46th Tactical Missile Squadron


The 46th Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 35th Air Division of Air Defense Command at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. It was last active in 1972.

History

Airlift Operations

The squadron was first activated under the 317th Transport Group, an element of Air Transport Command in May 1942 as the group expanded from three to four squadrons. The group and squadron equipped with Douglas C-47 Skytrains and trained at several airfields in Texas, the midwest and the southeast. It also performed various airlift missions as part of its training. The squadron deployed to Australia, arriving in January 1943 as an element of Fifth Air Force. It made numerous flights in unarmed planes over the Owen Stanley Range transporting reinforcement and supplies to Wau, Papua New Guinea, where enemy forces were threatening a valuable Allied airdrome, for which it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. It performed paratroop drops at Nadzab and Noemfoor in New Guinea; Tagaytay, Luzon, and Corregidor and Aparri in the Philippines. Also performed cargo airlift, supply and evacuation, and other assigned missions along the northern coast of New Guinea; the Dutch East Indies and in the Philippines as part of MacArthur's island hopping offensive against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. This included supplying guerillas in Mindanao, Cebu, and Panay. In April 1945, it bombed Carabao Island with drums of napalm.
The squadron deployed to Okinawa in August 1945 after the Japanese capitulation and became part of the American occupation forces. It replaced its C-47s with longer range Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft and moved to Japan and the Korean peninsula during late 1945. Its initial post-war missions included the evacuation of former Allied prisoners of war; later primarily cargo transport missions in the occupied areas of Japan and Korea during the postwar era. The squadron inactivated in 1949 in Japan due to budget constraints; its aircraft being assigned to other units as part of the consolidation.

Cold War Air Defense

The squadron was activated as the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron in 1959 at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, and stood alert during the Cold War, with IM-99A BOMARC surface to air antiaircraft missiles. The squadron was tied into a Semi-Automatic Ground Environment direction center which could use analog computers to process information from ground radars, picket ships and airborne aircraft to accelerate the display of tracking data at the direction center to quickly direct the missile site to engage hostile aircraft. It trained personnel and prepared for operation of the BOMARC surface-to-air missiles; operated and maintained BOMARC missiles and associated equipment, trained personnel, and maintained a capability to intercept and destroy hostile aircraft until inactivation. The squadron was inactivated on 31 October 1972, one of the last two BOMARC missile squadrons inactivated.
The BOMARC missile site was located east-southeast of McGuire Air Force Base at. Although geographically separated from the base, it was an off base facility of McGuire and the squadron received administrative and logistical support from McGuire.

Consolidation

The 46th Troop Carrier Squadron and the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron were consolidated on 19 September 1985 as the 46th Tactical Missile Squadron while remaining inactive.

Lineage

46th Troop Carrier Squadron
46th Air Defense Missile Squadron
Campaign StreamerCampaignDatesNotes
Papua23 January 194346th Troop Carrier Squadron
New Guinea24 January 1943 – 31 December 194446th Troop Carrier Squadron
Northern Solomons23 February 1943 – 21 November 194446th Troop Carrier Squadron
Bismarck Archipelago15 December 1943 – 27 November 194446th Troop Carrier Squadron
Leyte17 October 1944 – 1 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron
Luzon15 December 1944 – 4 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron
Southern Philippines27 February 1945 – 4 July 194546th Troop Carrier Squadron
World War II Army of Occupation 3 September 1945 – 1 April 194946th Troop Carrier Squadron

Aircraft and missiles