509th Composite Group

509th Composite Group
1946 emblem of the 509th Composite Group while part of the 58th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy
Active	17 December 1944 – 10 July 1946
Country	USA
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Type	Bombardment and aerial transport composite
Role	Atomic warfare
Size	1767 personnel, 15 B-29 and 5 C-54 aircraft
Part of	313th Bomb Wing Twentieth Air Force
Garrison/HQ	North Field (Tinian), Mariana Islands
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1945)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Paul Tibbets

The 509th Composite Group (509th CG) was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II, and tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.

In the postwar era, the 509th Composite Group was one of the original ten USAAF bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946, the only one equipped with specially-configured B-29 Superfortress capable of delivering atomic bombs. It was standardized as a bombardment group and redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 10 July 1946.

Assignments

• Second Air Force, 17 Dec 1944;
• 315th Bombardment Wing, 18 Dec 1944;
• 313th Bombardment Wing, c. Jun 1945;
• Second Air Force, 10 Oct 1945;
• 58th Bombardment Wing, 17 Jan 1946;
• Fifteenth Air Force, 31 Mar 1946

Organization

Wartime command organization

Squadron commanders

Component support organizations

History

See the 509th Operations Group for additional group history and lineage.

Organization, training, and security

The 509th Composite Group was constituted on 9 December 1944, and activated on 17 December 1944, at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Tibbets.^{[2]:3[n 1]} In the first week of September Tibbets was assigned to organize a combat group to develop the means of delivering an atomic weapon by airplane against targets in Germany and Japan, then command it in combat. Because the organization developed by Tibbets was self-sustaining, with flying squadrons of both Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers and transport aircraft, the group was designated as a "composite" rather than a "bombardment" unit.^[2]:2

Headquarters of the 509th Composite Group on Tinian in 1945

On 8 September, working with the Manhattan Engineering District at Site Y in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Tibbets selected Wendover for his training base (over Great Bend, Kansas, and Mountain Home, Idaho)^[3] because of its remoteness. On 14 September 1944^[4] the 393d Bomb Squadron, without airplanes, arrived at Wendover from its former base at Fairmont Army Air Base, Nebraska, where it had been in group training with the 504th Bomb Group (Very Heavy) since 12 March. When its parent group deployed to the Marianas in early November 1944, the squadron was assigned directly to the Second Air Force until creation of the 509th CG.^[5] Originally consisting of twenty-one crews, fifteen were selected to continue training and were organized into three flights of five crews, lettered A, B, and C. The 393d BS was commanded by Lt. Col. Thomas J. Classen, who like Tibbets had combat experience in heavy bombers, commanding a B-17 of the 11th Bomb Group.^[2]:3

The 320th Troop Carrier Squadron, the other flying unit of the 509th, came into being because of the highly secret work of the group. The organization that was to become the 509th required its own transports for the movement of both personnel and materiel, resulting in creation of an ad hoc unit nicknamed "The Green Hornet Line".^[6][7] Crews for this unit were acquired from the six 393d crews not selected to continue B-29 training, some of whom chose to remain with the 509th rather than be assigned to a replacement pool of the Second Air Force. They began using C-47 Skytrains already at Wendover and in November 1944 acquired three C-54 Skymasters.^{[8][n 2]} The 320th TCS was constituted and activated on the same dates as the group.^[2]:1

Other support units were activated at Wendover from personnel already present and working with its Project W-47 (superseded by Project Alberta) or in the 216th AAF Base Unit, both affiliated with the Site Y project. The 390th Air Service Group was created as the command echelon for the 603rd Air Engineering Squadron, the 1027th Air Material squadron, and its own Air Base Support Squadron, but as these units became independent operationally, acted as the basic support unit for the entire 509th Group in providing quarters, rations, medical care, postal service and other basic support functions. The 603rd AES was unique in that it provided depot-level B-29 maintenance in the field, obviating the necessity of sending aircraft back to the United States for major repairs.^{[n 3]} The 603rd made a number of modifications to the first contract order of Silverplate B-29s that were later incorporated as specifications for the combat models.^[8]

