491st Attack Squadron

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.

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.

World War I
The first predecessor of the squadron was organized as the 79th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas in August 1917. It deployed to the Aviation Concentration Center in Garden City, New York in November for shipment to France. It arrived in France the following month and moved to Saint-Nazaire, where it was redesignated the 491st Aero Squadron (Construction) and constructed and maintained facilities from February until December 1918. It returned to the United States in January 1919 and was demobilized. It was reconstituted c. 16 October 1936 and consolidated with the 491st Bombardment Squadron.

Organized Reserves between World War I and World War II
The 492d Bombardment Squadron was authorized in the Organized Reserves in March 1924. It was activated at Sand Point Airport, Washington in the Ninth Corps Area the following January and assigned to the 349th Bombardment Group. The squadron was only nominally manned before it was inactivated in the spring of 1937. Along with all other United States Army Air Corps Organized Reserve units, it was disbanded in May 1942. In August 1958 it was reconstituted and consolidated with the 492d Bombardment Squadron, Medium.

World War II
The 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) was activated in September 1942 as a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber squadron at Karachi, India. It was assigned to the newly activated 341st Bombardment Group of Tenth Air Force. The squadron did not receive a full complement of aircraft and personnel until the end of the year. After moving to Chakulia Airfield, the squadron began combat operations, flying its first mission on 10 January 1943. For the remainder of the year the squadron was primarily tasked with interdicting Japanese lines of communication in Burma.

The squadron was transferred to Fourteenth Air Force and moved to China in January 1944. Again the squadron's primary tasking was interdiction of Japanese lines of communication in China and eastern French Indochina (now Vietnam). In addition to strikes against airfields, bivouac and storage areas and bridges, the unit performed target of opportunity sweeps along roads, rivers and over the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea.

When Japan surrendered, sixteen squadron aircrews and several aircraft maintenance personnel were in India undergoing transition training to Douglas A-26 Invader. About 31 August 1945 the remaining 491st personnel joined those in India. Those determined to meet rotation requirements embarked on a transport ship and returned to the United States, arriving on 1 November. The squadron was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 2 November 1945.

Cold War
The unit was redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron, Light on 26 May 1947 and activated in the reserve on 5 June. The squadron was inactivated on 27 June 1949 when Continental Air Command reorganized its operational reserve units under the wing base organizational model.

The squadron was redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 20 August 1958 and consolidated with the 491st Bombardment Squadron. It was activated on 1 November and assigned to the 341st Bombardment Wing at Dyess Air Force Base operating the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. In March 1961, President John F. Kennedy directed that the phaseout of the B-47 be accelerated. The squadron was inactivated on 25 June 1961 as part of that draw down, and its aircraft were sent to storage at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.

Lineage
491st Aero Squadron
 * Organized as the 79th Aero Squadron on 15 August 1917
 * Redesignated 491st Aero Squadron (Construction) on 1 February 1918


 * Demobilized on 31 January 1919
 * Reconstituted and consolidated 5 December 1936 with the 491st Bombardment Squadron

491st Bombardment Squadron
 * Constituted as the 491st Bombardment Squadron in the Organized Reserve on 31 March 1924
 * Activated in January 1925


 * Consolidated 5 December 1936 with the 491st Aero Squadron
 * Inactivated on 2 March 1937


 * Disbanded on 31 May 1942
 * Reconstituted and consolidated on 20 August 1958 with the 491st Bombardment Squadron, Medium

491st Attack Squadron
 * Constituted as the 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 14 August 1942
 * Activated on 15 September 1942


 * Redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron, Medium c. 1 August 1943
 * Inactivated on 2 November 1945


 * Redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron, Light on 26 May 1947
 * Activated in the reserve on 5 June 1947
 * Inactivated on 27 June 1949


 * Redesignated 491st Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 20 August 1958 and consolidated with the 491st Bombardment Squadron
 * Activated on 1 November 1958
 * Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1961


 * Redesignated 491st Attack Squadron on 26 March 2019
 * Activated on 15 April 2019

Assignments

 * Unknown, 15 August–December 1917
 * Seventh Aviation Instruction Center, December 1917 – December 1918
 * Unknown, December 1918 – 31 January 1919
 * 349th Bombardment Group, January 1925 – 2 March 1937
 * 341st Bombardment Group, 15 September 1942 – 2 November 1945
 * 341st Bombardment Group, 5 June 1947 – 27 June 1949
 * 341st Bombardment Wing, 1 November 1958 – 25 June 1961.
 * 49 Operations Group, 15 April 2019 – present

Stations

 * Kelly Field, Texas, 15 August 1917
 * Garden City, New York, New York, 3–22 November 1917
 * Aulnat (near Clermont-Ferrand), France, 18 December 1917
 * St. Nazaire, France, c. 30 December 1918 – c. 12 January 1919
 * Garden City, New York, c. 23–31 January 1919.
 * Sand Point Airport, Washington, January 1925 – 2 March 1937
 * Karachi Airport, India, 15 September 1942


 * Chakulia Airfield, India, 5 January 1943 – 7 January 1944 (detachment of ground personnel at Gya, India, 20 July – 10 September 1943)
 * Yangkai Airfield, China, 10 January 1944 – 13 September 1945 (detachments operated from Kweilin Airfield and Liuchow Airfield, China, 13 June – 10 July 1944 and 29 August – 2 November 1944)
 * Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 1 November 1945 – 2 November 1945
 * New Haven, Connecticut, 5 June 1947 – 27 June 1949
 * Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 November 1958 – 25 June 1961
 * Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, New York, 15 April 2019 – present

Aircraft

 * North American B-25 Mitchell, 1942–1945
 * Douglas A-26 Invader, 1945
 * Boeing B-47 Stratojet, 1958–1961