306th Flying Training Group

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

306th Flying Training Group
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current
commander		Colonel Michael R. Stolley
Insignia
306th Flying Training Group Emblem (approved 21 October 2004)[2]
World War II Group Tail Code[1]Triangle H

The 306th Flying Training Group (306 FTG) is a unit of the

group is stationed at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) near Colorado Springs
, Colorado.

The 306 FTG is the airmanship training unit of the USAFA. The group replaced the 34th Operations Group in 2004. The designation "306th" was deliberately selected by the historian of AETC to connect the training mission of the current group with its relationship to the book and movie Twelve O'Clock High.[3]

During World War II, the group, as the 306th Bombardment Group, 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.[4]

Staff Sergeant

Maynard H. Smith of the 423d Bomb Squadron was awarded the Medal of Honor
for his actions that helped save the lives of six of his wounded comrades on 1 May 1943.

The 306th was the first

Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany and also was the first United States Army Air Forces heavy bombardment group to attack a strategic target located in Nazi Germany when the group, led by Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, attacked Wilhelmshaven on 27 January 1943. Colonel Armstrong's experiences with the 97th and 306th groups became the basis of Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay Jr.'s novel and film Twelve O'Clock High
.

The group was reactivated as a

McCoy AFB, Florida; and the 306th Strategic Wing at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom.[5]

Units

The group consists of the following squadrons:

Conducts flight training for all USAF Pilot, Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Pilot, and Combat Systems Officer (CSO) trainees
Conducts glider training
Conducts freefall parachute training
  • 306th Operations Support Squadron
Airfield and Airspace Management of the USAF Academy Airfield and Bullseye Auxiliary Airfield
Conducts flying training (powered)

History

For additional post-WW II history and lineage, see 306th Strategic Wing

World War II

B-17G Flying Fortresses 44-6604 and 44-8676 of the 306th Bomb Group, showing the group's "Triangle H" Tail Marking

The group was activated 1 March 1942 at

B-17E aircraft. Group left Wendover 1 August 1942 to begin movement to the United Kingdom. The Ground unit first moved to Richmond AAB, Virginia and remained a week before leaving for Fort Dix, New Jersey. On 13 August 1942, the Group's personnel sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 30 August 1942 and arrived 5 September 1942 at Greenock, Scotland. The aircraft flew from Wendover to Westover Field
, Massachusetts on 2 August 1942. The remainder of the Group departed for the United Kingdom on 1 September 1942 via Gander-Prestwick ferry route.

Based at RAF Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, in south-central England, as part of the Eighth Air Force, the 306th was the longest continuously-serving bomb group of the Eighth Air Force during World War II, and led the first mission against a target in Germany. The novel and film Twelve O'Clock High were based in large part on incidents occurring in the group in 1942 and 1943.

Between October 1942 and April 1945, the Group bombed a variety of enemy targets in Europe, including railroad facilities and submarine pens in France and ball-bearing works, oil plants, marshaling yards, chemical plants, aircraft factories, and foundries in Germany. Took part in the first penetration into Germany by heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force on 27 January 1943 by attacking the U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven.

Sergeant Maynard Harrison Smith received the Medal of Honor for his actions on 1 May 1943. When the aircraft on which he was a gunner was hit by the enemy and set on fire, the sergeant threw explosive ammunition overboard, manned a gun until the German fighters were driven off, administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner, and extinguished the fire.

The 306th was the center of media attention on 6 July 1944, when Thurleigh was visited by the British

Queen Elizabeth II) were led to a new B-17G of the 367th Bomb Squadron. The new replacement aircraft had been named Rose of York in honor of the 18-year-old Princess, who ceremonially christened the bomber. On her 50th mission on 3 February 1945, Rose of York was hit by flak over Berlin; she disappeared over the English Channel or North Sea while returning home.[6][note 1][note 2]

Without fighter escort and in the face of powerful opposition, the group completed an assault against aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 January 1944, earning a

Rhine River in March 1945, the Operation Varsity portion of the Western Allied invasion of Germany
.

