abstract
| - Activated on 1 April 1941 as the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron, its personnel and equipment being drawn from the inactivated 27th Reconnaissance Squadron at Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico. The squadron had actually been constituted as early as 22 November 1940 to augment the reconnaissance forces available to the Puerto Rican Department. The squadron consisted of three Douglas B-18As, and these constituted the sole strength of the unit at Borinquen Field until the unit was redesignated as the 395th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 22 April 1942. The 5th was initially attached as an element of the 40th Bombardment Group. A "Good Will" flight was made in July 1941 to Peru, stopping en route Trinidad, Albrook Field and Guayaquil, Ecuador, which gave the unit considerable confidence in the extent of their "reach" as a recon outfit. Between 4 and 16 November, the unit provided transportation throughout the Caribbean for a group of unidentified movie stars, stopping at Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Georgetown, St. Thomas, San Juan and back to Miami. That same month, one of the B-18s represented the Air Corps at the opening ceremonies for the new Pan Am airfield at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After the Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack, the unit was detached from the 40th Bomb Group and assigned briefly to the Antilles Air Task Force to perform antisubmarine patrols along the Antillies chain south to Dutch Guiana. On 25 April 1942 the squadron was re-designated as the 395th Bombardment Squadron, and on 17 June, was transferred as such from Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, to Rio Hato Army Air Base, Panama. Concurrent with this reassignment, the unit was reassigned to the 6th Bombardment Group on 9 August 1942. The Squadron received an infusion of new personnel in December 1942, when, upon inactivation of the 6th Bombardment Group, many of the former members of that headquarters were transferred to the 395th along with new aircraft. As of 27 December 1942, the Squadron had two Northrop A-17's, three Douglas B-18's, two Consolidated B-24D's and three LB-30's, three Boeing B-17B's and two B-17E's. On 27 April 1943, the Squadron was transferred to David Field, Panama and, exactly a month later, moved from there to Howard Field in the Canal Zone, preparatory to its departure from the Command on 15 June 1943 as part of the takeover by the United States Navy of antisubmarine patrols.
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