The 393d Bomb Squadron conducted ground school training only until delivery of three modified Silverplate airplanes in mid-October 1944 allowed resumption of flight training.^[2]:46 These aircraft had extensive bomb bay modifications and a "weaponeer" station installed. Initial training operations identified numerous other modifications necessary to the mission, particularly in reducing the overall weight of the airplane to offset the heavy loads it would be required to carry. Five more Silverplates were delivered in November and six in December, giving the group 14 for its training operations. In January and February 1945, 10 of the 15 crews under the command of the Group S-3 (operations officer) were assigned temporary duty at Batista Field, San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba, where they trained in long-range over-water navigation.^[9]

On 6 March 1945, concurrent with the activation of Project Alberta, the 1st Ordnance Squadron, Special (Aviation) was activated at Wendover, again using Army Air Forces personnel on hand or already at Los Alamos. Its purpose was to provide "skilled machinists, welders and munitions workers"^[2]:1 and special equipment to the group to enable it to assemble atomic weapons at its operating base, thereby allowing the weapons to be transported more safely in their component parts. A rigorous candidate selection process was used to recruit personnel, reportedly with an 80% "washout" rate,^[2]:12 and those made a part of the unit were not permitted transfer until the end of the war, nor were they allowed to travel without escorts from Military Intelligence units.^[8]

Two anecdotes illustrate the level of security affecting the 509th's personnel and equipment. En route to Tinian on 4 June 1945, the B-29 that became The Great Artiste made an intermediate stop at Mather Field, near Sacramento, California. The commanding general of the base allegedly attempted to enter the aircraft to inspect it and was warned by a plane guard who aimed his carbine at the general's chest that he could not do so.^[10] A similar incident occurred to a Project Alberta courier, 2nd Lt. William A. King,^{[n 4]} escorting the pit (plutonium core) of the "Fat Man" implosion bomb to Tinian, strapped to the floor of one of the 509th's C-54s. On 26 July 1945 it made a refueling stop at Hickam Field, Hawaii. The commander of a combat unit returning to the United States learned that the Skymaster had only one passenger and attempted to enter the C-54 to requisition it as transport for his men. He was prevented from doing so by Lt. King, who aimed a .45 caliber automatic pistol at the colonel.^[11]

With the addition of the 1st Ordnance Squadron to its roster, the 509th CG had an authorized strength of 225 officers and 1,542 enlisted men, almost all of whom deployed to Tinian. The 320th TCS did not officially deploy but kept its base of operations at Wendover. In addition to its authorized strength, the 509th had attached to it on Tinian 51 civilian and military personnel of Project Alberta, and two representatives from Washington, D.C.,^[12] Brigadier Thomas Farrell (General Leslie Groves' executive officer) and Rear Admiral William R. Purnell of the Military Policy Committee.^[13]

The 509th transferred four of its 14 training Silverplate B-29's to the 216th AAF Base Unit in February 1945.^{[n 5]} In April the third modification increment of Silverplates, which would be their combat aircraft,^{[n 6]} began coming off the Martin-Omaha assembly line, and the remaining ten training B-29s were placed in storage. Each bombardier completed at least 50 practice drops of inert pumpkin bombs and Col. Tibbets declared his group combat-ready.^[14] Preparation for Overseas Movement (POM) began in April.

The ground support echelon of the 509th CG, consisting of 44 officers and 815 enlisted men commanded by Major George W. Westcott of the Headquarters Squadron,^[2]:15 received movement orders and moved by rail on 26 April 1945 to its port of embarkation at Seattle, Washington. On 6 May the support elements sailed on the C1-B Merchant Marine ship SS Cape Victory for the Marianas, while group materiel was shipped on the Liberty ship SS Emile Berliner.^{[n 7][2]:17-18} An advance party of the air echelon, consisting of 29 officers and 61 enlisted men commanded by Group Intelligence Officer (S-2) Lt. Col. Hazen Payette, flew by C-54 to North Field, Tinian, between 15 and 22 May.^{[n 8][2]:19-22} It was joined by the ground echelon on 29 May 1945, marking the group's official change of station.^[7] Project Alberta's "Destination Team" also sent most of its members to Tinian to supervise the assembly, loading, and dropping of the bombs under the administrative title of 1st Technical Services Detachment, Miscellaneous War Department Group.^[2]:25[15]

Equipment and crews

B-29, "BOCKSCAR", 44-27297. Dropped "FAT MAN", 9 August 1945, on Nagasaki^{[n 9]}

