306th Strategic Wing
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306th Strategic Wing
| 306th Strategic Wing | |
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 Emblem of the 306th Strategic Wing |
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| Active | 1950-1974; 1976-1990 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
The 306th Strategic Wing (306th SW) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Strategic Air Command, being stationed at RAF Mildenhall, England. It was inactivated on 1 February 1992.
The mission of the 306th SW was to coordinate all SAC air refueling and reconnaissance resources in the European Theater with the United States Air Forces in Europe. It assumed the mission of the 98th Strategic Wing when that unit was inactivated in 1976. The 306th SW was inactivated as part of the inactivation of SAC in 1992.
The units history begins in 1942 with its World War II predecessor unit, the 306th Bombardment Group. It was the first operational bombardment group in the VIII Bomber Command. It was stationed at RAF Thurleigh, England from 6 September 1942 until 25 December 1945, the longest tenure at one station for any one Eighth Air Force group. That highly-honored unit's lineage and history is held by the present-day 306th Flying Training Group, which is an active unit of the Air Education and Training Command's Nineteenth Air Force, stationed at the United States Air Force Academy.
During the Cold War, Strategic Air Command established the 306th Bombardment Wing initially as at B-47 Stratojet medium bomb wing at MacDill AFB, Florida in 1948. It later became a B-52 Stratofortresses and KC-135 Stratotanker heavy bomb wing at McCoy AFB, Florida. The wing was inactivated in 1974 with the closure of McCoy.
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History
- For additional history and lineage, see 306th Flying Training Group
B-47 Stratojet era
Activated as the 306th Bombardment Wing, Medium on 11 August 1948 at MacDill AFB, Florida, but not activated until 1 September 1950. Upon activation, the predecessor 306th Bombardment Group was assigned as it's operational component, with its flying squadrons attached directly to the wing. Initially equipped with B-29 Superfortresses, the 306th was capable of projecting United States airpower on a worldwide scale. In 1951, the wing received some B-50A Superfortresss from the 43d Bombardment Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB to supplement the B-29s but used them for non-operational training flights.
The wing began upgrading to the jet age in June 1951 with the arrival of the new B-47A Stratojet swept-wing medium bomber. The B-47As, however, were essentially identical to the XB-47 prototype tested by Air Materiel Command and were intended to act as a training outfit to prepare future B-47B crews. The B-47As were primarily training aircraft and were not considered as being combat ready, since most of them were unarmed and were initially without almost any of their vital electronic components.
In November 1952, the first production B-47B Stratojets arrived, and the wing became operationally ready with the jet medium bomber in June 1953. The B-47s of the 306th, along with their KC-97 Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, became SAC's first line of defense in their Nuclear Deterrence strategy. B-47Bs from the 306th Bomb Wing began a 90-day rotational training mission to England in June 1953, marking the first overseas deployment of the B-47.
For its role in advancing jet bombardment tactics, the wing was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award citation (OUC). During this period, the 306th also figured prominently in the filming of the 1955 James Stewart and June Allyson film, Strategic Air Command, a portion of which was filmed in and around both the 305th Bombardment Wing and 306th Bombardment Wing areas and their B-47 aircraft at MacDill AFB.
In the early 1960s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. Began sending aircraft to Davis-Monthan inventory beginning in late 1962, sending the last of the wing's aircraft to AMARC in 1963.
B-52 Stratofortress era
As the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the B-47, the 306th Bombardment was inactivated at MacDill AFB on 1 April 1963 and immediately reactivated the same day at McCoy AFB, Florida as the 306th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (SAC), where it replaced the provisional 4047th Strategic Wing'.
The 4047th was activated on 1 July 1961 under the SAC Eighth Air Force, 823d Air Division to disburse it's B-52 bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The wing consisted of the 347th Bombardment Squadron, consisting of 15 B-52Ds, and the KC-135-equipped 306th Air Refueling Squadron. Half of the aircraft were maintained on fifteen minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat. SAC Strategic Wings were considered a provisional unit by HQ, USAF and could not carry a permanent history or lineage.
In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.
Upon assumption of the aircraft and personnel of the 4047th SW, the 347th BS was redesignated as the 367th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons. The 306th ARS designation was unchanged, and component support units were also redesignated to the 306th numerical designation of the newly-established wing.
Immediately after the move to McCoy, the 306th began transitioning to the B-52D version of the Stratofortress during the spring and summer of 1963 and assumed strategic nuclear alert duties under SAC's "Chrome Dome" airborne alert program. Under this program, each SAC bomb wing was periodically tasked, for a specified period of time, to maintain a portion of its bombers airborne and ready to strike. On November 16, 1963, two of eight ground alert lines maintained by the wing's 367th Bombardment Squadron (367 BS) were converted to airborne alert lines. Two B-52Ds were flown in cell along the southern "Chrome Dome" route across Spain to the Mediterranean every day until December 31, 1963. Each B-52D required two air refuelings inbound to Spain and two more outbound over the Mediterranean, with mission duration averaging 25 to 27 hours in length. The 306th Air Refueling Squadron (306 ARS) ground alert was also degraded to support "Chrome Dome" refueling along the southern route.
The 306 BW was tasked to maintain airborne alert several more times until the wing deployed to support conventional bombing operations in Southeast Asia in 1966. Ground alert was reinstated at the SAC directed 50 percent of aircraft assigned rate after each "Chrome Dome" period. In January 1964, KC-135 tanker crews changed to seven day alert tours while B-52 bomber crews maintained a three-four day cycle. One additional tanker alert line was added for a total of nine.
