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit of the Strategic Air Command at MacDill Field , Florida . The squadron remained an inactive reserve unit until 1951 when the squadron was inactivated . The squadron was again activated in 1955 as part of the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing and equipped with the B - 47 Stratojet . Flying the B - 47 , the 528th took a place as part of SAC ' s nuclear deterrent to war which were designed to carry nuclear weapons and to penetrate Soviet air defenses with its high operational ceiling and near supersonic speed . The squadron flew the B - 47 for about a decade when by the mid - 1960s it had become obsolete and vulnerable to new Soviet air defenses . The squadron began to send its stratojets to AMARC at Davis - Monthan AFB for retirement , being replaced by the B - 52G Stratofortress in 1966 , receiving its aircraft from the inactivating 70th Bombardment Squadron at Loring AFB , Maine . The 528th was the only squadron assigned to the wing at this time . Crews of the 528th were deployed in support to the war in Southeast Asia on a rotating TDY basis for Arc Light operations in the late 1960s . In 1969 , it was announced that the 528th would be receiving the Air Force ' s newest weapons system , the General Dynamics FB - 111A Aardvark medium bomber . While maintaining the largest Alert Force commitment in the command , the squadron never failed an Operational Readiness Inspection or Buy None . In 1976 , the Weapons Delivery Capability and Bombing Reliability for both evaluations was 100 % . In 1977 , an all - time SAC record for bombing accuracy was set , and during a December 1978 evaluation , a record number of releases was achieved with " Outstanding " reliability . This sustained professional competence has been recognized with numerous awards , including the 45th Air Division Award for Outstanding Bombardment Squadron and General John D . Ryan Award ( 1976 ) , and two Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards ( 1975 and 1978 ) . At the annual SAC Bomb Comp in 1974 , the tradition begun by " The Pride of the Adirondacks " was revived by an FB - 111A nicknamed " Apple One " . A 528th crew won top honors and helped to bring the Fairchild Trophy to Plattsburgh AFB . In 1975 , another 528th team took the Best Crew Award and Plattsburgh took the High Noon Trophy . With three of the four crews wearing the gold scarf , the unprecedented second consecutive Fairchild Trophy was won in 1976 . The 528th BS was recognized as the " Best Bomb Squadron in SAC " in 1976 and earned the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1978 . Inactivated in 1995 with the retirement of the FB - 111 , aircraft being redesignated as F - 111Gs and reconfigured for conventional munitions ; sent to Tactical Air Command at Cannon AFB , New Mexico .