The men and women of the "Bomber Barons" stand ready to project global power on a daily basis in both conventional and nuclear warfare.

The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, dating to 16 June 1917, when it was organized at Kelly Field, Texas.

It deployed to England as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, being engaged as an aircraft repair squadron during World War I.

Long-range over-water missions were the squadron's forte, and in April 1944 the squadron won its first of two Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC)s for flying the longest over-water bombing mission ever flown to date, some 1,300 miles each way, to bomb the Japanese base at Woleai Island.

After winning a second DUC for another long range strike against oil refineries on Borneo on 30 September 1944, the 23rd found itself in the Philippines at the close of the war.

After a brief period in the Far East after the war, the 23rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron relocated to Travis Air Force Base, Calif ornia, in 1949.

[3] July 2012 see the 23rd Bomb Squadron deploy aircraft and personnel to Nellis AFB for Exercise Red Flag 12–4.