3d Bombardment Squadron The 3d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the 111th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing , based at Travis Air Force Base , California . It was inactivated on 1 January 1953 . History . World War II . Activated on 1 February 1940 at France Field , Panama Canal Zone ; moved to Rio Hato Airfield just after the Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 . The unit was initially equipped with 4 Douglas B - 18 Bolo s and 1 B - 17B . On 20 November 1940 it was formally redesignated as the 3rd Bombardment Squadron ( Heavy ) in keeping with the Air Corps - wide policy of configuring for future re - equipment and role definition . It is known that the squadron received at least three Boeing B - 17B Flying Fortress e ' s ( including 38 - 222 , which was lost on 2 August 1941 ) , one of the first Canal Zone - based units to operate the four - engined bomber . It is also known that the squadron utilized a number of the enlisted graduates of the Bombardiers School conducted at France Field to alleviate the critical shortage of these specialists in Canal Zone based units . By 31 December 1941 , the unit was operating essentially as an integrated unit with the 25th Bombardment Squadron at Rio Hato , the two Squadron were jointly operating nine new Boeing B - 17E ' s , of which four were unserviceable due to parts shortages and the lack of maintenance experience of the ground crews on the type . By the end of January 1942 , the squadron had surrendered its interest in the B - 17E ' s , although a single Northrop A - 17 was also on strength by this time , another being added by mid - February 1942 . By mid - February , unit strength was further augmented by assignment of three more B - 18 ' s ( for a total of seven B - 18 ' s and two B - 18A ' s , plus the A - 17 ) but only eight combat crews were assigned to actually operate the aircraft ; all of whom had less than 12 month experience on the aircraft on hand . In May 1942 the squadron moved to Seymour Island Airfield in the Galapagos Islands , where its mission became to perform very long over - water patrols guarding the Pacific areas of the Panama Canal . It is not clear if the Squadron re - equipped with Consolidated LB - 30 Liberator s prior to deploying to the Galapagos Islands or not , but this seems likely , as no B - 18 ' s are known to have operated there . The unit did operate two Consolidated PBY - 5 Catalina s from the Galapagos , on loan from the Navy . The Squadron ' s first wartime loss came in July 1942 , when one of the fairly new LB - 30 ' s , homeward bound into the Galapagos from a routine patrol , crashed into the peak on Indefatigable Island , within a few minutes flying time of its home field . The entire 10 man crew was lost . November 1942 also saw the 3rd BS receive a full allotment of new aircraft , when it exchanged its motley assortment of LB - 30 ' s and PBY - 5 ' s for seven " new " Consolidated B - 24D Liberator s ( as well as at least two B - 17E ' s , although these had disappeared by February when three more B - 24D ' s arrived ) , although at least three LB - 30 ' s remained on strength with the Squadron as late as March 1943 ( together with a solitary Piper L - 4A Grasshopper ( probably 42 - 36727 ) . Between 13 and 27 March , the unit was effectively stood down , as its B - 24D ' s had been transferred to another unit and the unit was left with but one ( unserviceable ) LB - 30 , and the L - 4A and " no missions " were flown . On 18 February 1943 , an entire Squadron ( minus aircraft and equipment ) , consisting of 56 officers and 320 other ranks , landed at Cristobal in the Canal Zone . The unit which arrived at Cristobal had no designation , and was simply known to its members as " X " Squadron . These men were soon to become the " new " 3rd Bomb Squadron On 12 March 1943 , these crews were moved by air and convoy to David Army Airfield , Panama , where they took over the designation and equipment of the 3rd Bombardment Squadron ( Heavy ) . In turn , the personnel who had , up to this time , been the former members of the unit moved to Anton Army Airfield and took up the designation 29th Bombardment Squadron . It was a literal exchange of station and designation between two units that has not heretofore been recorded . The 3rd BS ' s stay at David was short - lived , as it was off again to distant shores , this time , with its fresh complement of personnel , to Talara Airfield , Peru , ( to replace the 397th Bombardment Squadron ( H ) ) . After three or four days unpacking at Talara , General Brett arrived at Talara and ordered the unit to move to Salinas Airfield , Ecuador to relieve the 25th Bomb Squadron there . Accordingly , the Squadron arrived at Salinas " in complete exasperation " as one veteran put it on 26 May . The unit had , around 29 May 1943 , traded four of its RLB - 30 ' s for 11 B - 17E ' s ( which were described as being in " a very run - down condition " , although , in fact , two of these B - 17E ' s were officially described as " on loan " to the 74th Bombardment Squadron at the