326th Bombardment Squadron The 326th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last was assigned to the 4141st Strategic Wing , stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base , Montana . 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 . Received new B - 17F aircraft and conducted training at Mac Dill and Sarasota Fields , Florida . 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 , the first heavy bomber squadron to fly the North Atlantic ferry route to Prestwick , Scotland as it deployed to England and was assigned to VIII Bomber Command at RAF Bovingdon . At Bovingdon , the 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 Bovingdon , 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 . Upon completion of its training mission , the 326th moved to RAF Alconbury on 6 January 1943 where it and its parent 92d Bombardment Group underwent reorganization . When they emerged in May 1943 , the 92 BG and 326 BS were ready for combat . The group ' s B - 17s , flew their first post - reorganization combat mission on 15 May 1943 . In the fall of 1943 longer range raids began , 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 " , the 326th led the group in the lead wing with 21 aircraft ; one 326th Squadron and two other Group aircraft aborted , and of the 12 group aircraft that made it back to England , only 3 came home that day . 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 . In support of Operation Cobra 1 , 800 aircraft targeted a narrow front . Artillery positions were wiped out , tanks overturned and buried , infantry positions flattened and all roads and tracks destroyed . This broke up the German defenses such that they could be penetrated . Another notable success was a raid against the virtually indestructible German submarine pen s at IJmuiden . Using the British Disney bomb , a rocket - propelled " bunker buster " , 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 . 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 326th was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ( AFOUA ) for Operation Big Stick . In July 1960 , the 327th began the movement of the squadron ’ s personnel , aircraft and equipment to Glasgow AFB , Montana . 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 Glasgow , the squadron resumed alert duties and training under the command of the 4141 Strategic Wing . In an effort to honor heritage units of the past , on 1 February 1963 , the 4141 SW and 326th BS were inactivated when SAC inactivated its provisional Strategic Wings , redesignating them permanent Air Force Wings . Squadron was inactivated with aircraft / personnel / equipment being redesignated 322d Bombardment Squadron in an in - place , name - only transfer .