The 92d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. The wing is also the host unit at Fairchild.
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri.
During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the 92d Bombardment Group was the first VIII Bomber CommandB-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment groups to carry out strategic bombardment operations against targets in Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany from RAF Bovingdon, England in September 1942. The 92d Bomb Group was the first Bomb group to make a non-stop Atlantic flight to United Kingdom. Its 327th BS was the only unit in the USAAF to be equipped with the service test "gunship"YB-40 Flying Fortress for combat, before fighter squadrons began receiving the P-51 Mustang for the same duties. It tested the secret Disney rocket-assisted-bomb experimental mission early in 1945, and led the Eighth Air Force on its last combat mission of the war.
Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party (NSDAP) controlled the country through a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state that controlled nearly all aspects of life via the Gleichschaltung legal process. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich until 1943 and Großdeutsches Reich from 1943 to 1945. Nazi Germany is also known as the Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", the first two being the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945, ending World War II in Europe.
Royal Air Force Bovingdon or more simply RAF Bovingdon is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Bovingdon, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England.
The Disney bomb, also known as the Disney Swish, officially the 4500 lb Concrete Piercing/Rocket Assisted bomb was a rocket-assisted bunker buster bomb developed during the Second World War by the British Royal Navy to penetrate hardened concrete targets, such as submarine pens, which could resist conventional free-fall bombs. Devised by Royal Navy Captain Edward Terrell, the bomb was fitted with solid-fuel rockets to accelerate its descent, giving it an impact speed of 990 mph (1,590 km/h) — substantially beyond the 750 mph (1,210 km/h) free-fall impact velocity of the 5 tonne Tallboy "earthquake" bomb for comparable purposes. The Disney could penetrate 16 ft (4.9 m) of solid concrete before detonating. The name is attributed to a propaganda film produced by the Walt Disney Studios, that provided the inspiration for the design.
In the postwar era, the 92d Bombardment Group was one of the first USAAF units assigned to the Strategic Air Command on 4 August 1946, prior to the establishment of the United States Air Force. The group being activated as a redesignation of the 448th Bombardment Group due to the Air Force's policy of retaining only low-numbered groups on active duty after the war.
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense (DoD) Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command (MAJCOM), responsible for Cold War command and control of two of the three components of the U.S. military's strategic nuclear strike forces, the so-called "nuclear triad," with SAC having control of land-based strategic bomber aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs.
It was deployed to Far East Air Force in 1950 and its B-29 Superfortress flew combat missions over North Korea early in the Korean War. The group was inactivated in 1952 when the parent wing adopted the Tri-Deputate organization and assigned all of the group's squadrons directly to the wing.
The Far East Air Force (FEAF) was the military aviation organization of the United States Army in the Philippines just prior to and at the beginning of World War II. Formed on 16 November 1941, FEAF was the predecessor of the Fifth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces and the United States Air Force.
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, with Pyongyang the capital and the largest city in the country. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia, under Gwanggaeto the Great. To the north and northwest, the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok and Tumen rivers; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands.
The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border.
Reactivated as the 92d Operations Group in 1991 when the 92d Wing adopted the USAF Objective organization plan.
Emblem of the 92d Bombardment GroupSenior Pilots pose in front of Boeing B-17F-80-BO, AAF Serial No.42-29996, (PY-R) "Flag Ship" from the 407th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group This aircraft was lost on 16 November 1943 while returning from Norway commanded by 2Lt Joseph F Thornton. Of the crew; 9 POWs, one evaded capture. MACR 1384Unidentified 92d Bomb Group B-17F at Alconbury Airfield, summer 1943. In the background is a familiar sight to anyone who ever served at RAF Alconbury, the village of Little StukeleyLockheed/Vega B-17G-10-VE Flying Fortress, AAF Ser No. 42-39958 of the 92d Bomb Group. This aircraft suffered severe damage during a mission to Hamburg Germany on 4 November 1944 attacking the Harburg oil complex. It was written off after it landed safely.
The 92d Bombardment Group was activated on 1 March 1942 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. After training at Sarasota Army Airfield,[1] Florida from May–July 1942, the Air Echelon left for Westover Army Airfield, Massachusetts and moved to Dow Army Airfield, Maine on 29 June 1942. In August, the squadrons flew to Newfoundland and then direct across the Atlantic to Prestwick, Scotland. They were the first unit to make a non-stop Atlantic crossing from Gander, Newfoundland, to Prestwick. The Ground echelon sailed on USS West Point on 6 August 1942, and docked at Liverpool on 18 August 1942. This was the same day the first aircraft of the 326th Bomb squadron arrived in Bovingdon. The last squadron - the 407th - arrived on 28 August 1942.
Louisiana is a state in the Deep South region of the South Central United States. It is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans.
Prestwick is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about 30 miles (50 km) south-west of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about 2 miles (3 km) south. It had a population of 14,901 at the 2011 census.
