The ground echelon moved to Virginia to prepare for movement overseas, leaving for Fort Dix and the Port of Embarkation on 19 July.

Between 20 and 23 November 1942, the air echelon moved forward to bases in southeastern England, from which it flew directly to Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria.

[3] Starting in July 1943, the squadron began flying numerous missions to targets in Italy, moving forward to Oudna Airfield, Tunisia in early August.

In August, it was designated as a "very heavy" unit in preparation for conversion to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and deployment to Pacific Theater.

Before the squadron arrived at its planned training base, Pyote Army Air Field, Texas, Japan had surrendered and there was no need for additional bomber units.

The squadron was inactivated in October 1945, shortly before Pyote ended training operations and became an aircraft storage depot.

It was deployed to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany, July–August 1948; to RAF Scampton, England, October 1948 – January 1949; and to RAF Stations Lakenheath and Sculthorpe, May–November 1950 for "show of force" missions in Europe as a result of the Berlin Blockade by the Soviet Union and rising Cold War tensions in Europe.

The squadron was deployed to Far East Air Forces in February 1951, flying combat missions over North Korea, and attacking strategic industrial and military targets during the Korean War.

that the squadron was deployed frequently to Thule Air Base, Greenland and flew missions deep into the heart of the Soviet Union, taking a photographic and radar recording of the routes attacking SAC B-52 bombers would follow to reach their targets.