Description

319th SRS 1952-1963, 4 inch Patch

Pilots, Crew, and Collectors!  Enjoy this beautifully embroidered 319th SRS 1952-1963 Patch.  You’ll be able to wear this patch proudly!

• 4 inches
• Embroidered /Sew On
• US Naval Aviator Owned Business
• Reproduction

Strategic reconnaissance

The squadron began to fly strategic reconnaissance missions in September 1953.[9] The following year, it replaced its RB-29s with the jet Boeing RB-47 Stratojet, with the first B-47E arriving on 25 June, although crews had begun training in March.[15] One year later, the squadron and the entire 90th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing deployed as a unit to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska from 5 May until 31 August 1955, where the wing performed the final mapping of Alaska.[9][16] In May 1958, the 90th Wing returned to the training mission serving as a combat crew training wing for RB-47 aircrews until it was inactivated on 20 June 1960.[9] The squadron’s personnel and equipment were transferred to the 25th Bombardment Squadron, which moved to Forbes on paper from Schilling Air Force Base, Kansas the same day.[17]

History

The 319th Missile Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 90th Operations Group at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. The squadron is equipped with the LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, with a mission of nuclear deterrence. It is the flagship squadron of the 90th Missile Wing.

The squadron was first activated as the 319th Bombardment Squadron in 1942. It flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators in the Pacific during World War II, where it earned two Distinguished Unit Citations and a Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in combat. After VJ Day, the squadron remained in the Philippines until January 1946, when it was inactivated.

The squadron was again activated in 1951 at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. After moving to Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, it served as a training unit for Strategic Air Command units and aircrews in the B-29. In 1953 it converted to the strategic reconnaissance mission, upgrading to the Boeing RB-47 Stratojet in 1954. After 1958 it trained reconnaissance crews with the B-47 and continued that mission until it was inactivated in 1960.

The squadron was activated again in 1963 as the 319th Strategic Missile Squadron, an LGM-30B Minuteman I squadron. In 1974 it modernized its missiles to the multi-warhead Minuteman III. Following the implementation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, its missiles were limited to a single warhead.