time ) but , as the ` new ' members of the 3rd Bomb Squadron had been originally trained on B - 17 ' s , they were " very , very happy " to get them . The unit also had two Northrop A - 17 ' s ( 35 - 132 and 35 - 138 ) by this time . Unbelievably , the unit was transferred back again to Talara Airfield by 16 June ( although the " Official " USAF history says the unit was at David on 11 June 1943 . The unit continued to participate in the never ending Pacific patrols but did , in fact , return to David once again , starting on 11 July 1943 ( by air , aided by three aircraft of the hard - working 20th Troop Carrier Squadron ) the only tactical unit there at the time . The two unit " hack " Northrop A - l7 ' s hadn ' t quite made it back from Salinas , as they experienced mechanical difficulty at Cali Airport , Colombia , where they remained as late as 7 August 1943 , although they were finally recovered by 13 September . From this time on , the unit became , essentially , a sort of Operational Training Unit ( OTU ) for VI Bomber Command . Starting in August 1943 , groups of Navigation Cadets were assigned for training while , during the same month , six of the unit ' s B - 17E ' s were ordered to Guatemala City to assist the 74th Bomb Squadron in its patrols missions from there , remaining TDY for six weeks . This left the unit , still nominally at David , with but four B - 17E ' s . The unit claimed its one - and - only contact with the enemy between 6 and 11 December 1943 , when a single B - 17E from the Squadron , deployed and operating in conjunction with Navy and other Sixth Air Force units , reported " contact " with a submarine , although the results of the subsequent attack have not been located . Patrols from David continued into 1944 , but on 6 April after trading in its remaining four tired B - 17E ' s for four arguably equally tired B - 24D ' s , the unit moved once again , this time by air and truck convoy , to the relative luxury of Howard Field , Canal Zone , where it apparently received additional aircraft , as the unit had eight B - 24D ' s by 1 July , Aircraft strength fluctuated somewhat from then until the end of the year , and the unit moved again ( to Rio Hato ) on 26 April 1944 , and , with 12 B - 24D ' s on hand as of October ( of which a 83 % were airworthy ) , by 8 December , the unit was once again at David with 11 B - 24D ' s . The unit had suffered a blow to efficiency when , in June 1944 , 72 of its most skilled mechanics and enlisted crew members were reassigned to CONUS for further reassignment to more active war theaters . This came at a particularly difficult time , as , during the same month , a resurgence of German submarine activity in the Caribbean resulted in Sixth Air Force ordering two 3rd BS B - 24D ' s to move to France Field to assist Navy patrols in anti - submarine missions . One aircraft from the Squadron ( aided by aircraft from Navy and other Sixth Air Force units ) flew coordinated patrols while further detached at distant Hato Field , Curaçao . While no definitive submarine attacks were made , there were many " suspicious " radar contacts . By December 1944 , the unit was officially described as " a training unit for combat crews " and moved back once again , briefly , to David , while the runway at Rio Hato was being repaired , but operational training continued . The squadron moved to David once again on 25 January 1945 and , still equipped with the tired old B - 24D ' s , suffered its last loss of the war on 23 May 1945 when 42 - 40962 was lost at sea with but one survivor . Shortly after this unfortunate incident , the unit turned in its surviving 10 B - 24D ' s to the Panama Air Depot in exchange for seven " used " B - 24J ' s and three brand - new B - 24M ' s , although two of the best B - 24Ds were retained for a time . For the remainder of the war , the squadron continued as a bomber crew training unit , and in May 1945 its remaining personnel were sent to the United States . The squadron was kept on the books until November 1946 unmanned and unequipped until formally inactivated on 1 November . Strategic Air Command . Reactivated as the 129th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and assigned to the Federalized Pennsylvania Air National Guard 111th Strategic Reconnaissance Group at Fairchild AFB , Washington in 1951 . Functioned as the operational flying component of the Group ( later Wing ) which was acting as a filler for the 92d Bombardment Wing whose pilots and crews were deployed to Far East Air Force during the Korean War . Squadron operated RB - 29 Superfortress very long range reconnaissance aircraft for a 17 - month period of activation , flying Ferret missions around the Soviet Pacific coast and in the Bearing Straits . Assets reassigned to 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing on 1 January 1953 ; squadron inactivated when the 111th SRW was returned to state control . Heraldry . On a blue disc within a white and black border a demolition bomb endwise , entwined with a bush¬master ( snake ) in front of a cloud proper . ( Approved 10 April 1941 )