Combat B-29's of the 393d Bomb Squadron (VH) on Tinian

Source:Richard H. Campbell, The Silverplate Bombers, ISBN 0-7864-2139-8

*These airplane commanders and crews exchanged aircraft assignments on 9 August 1945

Color "Nose Art of the 15 B-29 Superfortresses"

Although all of the B-29's were named as shown, the only nose art applied to the aircraft before the atomic bomb missions was that of Enola Gay.^[16] With the exceptions of Victors 71 and 94, the others were applied some time in August 1945. Luke the Spook was not named until November 1945, and it is not known if nose art was ever applied to Jabit III,^[17] although the version shown at the 509th Yearbook gallery was first shown in 1997.^[18]

Operational history

Aircraft of the 509th Composite Group on Tinian. Left to right: Big Stink, The Great Artiste, and Enola Gay

B-29 Straight Flush, weather scout for Hiroshima mission.

The air echelon^{[n 10]} began deploying from Wendover 4 June 1945, with the first B-29 arriving at North Field on 11 June. The group was assigned to the 313th Bomb Wing, whose four groups had been flying missions against Japan since mid-February, but for security reasons their permanent base area was near the runways on the island's north tip, several miles away from the main installations in the center of Tinian.^{[7][n 11]} Each crew was required to attend the 313th Wing's week-long "Lead Crew Ground School" on its arrival.^{[n 12]} Two of the group's bombers were not delivered by Martin-Omaha until early July. They remained at Wendover until 27 July to act as transports to Tinian for two of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb assemblies.^[19]

Because of their geographical isolation from the combat crews of other groups, rigidly enforced security measures, and exclusion from participation in regular bombing missions, crews of the 393d BS were resented and ridiculed as "lacking in discipline" and having a "soft life".^[20] The official history of the Army Air Forces characterized the ridicule as "epitomized in a satirical verse entitled Nobody Knows, with a recurring refrain, 'For the 509th is winning the war.'"^[21]

The group was assigned tail markings of a circle outline (denoting the 313th Wing) around an arrowhead pointing forward, but at the beginning of August its B-29's were repainted with the tail markings of other XXI Bomber Command groups as a security measure. The Victor (identification assigned by the squadron) numbers previously assigned the 393d aircraft were changed to avoid confusion with B-29s of the groups from whom the tail identifiers were borrowed.^{[22][n 13]} Victor numbers 82, 89, 90, and 91 (including the Enola Gay) carried the markings of the 6th Bomb Group (Circle R); Victors 71, 72, 73, and 84 those of the 497th Bomb Group (large "A"); Victors 77, 85, 86, and 88 those of the 444th Bomb Group (triangle N); and Victors 83, 94, and 95 those of the 39th Bomb Group (square P).^[23]

After ground training for the combat crews, the 509th began operations on 30 June 1945, with a calibration flight involving nine of the B-29s on hand. During the month of July and the first eight days of August the thirteen bombers of the 393d BS flew an intensive training^{[n 14]} and mission rehearsal program that consisted of:

• 17 individual training sorties without ordnance,
• 15 practice bombing missions between 1 and 22 July against airfields on Japanese-held Truk, Marcus, Rota, and Guguan in which 90 B-29 sorties dropped 500- and 1000-pound bombs to practice radar and visual bombing procedures,^[24]
• 12 combat missions between 20 and 29 July against targets in Japan dropping high-explosive "pumpkin bombs", in which 37 B-29 sorties delivered conventional-bomb replications of the "Fat Man,"^{[25][n 15]}
• 7 component-tests between 23 July and 8 August involving rehearsal drops of four inert "Little Boy" (gun-type fission weapon) and three "Fat Man" assemblies,^[26] and
• a practice mission on 29 July to Iwo Jima in which an inert "Little Boy" was unloaded and then reloaded to rehearse the contingency plan for using a back-up bomber in an emergency.^[26][27]

While this training was taking place, the disassembled components of the first two atomic bombs were transshipped to Tinian by various means. For the uranium bomb code-named "Little Boy", the U-235 projectile and bomb pre-assemblies left Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, California, on 16 July aboard the cruiser USS Indianapolis, arriving 26 July.^{[n 16]} That same day three C-54s of the 320th TCS left Kirtland Army Air Field, each with a pair of the U-235 target rings, and landed at North Field on 28 July.^[28][29]