SS America was an ocean liner built in 1940 for the United States Lines and was designed by the noted American naval architect William Francis Gibbs. She carried many names in the 54 years between her construction and her 1994 wreck: SS America ; troop transport USS West Point; and SS Australis, Italis, Noga, Alferdoss, and American Star. She served most notably in passenger service as America and the Greek-flagged Australis.
The group was assigned to VIII Bomber Command and allocated RAF Bovingdon as its base. The group was assigned to the 40th Combat Bombardment Wing at RAF Thurleigh. The 92d flew a few two combat missions in September and October 1942, then was withdrawn from combat and its B-17F bombers exchanged for the older B-17E bombers being flown by the 97th Bomb Group.
Royal Air Force Thurleigh or more simply RAF Thurleigh is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. Thurleigh was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force on 9 December 1942 and designated Station 111, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany.
The 92d then acted as an operational training unit supplying combat crews to combat groups in the UK. However, in early 1943, the diversion to Operation Torch of heavy bomber groups originally planned for the Eighth Air Force led to a decision to return the 92d to combat operations, although its 326th Bomb Squadron was left to continue the OTU mission. The 325th squadron was used to provide a cadre for H2S radar training, and its 327th squadron acquired a special mission.
In January 1943, the 92d was transferred to RAF Alconbury where it was reformed as an operational combat group. At Alconbury the group took the name "Fame's Favorite Few", and its B-17s acquired the tail code of "Triangle B". The Group resumed operational flying missions on 1 May 1943. From Alconbury, the 92d engaged in bombing strategic targets, including shipyards at Kiel, ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, submarine installations at Wilhelmshaven, a tire plant at Hanover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes, and a magnesium mine and reducing plant in Norway.
At Alconbury, the group's 327th Bombardment Squadron became the only squadron to be equipped with the experimental YB-40 Fortress gunship from May through August 1943. The YB-40 was developed to test the escort bomber concept. Because there were no fighters capable of escorting bomber formations on deep strike missions early in World War II, the USAAF tested heavily armed bombers to act as escorts and protect the bomb-carrying aircraft from enemy fighters. Twelve of the 22 B-17F bombers modified to the YB-40 configuration were dispatched to Alconbury for testing and evaluation.
The YB-40 project failed because the aircraft were able to effectively defend only themselves, were too slow because of excess weight and drag to keep up with bomber formations returning from missions, and had basic flight characteristics altered by the added drag and centre of gravity changes resulting from the changes. After 14 operational missions, the 11 surviving YB-40's were taken out of combat service and returned to the United States.
On 15 September 1943, the 92d BG was moved to RAF Podington (Station 109), near Wellingborough in Bedfordshire when the decision was made to take Alconbury off operational bombing missions and change the airfield's mission to pathfinder and radar-guided bombing with the 482d and 801st Bomb Groups.
From Podington, the group flew almost 300 operational missions over Nazi-Occupied Europe. Missions were flown to Wilhelmshaven, a tire plant at Hanover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes, and a magnesium mine and reducing plant in Norway.
Although handicapped by weather conditions, enemy fire, and insufficient fighter protection, the 92d bombed aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 January 1944 and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the mission.
The group took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944. After that, it attacked V-weapon sites in France; airfields in France, Germany, and the Low Countries, and industrial targets in France, Germany, and Belgium, making concentrated strikes on oil and transportation facilities after October 1944.
In addition to strategic missions, the 92d performed some interdictory and support operations. Assisted the Normandy invasion in June 1944 by hitting gun emplacements, junctions, and marshalling yards in the beachhead area. Supported ground forces at Saint-Lô during the breakthrough in July 1944. Bombed gun positions and bridges to aid the airborne assault on the Netherlands in September 1944. Participated in the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945, by attacking bridges and marshaling yards in and near the battle area. Bombed airfields near the landing zone to cover the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
After V-E Day, was assigned to Green Project which was the movement of troops from Marseilles staging area at Casablanca. Moved to Istres, France, between May and early July 1945. First personnel arrived on the third of June 1945. The 327th Bomb Squadron detached to Port Lyautey, French Morocco. Between 15 June 1945 and 9 September 1945 they moved 19,935 troops while 5,672 Frenchmen returned to France. Displaced Greek Munich to Athens. The group run down during the winter of 1945 and 1946 were absorbed into the 306 BG on 28 February 1946.
