Todd007

Square tail code

Hi Todd. The "Square" was the tail making during World War II for 4th Bombardment Wing B-17s of Eighth Air Force. The "combat box" was the formation the planes flew in beginning in mid-1943 to provide the maximum effect of .50 caliber defensive gun fire from the B-17s, and later B-24s also in formation.

This was important because until the P-51 Mustang came into wide service in late 1943, early 1944, many missions into Germany were flown without fighter escort after the fuel from the P-38 Lightnings s ran out and they had to return back to England. The combat box formation gave the aircraft (and aircrews) the best chance of survival because the aerial gunners could maximize the effectiveness of their defensive fire.

The 100th was part of the 4th Bomb Wing and assigned Square-D. The 100th Bomb Group wasn't stationed at Mildenhall during World War II. It was at another airfield called Thorpe Abbots.

Mildenhall was used by RAF Bomber Command during the war. In the 1950s and early 1960s, it was used by Strategic Air Command for B-29s, B-50s and B-47s which would rotate from SAC bases here in the states on TDYs, and theoretically they would launch bombing attacks on the Soviet Union from England. It wasn't until 1966 when the Air Force retired the B-47 that it was transferred to USAFE.

The 94th Bomb Group was Square-A; the 95th Square-B... etc... So the KC-135s today at Mildenhall fly with the Square-D on their tails in honor of the 100th Bomb Group. They are the only USAF wing that is authorized to use the units historical World War II tail code on their current aircraft. The 100th has a very brave and proud history, and a lot of planes from the unit were lost in combat over Occupied Europe during the war..

Thanks! I was in the USAF 1978-1999 and among other locations, was assigned to RAF Mildenhall. Most wouldn't know why the "Square D" was on the aircraft. Side note: In the Officers Club was an interesting map depicting where all the "doodle bugs" landed around East Anglia in WWII. Todd007 (talk) 16:29, 29 June 2015 (UTC)

I hope that helps :) Bwmoll3 (talk) 21:22, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

March 2015

Hello, I'm BilCat. I noticed that you made a change to an article, Boeing E-6 Mercury, but you didn't provide a reliable source. It's been removed and archived in the page history for now, but if you'd like to include a citation and re-add it, please do so! If you need guidance on referencing, please see the referencing for beginners tutorial, or if you think I made a mistake, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Thank you. - BilCat (talk) 04:36, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

I was an AFOSI Special Agent for the USAF ('83-'99) asigned to investigate procurment fraud at Boeing ('87-'92). This was a program known as "Seven Pros" (contractors were not happy about it). The information I previously provided was developed from a DOD Quality Assurance Representative (QAR). The US Attorney declined prosecutive interest and NCIS (it was their Navy bird) also declined to further investigate. Either way, the QAR was plenty upset with how it was built; matter was documented in government records....other than that I've no "reliable source"Todd007 (talk) 16:22, 29 June 2015 (UTC)