The components for the bomb code-named "Fat Man" all arrived by air. On 26 July the bomb's plutonium core (encased in its insertion capsule) and the beryllium-polonium initiator were transported from Kirtland to Tinian by C-54 in the custody of Project Alberta couriers, also arriving 28 July. Three "Fat Man" pre-assemblies designated F31, F32, and F33 were picked up at Kirtland by three B-29's, two from the 509th and one from the 216th AAFBU, on 28 July and transported to North Field, arriving 2 August.^{[30][n 17]}

The final item of preparation for the operation came on 29 July 1945. General Carl Spaatz, commanding all strategic bombers in the Pacific, arrived at Tinian with the order for the attack. Drafted by Brig.Gen. Leslie Groves and sent by Gen. George C. Marshall from Potsdam on 25 July,^[31] the order designated four targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Niigata, and Nagasaki, and ordered the attack to be made "as soon as weather will permit after about 3 August."^[32]

Atomic Bomb Missions

Enola Gay taxiing after its return from the Hiroshima mission

The mission profile for both atomic missions called for weather scouts to precede the strike force by an hour, reporting weather conditions in code over each proposed target. The strike force consisted of a bombing aircraft, with the aircraft commander responsible for all decisions in reaching the target and the bomb commander (weaponeer) responsible for all decisions regarding dropping of the bomb; a blast instrumentation aircraft which would fly the wing of the strike aircraft and drop instruments by parachute into the target area; and a camera ship, which would also carry scientific observers. Each mission had an additional "spare" aircraft pre-positioned on Iwo Jima to take over carrying the bomb if the strike aircraft encountered mechanical problems.^{[n 18]}

The first mission, attacking Hiroshima, was flown as planned and executed without significant problems or diversion from plan.^{[n 19]} The second originally targeted Kokura and encountered numerous problems which resulted in a delay in bombing of almost two hours, the bombing of the secondary target of Nagasaki, detonation of the bomb some distance from the designated aiming point at that target, and a diversion of the strike force to emergency landings on Okinawa because of a lack of fuel. However the basic objectives of the mission were met despite the problems.^{[n 20]}

Lieutenant Jacob Beser, a radar countermeasures expert, flew on both attack aircraft (the only man to do so), although Maj. Charles W. Sweeney and crew observed Hiroshima from The Great Artiste and dropped the bomb on Nagasaki from Bockscar. Lawrence H. Johnston of Project Alberta observed all three nuclear explosions, including the Trinity test.

Mission compositions

While the Nagasaki mission was in progress, two B-29's of the 509th took off from Tinian to return to Wendover. The crews of Lt. Col. Classen in the unnamed Victor 94, and Capt. John A. Wilson in Jabit III, together with ground support crews, were sent back to the United States to stage for the possibility of transporting further bomb pre-assemblies to Tinian.^[17] Groves expected to have another atomic bomb ready for shipment on 13 August and use on 19 August, with three more available in September and a further three in October.^[35]

However the pit for the third bomb was still at Site Y on 13 August when Groves ordered that all shipments of material be stopped. His order reached Los Alamos in time to keep the pit from being shipped.^{[36][n 21]} The first "Atomic War" lasted 8 days: 6 August through 13 August 1945.

Post atomic bomb operations

After each atomic mission the group conducted other combat operations, making a series of pumpkin bomb attacks on 8 and 14 August.^{[n 22]} After the announcement of the Japanese surrender, however, the 509th CG flew three further training missions involving 31 sorties on 18, 20 and 22 August, then stood down from operations. The group made a total of 210 operational sorties from 30 June to 22 August, aborted four additional flights, and had only a single aircraft fail to take off. 140 sorties involved the dropping of live ordnance.^[37] 60 flights were credited as combat missions: 49 pumpkin bomb and 11 atomic bomb sorties.^{[38][n 23]}

The unit returned to the United States on 6 November 1945, stationed at Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico, with one of its bombers damaged beyond economical repair in a landing accident in September. Eight additional Silverplate B-29's were delivered to Wendover^{[n 24]} and joined the group in Roswell. Col. William H. Blanchard replaced Col. Tibbets as group commander on 22 January 1946, and also became the first commander of the 509th Bomb Wing. The 715th and 830th Bomb Squadrons were assigned to the 509th on 6 May 1946, and the group was redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 10 July. The 320th TCS was inactivated on 19 August.

