346th Test Squadron

Established in early 1942 as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron; trained under Second Air Force first in the Pacific Northwest, but the poor flying weather in the northwest forced a relocation to the Midwest for the second and third phases of training.

B-17F of the 346th Bombardment Squadron[note 2]

After completion of training, the 346th departed for the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in Algeria, where the ground echelon went by ship from New York City to Marrakech, Morocco; the air echelon flying to Morrison Field, Florida, then along the South Atlantic Route to Navarin Airfield, Algeria, where the ground and air echelons of the squadron were reunited in late February 1943. Assigned to Twelfth Air Force, the squadron engaged in combat operations in support of American ground forces in Algeria and Tunisia during the 1943 North African campaign.

Helped force the capitulation of Pantelleria Island in June 1943. Bombed in preparation for and in support of the invasions of Sicily and southern Italy in the summer and fall of 1943. Was reassigned to the new Fifteenth Air Force in October 1943 and until the German capitulation in May 1945; engaged in strategic bombardment of enemy targets in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece, attacking oil refineries, marshaling yards, aircraft factories, and other strategic objectives. Squadron was demobilized in Italy in late 1945; inactivated in November.

Activated in the reserves in 1947, however unit never equipped or manned. Inactivated in 1949 due to budget restraints.

The squadron was reactivated in January 1953 at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington[2] when the 111th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, an Air National Guard unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War, was returned to state control. The squadron assumed the mission, personnel, and Convair RB-36 Peacemaker strategic reconnaissance aircraft of the 111th Wing's 103d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, which returned to the Maryland Air National Guard. Engaged in worldwide strategic bombardment training and stood nuclear alert until 1956 when the B-36 was retired.

Re-equipped with B-52 Stratofortresses and continued training and nuclear alert status. Deployed personnel and aircraft to Pacific during Vietnam War, engaging in Operation Arc Light combat missions over North Vietnam; also deployed personnel and aircraft to Thailand flying out of U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield for combat missions over Cambodia and Laos. Inactivated in 1974 with the inactivation of parent 99th Bombardment Wing and transfer of Westover Air Force Base to the Air Force Reserve.

The 346th's mission changed when it became the 346th Test and Evaluation Squadron in June 1993 and was activated under the 99th Test Group at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. For the next two years, it performed operational test and evaluation for Air Combat Command systems. The squadron and 99th Group were inactivated at Ellsworth in 1995 as ACC centralized its operational test and evaluation under the 53d Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.[2]

The squadron was again activated at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas in August 2000 as the 346th Test Squadron and assigned to the 318th Information Operations Group.[2] As part of the unit's focus on cyber defense, in 2014 it began participating in a joint project of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center and Twenty-Fourth Air Force to protect Air Force industrial control systems against attacks from external sources. This project recognized that industrial control systems (systems commonly used to automate physical industrial processes such as electrical and transportation operations) have become increasingly automated, rendering them vulnerable to cyber attacks.[4]

• 99th Bombardment Group, 1 June 1942 – 8 November 1945
• 99th Bombardment Group, 29 May 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (later 99th Bombardment Wing), 1 January 1953 – 31 March 1974
• 99th Test Group, 15 June 1993 – 21 September 1995
• 318th Information Operations Group (later 318th Cyberspace Operations Group), 1 Aug 2000 – present[2]

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942–1945
• Convair B-36 Peacemaker, 1953–1956
• Convair RB-36 Peacemaker, 1953–1956
• Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 1956–1974[5]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.