400th Missile Squadron
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The 400th Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 90th Operations Group at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, where it was inactivated in 2005.
400th Missile Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 1942-1946; 1947-1948; 1964-2005 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Type | Squadron |
Role | Intercontinental ballistic missile |
Nickname(s) | Black Pirates (World War II) |
Engagements | Southwest Pacific Theater |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation (3x) Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Philippine Presidential Unit Citation |
Insignia | |
400th Missile Squadron emblem (approved 17 November 1994)[1] | |
400th Strategic Missile Squadron emblem. (approved 25 February 1966)[1] | |
400th Bombardment Squadron emblem (approved 10 April 1943)[1] | |
Unofficial 400th Bombardment Sq emblem used in the Pacific[2][note 1] |
The squadron was first activated as the 10th Reconnaissance Squadron in 1942. Soon renamed the 400th Bombardment Squadron, 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 activated again in 1964 as the 400th Strategic Missile Squadron, an LGM-30B Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile squadron. In 1973 it modernized its Minutemen and in 1986 became the only operational squadron in the Air Force to equip with the LGM-118A Peacekeeper. The squadron was inactivated when the Peacekeeper was removed from the inventory in September 2005, during the implementation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.