At Roswell, the 509th became the nuclear strike and deterrence core of the newly formed Strategic Air Command, and was the only unit capable of delivery of nuclear weapons until June 1948, when B-50 Superfortresses were initially deployed. The 509th itself converted to the B-50 and transferred its Silverplate B-29s to the squadrons of the 97th Bombardment Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas.^[39]

Depictions

The training and operations of the 509th CG were dramatized in a Hollywood film, Above and Beyond (1952), with Robert Taylor cast in the role of Tibbets. The story of the 509th was re-told in 1980 in a partly fictionalized made-for-television film Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb, with Patrick Duffy portraying Tibbets.^[40] The operations of the 509th were treated to a lesser extent in the docudramas The Beginning or the End (1947) and Day One (1989).

Campaigns

Air Combat, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign

Air Offensive, Japan

Eastern Mandates

Western Pacific

Honors

Department of the Air Force Special Order GB-294, dated 2 September 1999, awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (with Valor) to the 509th Composite Group for outstanding achievement in combat for the period 1 July 1945 to 14 August 1945.^[41]

See also

	United States Air Force portal
	Military of the United States portal

• Bockscar
• Enola Gay
• Paul Tibbets
• Project Alberta
• Pumpkin bomb
• Silverplate

Notes

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

Footnotes

Citations

References

Further reading

External links

• "509th Operations Group". AFHRA. http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10517. Retrieved 1 January 2010. 
• Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association, Inc., maintained by The Atomic Heritage Foundation
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress.Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Aircraft Retrieved: 4 November 2007.
• 509th CG Aircraft Page, MPHPA
• National Museum of the USAF B-29 Superfortress fact sheet

