491st Attack Squadron
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The 491st Attack Squadron is an active United States Air Force regular associate unit, stationed at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, where it was activated in April 2019. It is assigned to the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico and operates General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2012) |
491st Attack Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 1917–1919; 1925–1937; 1942–1945; 1947–1949; 1958–1961; 2019–present |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Role | attack |
Part of | Air Education and Training Command |
Garrison/HQ | Hancock Field ANGB |
Nickname(s) | Ringers[1] |
Engagements | China-Burma-India Theater[2] |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation[2] |
Insignia | |
Patch with 491st Attack Squadron emblem[note 2][2] |
The first predecessor of the squadron was activated during World War I as the 79th Aero Squadron. It deployed to France in 1917 and was redesignated the 491st Aero Squadron. It served as a construction unit before returning to the United States, where it was demobilized in 1919.
The second predecessor of the unit is the 491st Bombardment Squadron, which was constituted as an Organized Reserve unit in 1924. It was activated in 1925 at Sand Point Airport, Washington, but was only nominally manned. The two squadrons were consolidated in 1936, but the consolidated unit was inactivated the following year. it was disbanded in May 1942, as were all the other United States Army Air Corps Organized Reserve units.
The third predecessor of the unit is the 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium), which was constituted and activated in India during World War II. It participated in combat in the China-Burma-India Theater until the end of the war, where it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation. Following V-J Day, it returned to the United States and was inactivated.
The squadron was activated in the reserve in 1947, but was discontinued when Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization plan and reduced their number due to budget constraints. In 1958, it was consolidated with the first two squadrons and activated at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas when Strategic Air Command expanded its Boeing B-47 Stratojet wings to four squadrons. The squadron was inactivated at Dyess in 1961.