The 34th Bomb Squadron is part of the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. It operates Rockwell B-1 Lancer aircraft providing strategic bombing capability.
Overview
The 34th Bomb Squadron is presently the 4th-oldest active squadron in the United States Air Force, being formed on 10 May 1917, less than a month after the United States' entry into World War I. Members of the squadron participated in World War I, World War II, Korean War, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Today, the 34th Bomb Squadron stands ready to provide combat-ready aircrews to project global power anytime in support of the Combatant Commander's objectives.
History
World War I
The 34th Bomb Squadron can trace its origins to the organization of 2d Company H, Kelly Field, Texas which was organized on 10 May 1917. At the time Kelly Field consisted mostly of a field of cotton plants, as it was just obtained by the Army for the establishment of a training airfield, just to the south of San Antonio, Texas. When the first soldiers arrived, there were not any tents or cots for them so they slept on the ground. When the first tents arrived, they were assigned locations for them and they were pitched. A few days later, when the company received its full quota of men, it was changed to 1st Company G, Kelly Field. The men received their indoctrination into the Army as soldiers, standing guard duty and other rudimentary duties. The lack of sanitary facilities and also uniforms meant most men worked in the civilian clothing they arrived in and slept in them without bathing until latrines and washing facilities were constructed. The men dug ditches for water mains, erected wooden buildings for barracks and a large YMCA.
Across the Atlantic
On 15 July, the unit was redesignated as the 34th Provisional Squadron, and rumors began to circulate that the unit would be sent to Europe. On the 25th, it was again re-designated as the 34th Aero Squadron, and they were issued proper uniforms and began to be equipped for overseas duty. On 10 August, the squadron received orders to leave Kelly Field for transport to Hoboken, New Jersey the next day. Five days later, the squadron arrived at Fort Totten, New York. On the 22d they were transported to the Port of Entry, Hoboken, and were boarded on the RMS Baltic. The next day, they left Pier 59, en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia where the ship anchored awaiting for a convoy. Finally, on 5 September, the convoy was formed and the trans-Atlantic journey began.
On the night of 14 September, two red rockets were fired from an accompanying destroyer that had spotted a submarine periscope. The destroyer dropped depth charges on the submarine, and the Baltic made a sudden turn to port, that caused both men and anything loose aboard the ship to move. Suddenly a large explosion was heard and five long blasts were made by the ship's whistle and everyone on board was ordered to report to their assigned lifeboats. The Baltic's captain announced that a torpedo had struck the ship, but it had only made a glancing blow on the bow; that the emergency pumps were working and there was no danger.
Training in England
The next day the Baltic arrived at Liverpool, England where the squadron boarded a train for Southampton, arriving on 16 September. There, the squadron received orders that it would remain in England for training by the Royal Flying Corps. On the 20th the men (about 200 in all), were divided into groups and sent to schools to take training in the different types of work they would be expected to do. 75 men were sent to the machine-gun school in Grantham; the remainder sere sent to schools in Reading, Upaven Station, Wendover, Farnsborough, Halton, Pemlice and other RFC Stations. The 34th Aero Squadron was the first American unit to completely train in England.
2d Aviation Instructional Center
After the detachments received their training, the squadron was re-assembled at Winchester for a final inspection. On 18 December, the squadron departed for France, arriving at the port of Le Havre on the 20th. After a few days wait in a "Rest Camp", they boarded a troop train for the city of Tours, arriving on the 23d. From there, the squadron marched to the American Second Aviation Instructional Center (2d AIC), at Tours Aerodrome, their assigned duty station in France on 23 December 1917.