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|image=819th Bombardment Squadron - B-24 Liberator.jpg
|image_size=300
|caption=Squadron [[B-24 Liberator]] on the ramp at [[East Field (Saipan)]]
|dates=1941–1945
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|role=
|size=
|command_structure=
|current_commander=
|garrison=
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<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol=[[File: 819th Bombardment Squadron emblem.png|165px]]
|identification_symbol_label=819th Bombardment Squadron emblem
|identification_symbol_2=
|identification_symbol_2_label=
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The [[squadron (aviation)|squadron]] was first activated at [[Langley Field]], Virginia in January 1941 as the '''39th Bombardment Squadron''', one of the original squadrons of the [[13th Bombardment Group]]. The squadron was equipped with a mix of [[Douglas B-18 Bolo]]s and [[North American B-25 Mitchell]]s. In June, the 39th and its parent [[group (military aviation unit)|group]] moved to [[Orlando Army Air Base]], Florida.<ref name=Maurer819BS/><ref name=Maurer13BG>Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 56-57</ref>
After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], the squadron was ordered to search for German [[U-
In October 1942, the AAF organized its antisubmarine forces into the single [[Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command]], which established the [[25th Antisubmarine Wing]] the following month to control its forces operating over the Atlantic.<ref name=MaurerIBC>Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 437</ref><ref name=25ASW>Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 388–389</ref> Its [[bombardment group]] headquarters, including the 13th, were inactivated and the squadron, now designated the '''3d Antisubmarine Squadron''', was assigned directly to the 25th Wing.<ref name=Maurer819BS/><ref name=Maurer13BG/> In July 1943, the AAF and Navy reached an agreement to transfer the coastal antisubmarine mission to the Navy. This mission transfer also included an exchange of AAF long-range bombers equipped for antisubmarine warfare for Navy [[Consolidated B-24 Liberator]]s without such equipment.<ref name=Ferguson82>Ferguson, pp. 82–83</ref>
===Combat in the Pacific===
With its antisubmarine mission ended, the squadron once again became a bomber unit, moving to join the [[30th Bombardment Group]] at [[March Field]], California as the '''819th Bombardment Squadron'''. At March, it converted to the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and replaced the 30th Group's [[21st Bombardment Squadron]], which had deployed to Alaska to participate in the [[Aleutian Campaign]] in 1942.<ref>Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 110</ref> At full strength with the addition of the 819th, the 30th Group deployed to Hawaii as part of [[VII Bomber Command]] in October 1942.<ref name=Maurer819BS/><ref name=30OGfacts>{{cite web
The 30th Group moved forward to the [[Ellice Islands]] the following month,<ref name=30OGfacts/> but the squadron remained in Hawaii until July 1944. During this period, the squadron acted as a replacement unit for the rest of the group, providing trained [[aircrew]]s and replacement Liberators.<ref name=Maurer819BS/> The squadron moved forward to [[Saipan]] in the last week of July 1944, where the rest of the group joined it at [[Kobler Field]] in early August. From Saipan, it conducted raids on the [[Bonin Islands|Bonin]] and [[Volcano Islands]] and attacked bypassed islands in the [[Caroline Islands|Caroline]] and [[Mariana Islands|Mariana]] Islands until [[Iwo Jima]] was occupied. Its final bombing mission was at Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945,{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} the same day three Marine divisions invaded the island.<ref>Wright, p. 23</ref>
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==References==
===Notes===
; Explanatory notes
{{notelist}}
; Citations
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===Bibliography===
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Studies/101-150/AFD-090522-043.pdf |last1=Ferguson|first1=Arthur B.|title=The Antisubmarine Command, USAF Historical Study No. 107|date=April 1945|publisher=Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence Historical Division|
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|
* {{cite book|title=Iwo Jima 1945: The Marines Raise the Flag On Mount Suribachi|last=Wright|first=Derrick|publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd|year=2004|isbn=0-275-98273-4|location=Oxford, England}}
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