Selected for duty with occupational air forces in Germany. The unit engaged in the "Casey Jones" mapping photography project. Group then moved to Giebelstadt, Germany on 1 December 1945, and on 28 February 1946 to Istres, France, where it absorbed the remnants of the 92nd and 384th Bomb Groups. In August 1946 the unit was re-established in Germany at Furstenfeldbruck, and in September 1946 located at Lechfeld. The unit was inactivated on 25 December 1946, although the group had virtually ceased to exist as a flying unit in the late summer of that year. Inactivated December 1946, the group received the

Oak Leaf Cluster and six campaign stars
.

Cold War

The group was reactivated as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group but was redesignated in 1948 as a medium bombardment group when the B-29 was reclassified as a medium bomber. The group trained in the United States for strategic bombardment operations.

Deliveries of the new

MacDill AFB
, Florida. The 306th was intended to act as a training organization in to prepare future B-47 crews and the 306th's B-47As were primarily training aircraft and not considered as being combat ready; none of the B-47As ever saw any operational duty.

MacDill AFB
.

On 19 November 1951, the 306th received its first operational Boeing B-47B and christened it "The Real McCoy" in honor of

Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy,[7]
the 306th's wing commander, who flew it from the Boeing Wichita plant to MacDill AFB.

In 1950 the group added the

306th Bombardment Wing as SAC converted its bomb groups to the dual deputy organization.[note 3]

Modern era

The 306th was redesignated the 306th Flying Training Group and reactivated in October 2004 as part of

Officer Training School as well as the USAF Academy. IFS is performed under a civilian contract program at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Colorado and the 306 FTG provides a contingent of Air Force personnel to oversee the students and provide military training, supervision, and rigor to the course. With the inactivation of 19 AF in July 2012, the 306th reported to headquarters, AETC. With the reactivation of 19 AF, the group is now a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the 12th Flying Training Wing at Randolph Air Force Base
, Texas, which then reports to 19 AF and HQ AETC.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 1 March 1942
Redesignated 306th Bombardment Group, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 25 December 1946
  • Redesignated 306th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 11 June 1947
Activated on 1 July 1947
Redesignated 306th Bombardment Group, Medium on 11 August 1948
Inactivated on 16 June 1952
  • Redesignated 306th Flying Training Group on 30 September 2004
Activated on 4 October 2004[2]

Assignments

Components

Stations

Aircraft

Decorations

Campaigns

Commanding officers

COMMANDING OFFICERS:
(1 April 1942 – June 1946)
Col Charles B Overacker Jr. 16 March 1942 – 3 January 1943
Col Frank A Armstrong Jr. 3 January 1943 – 17 February 1943
Col Claude E Putnam 17 February 1943 – 20 June 1943
Col George L Robinson 20 June 1943 – September 1944
Col James S Sutton September 1944 – 16 April 1945
Col Hudson H Upham 16 April 1945 – May 1946


References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ "In a last radio report from Rose of York, pilot Capt. Vernon Daley Jr. stated he was leaving the French coast with two engines out but with the aircraft still under control. The B-17G Rose of York, her crew and Guy Byam were never seen again." Simonsen & O'Malley.
  2. ^ ""Rose of York" Lost During Raid". AP. Retrieved 22 September 2014. Finally another bomber crew reported hearing its last distress signals from an area over the Frisian Islands in the North Sea.
  3. ^ Under this plan flying squadrons reported to the wing Deputy Commander for Operations (DO) and maintenance squadrons reported to the wing Deputy Commander for Maintenance (DCM)
Citations
  1. ^ a b Watkins. pp. 56–57
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Haulman, Daniel L. (17 March 2017). "Factsheet 306 Flying Training Group (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  3. ^ AETC News Service release 100104308, 1 October 2004
  4. ^ The 306th Bombardment Group Museum: Wartime History of the Airfield (retrieved 12 August 2013)
  5. ^ Ravenstein, Appendix V
  6. ^ Simonsen, Clarence; O'Malley, Dave. "Rose of York". Vintage Wings of Canada. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Behind the Legend of Col. Mike McCoy". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d e Ravenstein, Combat Wings, p. 152
  9. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 519

Bibliography

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=306th_Flying_Training_Group&oldid=1214229265"