After training in the United States, it deployed with its Consolidated B-24 Liberators to the European Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign until the end of hostilities, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation and a French Croix de Guerre with Palm for its actions.

The 701st Bombardment Squadron was activated 1 April 1943 at Gowen Field in Idaho, where initial organization took place while key personnel traveled to Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics.

[4][2] Both elements met at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah on 8 June 1943, where initial training with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator took place.

The squadron moved to Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa in July 1943 to complete training.

The air echelon departed Sioux City late in October 1943 and flew to the United Kingdom via the southern route: Florida, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and West Africa.

[7] The unit operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until the war ended, striking such targets as industries in Osnabrück, synthetic oil plants in Lutzendorf, chemical works in Ludwigshafen, marshalling yards at Hamm, an airfield at Munich, an ammunition plant at Duneberg, underground oil storage facilities at Ehmen, and factories at Münster.

[8] This was the longest running continuous air battle of World War II—some two and a half hours of fighter attacks and flak en route and leaving the target area.

It was awarded the Croix de guerre with Palm by the French government for operations in the theater from December 1943 to February 1945[8] supplying the resistance.

After the bomb run, the group was alone in the skies and was attacked from the rear by an estimated 150 Luftwaffe planes, resulting in the most concentrated air battle in history.

[8] The 701st Bombardment Squadron was activated again under Air Defense Command (ADC) in the reserves during the summer of 1947 at McChord Field, Washington, where it trained under the supervision of the 406th AAF Base Unit.

After conducting training for two years, the squadron was inactivated in June 1949[2] when ConAC reorganized its combat units under the wing base organizational model.

[19] As a result, the Air Force reduced its operations at Niagara Falls, eliminating the fighter mission, and the 701st was inactivated in July.

[2] As the conversion of the reserves to a tactical airlift force continued, the squadron became the 701st Troop Carrier Squadron at Memphis Municipal Airport on 16 November 1957, when the 445th Troop Carrier Group assumed the resources of the 319th Fighter-Bomber Wing as it converted to the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar.

[23] To resolve this, ConAC determined to reorganize its reserve wings by establishing groups with support elements for each of its troop carrier squadrons at the start of 1962.

[2] By 1968 regular air force military airlift squadrons were operating the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, while the reserves still flew the obsolete Douglas C-124 Globemaster II.

The squadron assisted with the redeployment of U.S. Army and Marine Corps personnel from Grenada following Operation Urgent Fury in 1983.

In 1984 and 1985, the squadron helped deploy U.S. personnel throughout Central and South America from Howard Air Force Base, Panama in support of Operations Volant Oak.