21st Air Division

21st Air Division
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
21st Air Division emblem (approved 17 July 1952)[2]

The 21st Air Division (21st AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, being stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 23 September 1983.

History

World War II

Initially established in 1942 as the 21st Bombardment Wing, the organization functioned as a staging wing for Second Air Force, and later as a command, processing heavy bombardment crews and aircraft for overseas movement, and then processing men returning from overseas, from 1942–1946.^[2]

Air Force Reserve

From December 1946, it performed routine training duties in the

The command was reactivated by

During this time, it participated in air defense training exercises, accomplished live and simulated intercepts, and directed numerous flying sorties until inactivation in December 1967[2] as part of an ADC consolidation of intermediate level command and control organizations, driven by budget reductions required to fund USAF operations in Southeast Asia.

The 21st AD was reactivated in November 1969 under Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) at

In 1975, a new JCS Unified Command Plan designated Air Defense Command as a specified command and changed its name to the Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) on 1 July 1975. The division assumed additional designation 21st ADCOM Region for operational control on 8 December 1978. Air Defense ADCOM was reorganized on 1 October 1979. The atmospheric defense resources (interceptors and warning radars) of ADCOM. including the 21st AD were reassigned to Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It moved to Griffiss Air Force Base, New York in 1983^[2] when Hancock Field was closed.

In 1983, when the air defense mission of CONUS was reassigned to the

Activated on 16 February 1951

Inactivated on 8 April 1952[3]

Organized on 8 April 1952^[3]

Discontinued on 16 October 1952^[3]

• Activated on 16 October 1952^[3]

Redesignated 21st Strategic Aerospace Division on 15 February 1962

Discontinued and inactivated on 1 September 1964

• Activated on 20 January 1966 (not organized)

Organized on 1 April 1966

Discontinued and inactivated on 31 December 1967

• Activated on 19 November 1969

Inactivated on 23 September 1983^[2]

Assignments

Stations

• Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas, 22 December 1942
• Topeka Army Air Field
  , Kansas, 31 May 1943
• Merced Army Air Field
  (later Castle Field), California, 7 October 1945 – 3 April 1946
• Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949
• Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, 16 February 1951 – 1 September 1964
• McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1967
• Hancock Field, New York 19 November 1969
• Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, 31 August – 23 September 1983^[2]

Components

World War II

• 48th Staging Wing: 18 July 1945 – c. 21 March 1946
• 95th Bombardment Group
  : 29 May 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 333d Bombardment Group
  : attached 15 July 1942 – 21 February 1943
• 346th Bombardment Group: attached 7 September 1942 – 25 February 1943
• 384th Bombardment Group: 16 July 1947 – 27 June 1949^[2]

• 373d Bombardment Squadron
  : attached 10 October 1951 – 8 April 1952; 8 – 17 April 1952
• 374th Bombardment Squadron
  : attached 10 October 1951 – 8 April 1952; 8 – 17 April 1952
• 375th Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 October 1951 – 8 April 1952; 8 – 17 April 1952^[2]

Air Defense Command

• Air Forces Iceland: 31 December 1969 – 1 October 1975^[2]

Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 4 – 31 December 1969[2]

Missile units

• 26th Air Defense Missile Squadron
  (BOMARC)

Otis Air Force Base

, Massachusetts, 19 November 1969 – 30 April 1972

• 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron
  (BOMARC)

Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site, New York, 19 November – 31 December 1969

• 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron
  (BOMARC)

McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 1 April 1966 – 1 December 1967; 19 November 1969 – 31 October 1972^[2]

Radar units

• 12th Missile Warning Group

Thule Air Base

, Greenland, 1 October 1976 – 1 October 1979

• 762d Air Defense Group

North Truro Air Force Station, Massachusetts, 1 March 1970 – 1 January 1974

• 765th Air Defense Group

Charleston Air Force Station, Maine, 1 March 19790 – 1 January 1974

Air Base units

• 4683d Air Base Group

Thule Air Base, Greenland, 31 December 1969 – 31 March 1977

• 4684th Air Base Group

Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland, 31 December 1969 – 1 December 1979

Emblem

The Division's emblem consists of a Shield divided by a diagonal line from the upper right to middle left, light blue and white, a sword slanting from upper left to lower right, the point to lower right base, the hilt and pommel yellow encircled with five stars, yellow, the lower blade of the sword over a branch of olive in base green. (Approved 17 July 1952)

See also

• List of United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command Interceptor Squadrons
• List of United States Air Force air divisions
• United States general surveillance radar stations

References

Notes

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
  LCCN 61060979
  .
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
  OCLC 72556
  .
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
  ISBN 0-912799-12-9
  .
• "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor (January 1979) Aerospace Defense Command, (Volume 21, Number 1)