The 436th Training Squadron is a non-flying training squadron of the United States Air Force. The 436th Training Squadron, located at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, is a geographically separated unit (GSU) within Air Combat Command’s 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.
The 436th is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force, first being organized as the 88th Aero Squadron on 18 August 1917 at Kelly Field, Texas. The squadron deployed to France and fought on the Western Front during World War I as a Corps observation squadron.
On 7 December 1941, elements of the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron were one of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress units that landed at Hickam Field, Hawaii during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Later in World War II as the 436th Bombardment Squadron , the unit earned the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Presidential Unit Citation for its services in the China Burma India Theater (CBI). During the Cold War, it was part of Strategic Air Command equipped with B-52 Stratofortress bombers until its inactivation in 1963.
Mission
The 436th Training Squadron provides formal training to Air Combat Command using 14 classes at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas and 38 other programs exported directly to units for local training needs.
Training includes flight, ground and weapons safety, Air Force operations resource management system, classroom instructor training, Aircrew flight equipment, and computer software use and development. The 436th Training Squadron also develops multimedia and formal presentations used in training program development and formal presentations. Multimedia personnel are based at Dyess and deploy worldwide to perform their mission. Unit products and services are used throughout the Department of Defense.
History
World War I
Activated in the summer of 1917 as the Air Service 88th Aero Squadron; deployed to France during World War I and served on the Western Front. Engaged in combat as a corps observation squadron with I, III, IV, and V Army Corps, 30 May – 10 November 1918. After the armistice subsequently served with VII Army Corps in the occupation force, November 1918 – May 1919 when the squadron returned to the United States.
Inter-War era
Redesignated as the 88th Squadron in 1921 and assigned to Langley Field, Virginia. Participated in demonstrations of effectiveness of aerial bombardment on warships, June–September 1921. Deployed for service in connection with civil disorders arising from West Virginia coal strike, September 1921. Redesignated 88th Observation Squadron in 1921 the squadron moved from Langley to support Army ground forces at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; then to Texas in 1927 at Brooks Field to patrol the Mexican Border; to Oklahoma in 1928 to support Fort Sill, then back to Brooks Field in 1931.
Squadron moved to California in 1935 and was assigned to the new Hamilton Field near San Francisco, as part of the 12th Observation Group. Became a coastal patrol squadron operating amphibian aircraft, then began to operate modern Martin B-10 bombers in 1936 in the reconnaissance mission when attached as the fourth squadron of the 7th Bombardment Group, 1st Wing, General Headquarters Air Force. The squadron dropped food and supplies and flew photographic missions in connection with flood-relief operations in central California, 12–13 December 1937; upgraded to the B-18 Bolo in 1938, and in 1939 to early-model Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress for long range reconnaissance patrols. Moved to Fort Douglas, Utah in 1940 when the short runways at Hamilton proved inadequate for B-17 operations, with a secondary move to Salt Lake City Army Air Base in January 1941 where it was upgraded to the B-17E.