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v t e Strategic Air Command (SAC) Bases Active (MAJCOM) CONUS Altus (AETC) Andersen (PACAF) Andrews (AMC) Barksdale (ACC) Beale (ACC) Bolling (AFDW) Cannon (AFSOC) Columbus (AETC) Davis-Monthan (ACC) Dyess (ACC) Eielson (PACAF) Ellsworth (ACC) Eglin (AFMC) F. E. Warren (AFSPC) Fairchild (AMC) Forbes (ANG) Grand Forks (AMC) Grissom (AFRC) Homestead (AFRC) Lincoln (ANG) Little Rock (AETC) MacDill (AMC) Malmstrom (AFSPC) March (AFRC) McChord (AMC) McConnell (AMC) McGuire (AMC) Minot (ACC) Mountain Home (ACC) Nellis (ACC) Offutt (ACC) Patrick (AFSPC) Pease (ANG) Rickenbacker (ANG) Robins (AFMC) Seymour Johnson (ACC) Sheppard (AETC) Selfridge (ANG) Travis (AMC) Vandenburg (AFSPC) Westover (AFRC) Whiteman (ACC) Wright-Patterson (AFMC) Overseas RAF Alconbury (USAFE) Diego Garcia (RAF) Kadena (PACAF) RAF Fairford (USAFE) RAF Lakenheath (USAFE) RAF Mildenhall (USAFE) Thule (AFSPC) Inactive CONUS Amarillo Bergstrom Biggs Calumet Air Force Base Carswell Castle Chennault Clinton-Sherman Dow Eaker Glasgow Grand Island (AAF) Griffiss Hunter K. I. Sawyer Kearney Kincheloe Larson Loring Lowry Mather McCoy Plattsburgh Presque Isle Ramey R.I. Bong (unbuilt) Shilling Stead Turner Walker Wurtsmith Overseas RAF Bassingbourn Ben Guerir Boulhaut RAF Brize Norton RAF Bruntingthorpe RAF Burtonwood RAF Chelveston RAF Greenham Common Goose Bay Ernest Harmon RAF High Wycombe RAF Upper Heyford Torrejón RAF Manston Morón Nouasseur RAF Scampton RAF Sculthorpe Sidi Slimane RAF South Ruislip U-Tapao RAF Waddington RAF Woodbridge RAF Wyton Zaragoza Units Air Forces Second Air Force Eighth Air Force Fifteenth Air Force Sixteenth Air Force Twentieth Air Force Divisions Air 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 12th 14th 17th 19th 21st 36th 40th 42d 45th 47th 57th 100th 311th 801st 802d 806th 817th 822d 823d 4310th Strategic Aerospace 1st 18th 22d 810th 813th 816th 818th 819th 820th 821st 825th Strategic Missile 13th Wings Bombardment 2d 5th 7th 9th 17th 19th 22nd 28th 39th 42d 43rd 68th 70th 72d 92nd 93d 96th 97th 99th 303d 319th 320th 340th 379th 380th 397th 410th 416th 449th 450th 454th 456th 461st 465th 484th 494th 509th Fighter 1st 4th 12th 27th 31st 33d 56th 71st Strategic Reconnaissance (Fighter) 82d 407th 506th 508th Missile 44th 90th 91st 308th 321st 341st 351st 381st 389th 390th 392d 451st 455th 526th 702d 703d 704th 705th Reconnaissance 6th Strategic Reconnaissance 26th Strategic Reconnaissance 55th Strategic Reconnaissance 544th Aerospace Reconnaissance Technical Refueling 11th 100th 301st 305th 384th 452d 497th 499th 500th Strategic Aerospace 310th 385th 462d AFCON 95th 98th 306th 307th 376th MAJCOM 3918th 3920th 3960th 3970th 3973d 4026th 4038th 4039th 4042d 4043d 4047th 4080th 4081st 4082d 4083d 4123d 4126th 4128th 4130th 4133d 4134th 4135th 4136th 4137th 4138th 4141st 4157th 4158th 4170th 4228th 4238th 4239th 4241st 4245th 4252nd 4258th 4321st Support 40th USAAF Groups *=Initial Assigned Unit Upon SAC's Activation Bombardment 2d (7/47) 7th (10/46) 28th (8/46) 40th (3/46*) 43rd (10/46) 44th (3/46*) 92nd (10/46) 93d (3/46*) 97th (8/46) 98th (7/47) 301st (8/46) 307th (8/46) 444th (3/46*) 448th (3/46*) 449th (3/46*) 467th (3/46*) 485th (3/46*) 498th (3/46*) 509th Composite (3/46*) Fighter 27th (6/47) 55th (2/47) Reconnaissance 91st Strategic Reconnaissance (1/47) Major weapon systems Bombers B-1B B-2 B-17 B-26 B-29 B-36 B-45 B-47 B-50 B-52 B-57 B-58 FB-111 Command & Control DC-130 E-4 EC-135 RC-135 Fighters F-51 F-82 F-84 F-86 F-102 F-111 Missiles ADM-20 AGM-28 AGM-69 AGM-84 AGM-86 AGM-129 HGM-16 LGM-30A/B LGM-30F LGM-30G LGM-118A SM-62 PGM-17A PGM-19A Reconnaissance SR-71 TR-1 U-2 Tankers KB-29 KB-50 KC-10 KC-97 HC-130 KC-130 KC-135 Transport C-45 C-47 C-54 C-82 C-97 C-118 C-119 C-124 C-131 C-135 Commanders Kenney Lemay Power Ryan Nazzaro Holloway Meyer Dougherty Ellis Davis Welch Chain Butler Emblems Strategic Air Command Emblem Gallery (On Wikimedia Commons)

v t e USAAF Twentieth Air Force in World War II Airfields China Hsinching Airfield (A-1) · Kwanghan Airfield (A-3) · Kuinglai Airfield (A-5) · Pengshan Airfield (A-7) India Chakulia Airfield · Dudhkundi Airfield · Piardoba Airfield · Kalaikunda Airfield Marianas Harmon Airfield (Guam)  · Isley Airfield (Saipan)  · North Airfield (Guam)  · North Airfield (Tinian)  · Northwest Airield (Guam)  · West Airfield (Tinian) Units Commands VII Fighter  · XX Bomber  · XXI Bomber Wings 58th Bombardment · 73d Bombardment · 313th Bombardment · 314th Bombardment · 315th Bombardment · 301st Fighter Groups Bombardment 6th Bombardment · 9th Bombardment · 16th Bombardment · 19th Bombardment · 29th Bombardment · 39th Bombardment · 40th Bombardment · 330th Bombardment · 331st Bombardment · 444th Bombardment · 462d Bombardment · 468th Bombardment · 497th Bombardment · 498th Bombardment · 499th Bombardment · 500th Bombardment · 501st Bombardment · 502d Bombardment · 504th Bombardment · 505th Bombardment · 509th Composite Fighter 15th Fighter · 21st Fighter · 413th Fighter · 414th Fighter · 506th Fighter · 507th Fighter United States Army Air Forces First · Second · Third · Fourth · Fifth · Sixth · Seventh · Eighth · Ninth · Tenth · Eleventh · Twelfth · Thirteenth · Fourteenth · Fifteenth · Twentieth

