343rd Bombardment Squadron

343d Bomb Squadron
Emblem of the 343d Bombardment Squadron (SAC)
Active	1942-1966; 2010-Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Bombardment

The 343d Bomb Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 307th Operations Group. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.

The squadron flies the B-52H Stratofortress.

Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force. Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil; performed trans-Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia, then transited east across central Africa to Sudan. Lastly the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by ship around the Cape of Good Hope, joining with air echelon in British Palestine.

Assigned to the newly formed IX Bomber Command, the squadron operated from airfields in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign. Also staged long-range strategic bombardment of enemy military and industrial targets in Sicily; Italy and the Southern Balkans, including attacking the German-controlled oilfields at Ploiești, Romania.