702d Tactical Air Support Squadron The 702d Tactical Air Support Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 601st Tactical Air Control Wing at Bergstrom AFB , Texas , where it was inactivated on 30 November 1975 . During World War II the squadron was active as the 402d Bombardment Squadron It was a training unit from 1941 to 1944 and then served in combat in the Pacific Theater . It was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation s for combat in Japan before inactivating on 15 April 1946 . History . The squadron was first activated in January 1941 as the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron , a long - range air reconnaissance at Fort Douglas , Utah . It was equipped with a mixture of early - model Boeing B - 17C / D Flying Fortress and North American B - 25 Mitchell s and assigned to the GHQ Air Force . It moved to Geiger Field , Washington where the squadron flew training missions and also reconnaissance missions along the Northwest Pacific Coast . After the Pearl Harbor Attack , the squadron was redesignated the 402d Bombardment Squadron as the United States Army Air Forces added a fourth bombardment squadron to its groups . became first an Operational Training Unit ( OTU ) at Davis - Monthan Field , Arizona , later converting to a B - 24 Liberator Replacement Training Unit ( RTU ) . The squadron inactivated in April 1944 with the reduction of heavy bomber training . It was reactivated the same day to become a Boeing B - 29 Superfortress unit , but was inactivated the following month when very heavy bombardment group s were reduced from four to three squadrons . It was then activated as part of a newly formed B - 29 group at Dalhart Army Air Field , Texas . There it was initially equipped with B - 17s for training , due to shortage of B - 29s . The 492d moved to Harvard Army Air Field , Nebraska in August 1944 and equipped with B - 29B limited production aircraft . After completion of training the squadron deployed to Central Pacific Area and became part of XXI Bomber Command at Northwest Field ( Guam ) for operational missions . B - 29Bs were standard production aircraft stripped of most defensive guns to increase speed and bomb load , The tail gun was aimed and fired automatically by the new AN / APG - 15B radar fire control system that detected the approaching enemy plane and made all the necessary calculations . The mission of the squadron was the strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands . It entered combat on 16 June 1945 with a bombing raid against an airfield on Moen . It flew its first mission against the Japanese home islands on 26 June 1945 and afterwards operated principally against the enemy ' s petroleum industry . Flew primarily low - level , fast attacks at night using a mixture of high - explosive and incendary bombs to attack targets . The 402d flew its last combat mission on 15 August 1945 and was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its operations that month . It later flew in a " Show of Force " mission on 2 September 1945 over Tokyo Bay during the formal Japanese Surrender . The Squadron was inactivated on Guam 15 April 1946 . Its personnel returned to the United States and its aircraft were sent to storage in Southwest United States . In 1969 , the 702d Tactical Air Support Squadron activated at Bergstrom AFB to provide light airlift and forward control support for the Tactical Air Control System ( TACS ) , the deployable command and control system of Tactical Air Command under the control of Twelfth Air Force . It continued this mission , maintaining readiness to deploy and participating in exercise s for the next thirteen years until inactivating late in 1975 . Lineage . 402d Bombardment Squadron 702d Tactical Air Support Squadron