v t e USAAF Second Air Force in World War II Airfields Group Training Stations · Heavy Bombardment Training Stations · Replacement Training Stations · Tactical Airfields · Very Heavy Bomber Bases Units Commands II Air Support Command · II Bomber Command · II Fighter Command  · IV Air Support Command · XX Bomber Command · XXI Bomber Command · XXII Bomber Command Wings 5th Bombardment · 15th Bombardment Training · 16th Bombardment Operational Training · 17th Bombardment Training · 18th Replacement · 21st Bombardment · 46th Bombardment Operational Training · 58th Bombardment · 73d Bombardment · 315th Bombardment · 316th Bombardment Groups Bombardment 2d Bombardment · 6th Bombardment · 7th Bombardment · 9th Bombardment · 12th Bombardment · 16th Bombardment · 17th Bombardment · 19th Bombardment · 25th Bombardment · 29th Bombardment · 34th Bombardment · 39th Bombardment · 40th Bombardment · 42d Bombardment · 46th Bombardment · 47th Bombardment · 48th Bombardment · 85th Bombardment · 86th Bombardment · 86th Bombardment · 88th Bombardment · 94th Bombardment · 95th Bombardment · 96th Bombardment · 99th Bombardment · 100th Bombardment · 301st Bombardment · 302d Bombardment · 303d Bombardment · 304th Bombardment · 305th Bombardment · 306th Bombardment · 307th Bombardment · 308th Bombardment · 312th Bombardment · 330th Bombardment · 331st Bombardment · 333d Bombardment · 346th Bombardment · 351st Bombardment · 376th Bombardment · 379th Bombardment · 381st Bombardment · 382d Bombardment · 383d Bombardment · 384th Bombardment · 385th Bombardment · 388th Bombardment · 390th Bombardment · 393d Bombardment · 395th Bombardment · 396th Bombardment · 398th Bombardment · 399th Bombardment · 400th Bombardment · 401st Bombardment · 407th Bombardment · 415th Bombardment · 418th Bombardment · 444th Bombardment · 445th Bombardment · 446th Bombardment · 447th Bombardment · 448th Bombardment · 449th Bombardment · 450th Bombardment · 451st Bombardment · 452d Bombardment · 453d Bombardment · 454th Bombardment · 455th Bombardment · 456th Bombardment · 457th Bombardment · 458th Bombardment · 459th Bombardment · 460th Bombardment · 461st Bombardment · 462d Bombardment · 464th Bombardment · 467th Bombardment · 468th Bombardment · 469th Bombardment · 470th Bombardment · 471st Bombardment · 472d Bombardment · 484th Bombardment · 485th Bombardment · 486th Bombardment · 487th Bombardment · 488th Bombardment · 489th Bombardment · 490th Bombardment · 491st Bombardment · 493d Bombardment · 494th Bombardment · 497th Bombardment · 498th Bombardment · 499th Bombardment · 500th Bombardment · 501st Bombardment · 502d Bombardment · 504th Bombardment · 505th Bombardment · 509th Composite Fighter 20th Fighter · 54th Fighter · 84th Fighter · 85th Fighter · 507th Fighter · 508th Fighter Reconnaissance 2d Reconnaissance · 3d Reconnaissance · 4th Reconnaissance · 5th Reconnaissance · 6th Reconnaissance · 7th Reconnaissance · 8th Reconnaissance · 71st Reconnaissance · 77th Reconnaissance Troop Carrier 443d Troop Carrier United States Army Air Forces First · Second · Third · Fourth · Fifth · Sixth · Seventh · Eighth · Ninth · Tenth · Eleventh · Twelfth · Thirteenth · Fourteenth · Fifteenth · Twentieth