It was inactivated in 1949 after President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 ending segregation in the Armed Forces, and its personnel reassigned to other units.

It performed air refueling and deployed to the Pacific to support operations in Southeast Asia until it was inactivated eleven years later.

There it received a full complement of personnel and the squadron began operational training with Bell P-39 Airacobra and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft.

The squadron became engaged in various missions, including harbor protection, point-to-point patrol, convoy escort, and armed reconnaissance.

In May 1944 the 301st was reassigned to the Fifteenth Air Force and thereafter the squadron's primary duty was providing escort for bombers striking enemy oil and industrial targets in central Europe and the Balkans.

On 30 September 1945, the 301st sailed for the United States aboard the SS Levi Woodbury and arrived at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 17 October 1945.

[4] In 1949, the 332d wing participated in the National Gunnery Meet at Las Vegas Air Force Base, Nevada, taking first place in the conventional aircraft portion of the competition.

[7] The 4228th wing had been activated as part of Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s program to disperse its Boeing B-52 Stratofortress force, making it less vulnerable to a Soviet Union first strike.

The 901st concentrated on becoming combat ready[9] before the wing's 492d Bombardment Squadron moved to Columbus from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas in June 1959.

[10] Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.

[3] Between 1965 and the end of 1968, the squadron frequently deployed to the Pacific to support combat operations with refueling over the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea.

In July 1969, the 454th wing was inactivated as older model B-52s were removed from the inventory and Columbus was transferred to Air Training Command.

[15] The provisional 901st was then attached to the 17th Air Division and supported the withdrawal of SAC aircraft from Thailand[14] until it was inactivated on 20 March 1976.

[17] The squadron operated Block 32 F-16C/D models in the air to ground role until losing its aircraft as a result of 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decisions.

[19] The reservists of the 301st were integrated with Regular Air Force members of the 49th Fighter Wing and operated and maintained the same aircraft.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Further reading