After training in the United States, it moved to the European Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany.

[3][4] The squadron's ground echelon left for Fort Dix in early September 1942, then boarded the RMS Queen Mary for transport to England.

However, the runways at Kimbolton were not up to handling heavy bombers,[5] and the unit moved to what would be its permanent station in the European Theater of Operations, RAF Bassingbourn, on 14 October 1942.

[5] The squadron primarily engaged in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, and flew its first mission on 7 November, an attack against submarine pens at Brest, France.

[6] From the middle of 1943 to the end of the war, the squadron concentrated on attacks on German aviation, including attacks on aircraft factories, including ones at Oranienburg and Brussels; airfields at Oldenburg and Villacoublay; the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt; chemical plants at Leverkusen and Peenemunde; and industrial facilities in Ludwigshafen, Frankfurt am Main and Wilhemshaven.

It helped prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area.

The squadron was reestablished at Drew Field, Florida in early July, with the intention of deploying it to the Pacific, but it was not fully manned or equipped, and inactivated on 7 November 1945.

In September 1951 the squadron moved to Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, where it re-equipped with Boeing RB-47E Stratojets.

[7] Most of the squadron deployed to the Western Pacific, where the flew Operation Arc Light combat missions over Southeast Asia, flying missions from Andersen Air Force Base between 11 September 1966 and 31 March 1967 and from Kadena Air Base between 15 February and 30 April 1968, operating as part of the Bombardment Wing, Provisional, 4133d.