Strategic Air Command
92d Bomb Group B-29A, AF Ser. No. 44-62102, "Wright's Delight" over the Sea of Japan on a Korean War bombing mission, July 1950
The 92d was one of two Strategic Air Command (SAC) groups selected to deploy to the Pacific after SAC was directed to reinforce the 19th Bombardment Wing of Far East Air Forces. The 92d was selected because removing it from SAC control would have a minimum impact on the SAC mission because its planes were not yet equipped for the delivery of nuclear weapons and would not impact SAC's task of building a credible deterrent to the Soviet Union.[2] During the early days of the Korean War, 92d BG B-29s arrived from the United States at Yokota Air Base, outside of Tachikawa, Japan, with deployment completed on 13 July. By the time the entire group completed its deployment, its aircraft had already flown a leaflet mission to Seoul and a combat mission against the Wonsan marshalling yards in North Korea. Under control of the FEAF Bomber Command (Provisional) until 20 October, the 92d bombed factories, refineries, iron works, hydroelectric plants, airfields, bridges, tunnels, troop concentrations, barracks, marshalling yards, road junctions, rail lines, supply dumps, docks, vehicles and other strategic and interdiction targets. The 92d BG returned to Spokane AFB, Washington in late October and November 1950. Five planes — AF Serial Numbers 44-61617, 44-61923, 44¬62084, 44-62211 and one serial number unknown — were lost during the deployment.
In July 1951 the group converted to the B-36 Peacemaker bomber. In June 1952 the unit was inactivated when the Air Force reorganized its wings into the tri-deputate system.
Post Cold War era
On 29 August 1991, the 92d Bombardment Wing was redesignated as the 92d Wing under the "Objective Wing" concept adopted by the Air Force as the lines between tactical and strategic forces blurred. The flying components of the wing were reassigned to the newly established 92d Operations Group (92 OG), which inherited the lineage of the former 92d Bombardment Group.
As part of their new mission, the 92 OG also gained two squadrons of Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft. The Group ended B-52 alert duties in September 1992, and from February 1993, performed air sampling missions for the United States Department of Energy with modified B-52Hs. The group's mission changed to solely air refueling in 1994. During 1993 the group also included the Bell UH-1-equipped 36th Rescue Flight, but this unit was gone by 1994 as were the B-52s.
The 92 OG regularly deployed elements during the late 1990s to support overseas tanker task forces in support of humanitarian, peacekeeping, and contingency operations in the Balkans and Southwest Asia. Today the 92d Operations Group is only responsible for KC-135 operations.
In 1999 the Group became the 92d Air Expeditionary Group at Morón Air Base in Spain, tasked with providing fuel to Operation Allied Force operations. In addition to serving as the HQ 92 AEG (serving units in France, Crete, Sicily and Spain), Morón hosted 37 tankers (KC-135 and KC-10) and 800 personnel. The 92 AEG became the largest aerial refueling wing since the Vietnam War and held the distinction of being the largest tanker base during the Kosovo War.
The flying components of the 92 OG are equipped with the KC-135R Stratotankers. A black seahawk adorns the tails of the unit's aircraft. Today the group's components include:
The 43d Air Mobility Operations Group is an active duty air mobility unit at Pope Field, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and is part of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) USAF Expeditionary Center. The unit is composed of five squadrons, including one of the only two active Air Force aeromedical evacuation squadrons based in the United States. The group's primary mission focuses on providing enroute operations and enabling global response and airborne support for Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division.
The United States Air Force's 40th Air Expeditionary Wing was an Air expeditionary unit located at Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, from 2001 to c. 2006.
The 22d Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 22d Air Refueling Wing. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, and is part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)'s Eighteenth Air Force.
The 32d Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. It operates the KC-10 Extender aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 92d Air Refueling Squadron is a squadron of the 92d Air Refueling Wing's 92d Operations Group, stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.
The 93d Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 92d Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It operates the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 909th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan. It operates the KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 912th Air Refueling Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to the 92d Operations Group and stationed at March Air Reserve Base, California. The squadron is an active duty associate unit of the reserve 336th Air Refueling Squadron of the 452d Operations Group.
The 307th Operations Group is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
The 93d Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 93d Air Control Wing, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The unit was inactivated on 1 October 2002.
The 97th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 97th Air Mobility Wing of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
The 305th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 305th Air Mobility Wing. It is stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The 384th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command. The 384 AEG may be activated or inactivated at any time.
The 301st Operations Group is a flying component of the 301st Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Reserve Tenth Air Force. The group is stationed at Carswell Field, Texas.
The 325th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the USAF Weapons School, stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.
The 98th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 92d Operations Group at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1998.
The 326th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 4141st Strategic Wing, stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana. It was inactivated on 1 February 1963.
The 327th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4170th Strategic Wing, stationed at Larson Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 1 February 1963.
The 407th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 42d Bombardment Wing, stationed at Loring Air Force Base, Maine. It was inactivated on 1 October 1990.
The 303d Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 499th Air Refueling Wing at Kindley AFB, Bermuda, where it was inactivated on 15 June 1963.
Koger, Fred. Countdown: 35 Daylight Missions against Nazi Germany. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algolquin Books, 1990.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN0-912799-02-1. LCCN61060979.
Sloan, John S. The Route as Briefed: the History of the 92d Bomb Group, USAAF, 1942–1945. Cleveland, Ohio: Argus Press, 1946. (Republished in 1976 by S. Wilson)
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