59th Bombardment Squadron The 59th Bombardment Squadron is a United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment wa with the 319th Bombardment Group , based at Birmingham Airport , Birmingham , Alabama . It was inactivated on 22 March 1951 . History . World War II . Activated as the 59th Bombardment Squadron ( Light ) on 1 January 1941 , and assigned to the Panama Canal Department Air Force the same day , the squadron was further assigned to the 19th Bombardment Wing on 2 January and then , on the 6th , attached to the new 9th Bombardment Group . This unit was attached to the 9th Bomb Group specifically to support the Panama Mobile Force , and spent its first 10 months of existence at Rio Hato Army Air Base . It was assigned formally to the VI Bomber Command on 18 September 1941 . The Squadron received new Douglas A - 20A Havoc s by May 1942 . The unit moved from Rio Hato AAB to the new Howard Field on 28 October 1941 and , shortly after the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor , was dispersed to Aguadulce Army Airfield . The 59th ' s mission included close - in anti - submarine " offensive " patrols , rapid reconnaissance of and offense against potential amphibious landings or advances of enemy ground forces which might eventuate , direct support of friendly ground forces and , in exactly these words , " use as attack aviation in combination with other Air Forces , Parachute Troops and Airborne Infantry in support of friendly Latin American governments " as needed . On 15 January 1942 , " B " and " C " Flights were detached from the Squadron and attached to the VI Interceptor Command at Hato Field , Curaçao and Dakota Field , Aruba , where they remained attached until finally actually assigned on 23 June . The main squadron remained at Aguadulce Field , Panama until it joined the Flights in the Antilles on 10 March . The arrival of the detachments in Aruba and Curaçao was timely as on 16 February 1942 , one of the A - 20A made the first Command attack on a German U - Boat when a sub was attacked eight miles off Willemstad . Over the next five days , not fewer than time attacks were made on submarines , following by 10 more through January 1943 . On 19 March 1943 , the Squadron was assigned directly subordinate to the Antilles Air Task Force . However , in fact , the Squadron was attached to the 25th Bombardment Group and remained under its operational control as late as 26 April 1943 . This attachment lasted until 19 July , when the unit was attached to the Trinidad Detachment , VI Fighter Command , Antilles Air Command . Meanwhile , the unit itself had been re¬designated , on 10 June 1943 , as the 59th Bombardment Squadron ( Medium ) . By 12 July 1943 , by now located at Edinburgh Field , Trinidad and two North American B - 25D Mitchell s and two B - 250 ' s had been received . By the end of 1943 the A - 20s had been replaced by B - 25G ' s and the Squadron was moved to Beane Field on St Lucia . With the United States Navy taking over responsibility for antisubmarine warfare during the summer of 1943 , the need for the 59th was diminished . Personnel and aircraft were transferred to other units and the squadron was reassigned to the United States in March 1944 as an administrative organization . Designation was reassigned to Second Air Force at squadron was assigned to Alamogordo Army Airfield , New Mexico . Was programmed for B - 25 Mitchell replacement training but never was equipped . Inactivated and disbanded on 20 June 1944 . Air Force Reserve . Activated in the reserve at Reading Airport , Pennsylvania with A - 26 Invader s in 1947 . Remained at Reading until September 1949 when the unit was moved to Birmingham Airport , Alabama . The unit was ordered to active service in March 1951 due to the Korean War , with its aircraft and personnel used as fillers for active duty units . It was inactivated about about two weeks of active duty without personnel or equipment .