Beginning in 1966, the 306 BW also began routinely deploying to Southeast Asia as part of Arc Light and Linebacker I/II operations in Vietnam, deploying at various times to Andersen AFB, Guam; Kadena AB, Okinawa and U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand. During the 1960s and 1970s, the 306th also served as the host wing for numerous iterations of the annual SAC Bombing and Navigation Competition held at McCoy AFB. While deployed to Andersen AFB during Linebacker II operations on December 21–22, 1972, the 306 BW sustained a combat loss when B-52D, AF Serial No. 56-0669, callsign "Straw 2", was hit by a surface-to-air missile after attacking the Gia Lam railway repair shops east of Hanoi. Despite heavy damage, Straw 2 attempted to divert to Thailand. The aircraft crossed ito Laos, became uncontrollable, and all crewmembers except the radar navigator were rescued.[1] This loss came on top of a stateside loss earlier in the year on March 31, 1972, when B-52D, AF Serial Number 56-0625, sustained multiple engine failures and an engine pod fire shortly after takeoff from McCoy AFB on a routine training mission. The aircraft immediately attempted to return to the base, but crashed just short of Runway 18R in a civilian residential area of Orlando, immediately north of the airfield, destroying or damaging eight homes. The crew of 7 airmen and 1 civilian on the ground were killed.[2][3]
The 306th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) was inactivated in July 1974 as part of a post-Vietnam reduction in force and the related base closure process for McCoy AFB. Its B-52D and KC-135A aircraft assets were redistributed to other SAC wings. In 1984, a B-52D, on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, was flown to the former McCoy AFB, now Orlando International Airport, for permanent static display at the airport's McCoy AFB / B-52 Memorial Park.
306th Strategic Wing
On August 15, 1976, the 306th was activated once again as the 306th Strategic Wing (SAC) at Ramstein AB, West Germany, with the 306 SW assuming operational control for SAC air refueling and reconnaissance resources in the European Theater. On July 1, 1978, the 306 SW’s headquarters moved to RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom. For most of this period the 306 SW operated KC-135s and RC-135s from RAF Mildenhall, Zaragoza AB, Spain and Helinikon AB, Greece. In 1985, KC-10A Extender aircraft were assigned to Zaragoza. The 306th supported air refueling requirements for a variety of aircraft in or transiting the European Theater including USAF EC-135s, RC-135s, USAF & NATO E-3As, USAF F-111s, F-4s, C-141s, C-5s, KC-10s, MC-130s, B-52s, B-1s, SR-71s, and RAF Lightning F6 aircraft. The 306 SW operated at RAF Mildenhall until February 1, 1992 when it was inactivated concurrent with SAC's disestablishment and the establishment/activation of the 100th Air Refueling Wing (100 ARW) under United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). With its tanker mission transferred to (USAFE), the 100 ARW assumed the previous responsibilities of the 306 SW at RAF Mildenhall and became Headquarters, European Tanker Task Force.
Lineage
- Established as 306th Bombardment Wing, Medium, on 11 August 1948
- Activated on 1 September 1950
- Redesignated 306th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, on 1 April 1963 and replacing 4047th Strategic Wing (inactivated)
- Organized on 1 April 1963 assuming the resources (Manpower, Aircraft, Equipment, Weapons, & Facilities) of the 4047th Strategic Wing
- Inactivated on 1 July 1974
- Redesignated 306th Strategic Wing on 14 August 1976
- Activated on 15 August 1976.
- Inactivated on 1 February 1992
Assignments
- Second Air Force, 1 September 1950
- 6th Air Division, 10 February 1951
- Attached to: 7th Air Division, 11 June-7 September 1953
- Attached to: 5th Air Division, 5 January-21 February 1955 and 23 October 1956-9 January 1957
- Attached to: Sidi Slimane Task Force, 9–15 October 1957
- 823d Air Division, 6 February 1961
- 42d Air Division, 30 June 1971-1 July 1974
- Strategic Air Command, 15 August 1976-1 February 1992
Components
Group
- 306th Bombardment Group: 1 September 1950-16 June 1952 (not operational, 10 February 1951-16 June 1952)
Squadrons
- 305th Air Refueling Squadron: attached 5 January 1954-21 February 1955; attached c. 20 December 1956—c. 9 January 1957; assigned 1 May 1959-15 January 1960
- 306th Air Refueling Squadron: attached 10 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-1 July 1962 (detached 8 November-22 December 1954, 5 January-21 February 1955, 20 December 1956-9 January 1957, c. 9–15 October 1957, 1 July-5 October 1958, 5 April-12 July 1961; not operational, 13 June-1 July 1962); assigned 1 April 1963-30 September 1973 (not operational, 1–30 September 1973)
- 367th Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-1 July 1974 (not operational, 3 January-1 April 1963 and c. 1 November 1973-1 July 1974)
- 368th Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-1 April 1963
- 369th Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-1 April 1963 (not operational, 3 January-1 April 1963)
- 423d Bombardment Squadron: 1 January 1959-1 January 1962 (not operational, 15 October 1961-1 January 1962)
- 919th Air Refueling Squadron: 25 March 1967-30 June 1971 (not operational, 15–30 June 1971)
Stations
- MacDill AFB, Florida, 1 September 1950
- McCoy AFB, Florida, 1 April 1963-1 July 1974
- Ramstein AB, West Germany, 15 August 1976
- RAF Mildenhall, England, 1 July 1978-1 February 1992
Aircraft assigned
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See also
- List of B-50 units of the United States Air Force
- List of B-47 units of the United States Air Force
- List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- ^ Vietnam Air Losses, Chris Hobson, Midland Publishing, Hinckley, UK, c2001, p243, ISBN 1-85780-115-6
- ^ http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/McCoy_AFB.htm
- ^ http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=463342 Vanderbilt Television News Archive
- Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories, 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
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