418th Bombardment Group (later 418th Tactical Missile Wing) | |
---|---|
Active | 1943–1944 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Role | light bomber training |
The 418th Bombardment Group is the designation held by two United States Army Air Forces advanced training units, briefly active during World War II. The two groups were consolidated in 1958 and redesignated the 418th Tactical Missile Wing in 1985, but the consolidated unit has never been active.
The first 418th Bombardment Group was activated in August 1943 at Lake Charles Army Air Field, Louisiana. It was apparently only minimally manned and never received aircraft before it was disbanded in September. [1]
The second 418th Bombardment Group was activated in March 1944 at Alamogordo Army Airfield, New Mexico as a Replacement Training Unit for Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircrews. However, even as the unit was being activated, the Army Air Forces (AAF) had determined that standard military units like the group, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization not well adapted to the training mission. The AAF had already determined to change to a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. [2] The 418th was disbanded and bomber training activities at Alamogordo were assigned to the new 231st AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station, Bombardment, Heavy) [1] [3]
The United States Air Force consolidated the two groups in April 1958. [1] In 1985, the consolidated unit was redesignated the 418th Tactical Missile Wing, [4] but has not been active since.
The 399th Tactical Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The unit was formed in 1985 by the consolidation of two inactive units.
The 470th Electronic Warfare Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active as a crew training unit during World War II as the 470th Bombardment Group at Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada, where it was disbanded on 31 March 1944. In 1985, the group was redesignated as an electronic warfare unit, but has not been active since then.
The 400th Tactical Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active as the 400th Bombardment Group, a World War II Consolidated B-24 Liberator Replacement Training Unit. The unit was disbanded in 1944 in a general reorganization of Army Air Forces training units. It was reconstituted as a missile wing in 1985, but has not been active since then.
The 477th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the 312th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cannon Air Force Base. New Mexico, where it was inactivated on 18 February 1959, when it transferred its personnel and equipment to another squadron. It flew North American F-100 Super Sabres and deployed to support NATO forces in Germany.
The 87th Troop Carrier Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 87th Troop Carrier Wing at Atterbury Air Force Base, Indiana where it was inactivated on 1 February 1953.
The 488th Tactical Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was formed by the consolidation of the 488th Bombardment Group and the 588th Tactical Missile Group in 1985, but has not been active since consolidation.
The 469th Bombardment Group is a former United States Army Air Forces (AAF) unit. It was activated in May 1943 and served as a Replacement Training Unit until it was disbanded in April 1944 when the AAF reorganized its training and support units in the United States.
The 411th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with III Bomber Command at Florence Army Air Field, South Carolina, where it served as a Replacement Training Unit until it was disbanded on 1 May 1944. In July 1985, the group was reconstituted as the 411th Tactical Missile Wing, but has never been active under that name.
The 335th Air Refueling Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The group was active at Barksdale Field, Louisiana from July 1942 as a training unit for medium bomber aircrews. It was disbanded in May 1944, when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States. The group was reconstituted in 1985 as the 335th Air Refueling Wing, but has not been active since then.
The 465th Tactical Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. During World War II as the 465th Bombardment Squadron, it was an operational and replacement unit from 1942 to 1944, when it was disbanded in a general reorganization of Army Air Forces training and support units in the United States. The squadron was reconstituted as the 465th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron in 1973 and briefly operated the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. It moved to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico and operated as a fighter and academic training unit until inactivating in 1991.
The 68th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 305th Bombardment Wing at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana, where it was inactivated on 25 March 1965.
The 362d Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 6498th Air Base Wing at Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam. It was inactivated on 28 February 1973.
The 784th Bombardment Squadron is the senior predecessor of the 784th Tactical Air Support Training Squadron. It was organized in August 1943 as a heavy bomber unit. After training in the United States with Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the 784th moved to England, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Following V-E Day, it returned to the United States, where it began training with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, but was inactivated in October 1945.
The 541st Bombardment Squadron is the former name of the 541st Special Operations Squadron, an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) unit. During World War II the 541st served as a heavy bomber training unit until inactivated in a general reorganization of Army Air Forces training units. The squadron was redesignated in 1985, when it was consolidated with two other units.
The 508th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was an air refueling unit that operated the Boeing KB-29 and Boeing KC-97 from at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia from 1953 to 1957.
The 39th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 52d Tactical Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, where it was inactivated in January 1973.
The 308th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 2d Bombardment Wing at Hunter AFB, Georgia. It was inactivated on 1 March 1960.
The 474th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its first predecessor is the 474th Bombardment Squadron, which served as a medium bomber training unit from 1942 to 1944, when it was disbanded in a reorganization of Army Air Forces training units.
The 408th Armament Systems Group is an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) unit. Its last assignment was with Air Force Materiel Command's 308th Armament Systems Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated in 2010.
The 43d Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, formed in 1985 by the consolidation of the 843d Bombardment Squadron and the 943d Forward Air Control Squadron. It has not been active under its current designation.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .