397th Bombardment Wing
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397th Bombardment Wing
| 397th Bombardment Wing | |
|---|---|
 397th Bombardment Wing Insignia |
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| Active | 1943–1946, 1963–1968 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | Bombardment |
| Part of | Strategic Air Command |
| Motto | Custodes Libertatis "Guardians of Freedom" |
The 397th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the Strategic Air Command 45th Air Division. It was last stationed at Dow Air Force Base, Maine, and was inactivated on 25 April 1968.
It's bestowed predecessor unit, the 397th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It deployed to Western Europe with Ninth Air Force as a medium bombardment unit equipped with B-26 Marauders. It returned to the United States during December 1945, being inactivated on 6 January 1946.
Reactivated in 1962, the 397th Bombardment Wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Command's deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing. It was inactivated with the closure of Dow AFB.
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Contents
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History
World War II
Media related to United States Army Air Forces 397th Bombardment Group at Wikimedia Commons
Constituted as 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 20 March 1943. Activated on 20 April 1943. Trained with B-26's. Moved to RAF Gosfield England, March–April 1944, and assigned to Ninth Air Force, however. no sooner had they arrived than they were moved on to RAF Rivenhall. The group's identification marking was a yellow diagonal band across both sides of the vertical tailplane.
Over the next few days, more than 60 'bare metal' B-26s were to be seen on the Rivenhall hardstands. Although fresh from the training grounds in south-eastern United States, and having only reached the UK early in April. the 347th undertook its first combat mission on 20 April: an attack on a Pas de Calais V-1 site.
During its tenure of Rivenhall the 397th undertook 56 bombing missions, 32 of them attacks on bridges. Other targets were enemy airfields, rail junctions, fuel and ammunition stores, V-weapon sites and various military installations in France and the Low Countries. During these missions a total of 16 B-26s were missing in action and several others wrecked in crash-landings at the base.
Early in August, officially on the 5th, the 397th transferred from Rivenhall to RAF Hurn in Hampshire, to give the Marauders a better radius of action as the break-out of the Allied forces from the Normandy beachhead meant that potential targets were receding.
Although moving from Rivenhall, the group arrived without ceasing operations and flew 72 missions from Hurn before moving to the Advanced Landing Ground at Gorges, France (A-26) on 19 August, with the last departures on the 30th and 31st. Three Marauders were lost during the month's stay.
On the continent, the 397th struck enemy positions at St Malo and Brest and bombed targets in the Rouen area as Allied armies swept across the Seine and advanced to the Siegfried Line. The group began flying missions into Germany in September, attacking such targets as bridges, defended areas, and storage depots.
The 397th struck the enemy's communications during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945) and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 23 December 1944 when the group withstood heavy flak and fighter attack to sever a railway bridge at Eller, a vital link in the enemy's supply line across the Moselle.
The group continued to support the Allied drive into Germany until April 1945, being stationed at Venlo, Holland (Y-55) on VE-Day. It returned to the United States during December 1945 – January 1946, being inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 6 January 1946.
Strategic Air Command
On 15 February 1960, Strategic Air Command established the 4038th Strategic Wing at Dow AFB, Maine as part of SAC's plan to disburse its B-52 Stratofortress heavy 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 341st Bombardment Squadron, consisting of 15 B-52Gs, and the KC-135-equipped 71st 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.
The 4038th SW was redesignated as the 397th Bombardment Wing (397th BW) on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Eighth Air Force, 6th Air Division. The 341st BS was also redesignated as the 864th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons. The 71st ARS designation was unchanged, and component support units were also redesignated to the 410th numerical designation of the newly-established wing. As under the Tri-Deputate organization, all flying components were directly assigned to the wing, no operational group element was activated. Therefore the history, lineage and honors of the 397th Bombardment Group were bestowed upon the newly established wing upon activation.
The 397th Bomb Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet operational commitments of Strategic Air Command, including deployments to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. By 1968, Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States' strategic triad, and the need for B-52s had been reduced. In addition, funds were also needed to cover the costs of combat operations in Indochina. The 397th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 25 April 1968 and its aircraft were reassigned to other SAC units. As part of the inactivation, Dow AFB was closed.
Lineage
- Constituted as 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 20 March 1943
- Activated on 20 April 1943
- Inactivated on 6 January 1946
- Established as the 397th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, on 15 November 1962
- Activated on 15 November 1962. Scheduled to replace the 4038th Strategic Wing on 1 January 1963
- Organized on 1 February 1963 assuming the resources (Manpower, Aircraft, Equipment, Weapons, & Facilities) of the 4038th Strategic Wing
- Inactivated on 25 April 1968
Assignments
- Third Air Force, 20 April 1943
- 98th Bombardment Wing, 5 April 1944 – December 1945
- Army Service Forces (for inactivation), 5–6 January 1946
- Strategic Air Command, 15 November 1962
- 6th Air Division, 1 February 1963
- 45th Air Division, 2 July 1966 – 25 April 1968
Components
- 19th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 February – 15 June 1963 (KC-97) Geographicly Separate Unit – KC-97 Otis AFB, Massachusetts
- 71st Air Refueling Squadron, 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968 (KC-135)
- 341st Air Refueling Squadron, 1 February-1 September 1963 (KC-97)
- 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946; 1 February 1963-25 April 1968
- 597th Bombardment Squadron (9F), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946
- 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946
- 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946
Note: The 596th acquired the B-52Gs previously used by the 341 BS, 4038th Strategic Wing on 1 February 1963 and flew them until 1 April 1968, when detached to 2nd Bomb Wing control. Moved to Barksdale AFB and officially reassigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing on 15 April 1968.
Stations
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Aircraft
- Martin B-26 Marauder (1943–1946)
- Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (1963–1968)
- Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker (1963–1964)
- Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (1964–1968)
See also
- List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force
- List of units using the B-26 Marauder during World War II
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
Bibliography
- Beck, Henry C. Jr. The 397th Bomb Group (M), a Pictorial History. Cleveland, Ohio: Crane Howard, 1946.
- Bendiner, Elmer. The Fall of the Fortresses. A Personal Account of the Most Daring, and Deadly, American Air Battles of World War II. New York: Putnam, 1980.
- Freeman, Roger A. UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle, 1994. ISBN 0-900913-80-0.
- Freeman, Roger A. The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle, 1996. ISBN 1-85409-272-3
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories, 1947–1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
- Stovall, James B. Jr. Wings of Courage. Memphis, Tennessee: Global Press, 1991.
- Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
External links
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