319th Operations Group

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319th Operations Group
Distinguished Unit Citation
French Croix de Guerre with Palm[1]
Insignia
319th Operations Group emblem[note 1]
Postwar 319th Bombardment Group emblem[note 2]

The 319th Operations Group is a

RQ-4 Global Hawk
remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) role.

The group was first activated during

438th Bombardment Squadron
in 1945.

The group was reactivated in the reserve in December 1946. It does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped, and when mobilized in 1951 for the Korean War, its personnel were used to man other units and the group was inactivated. It again became part of the reserve force in 1955 as the 319th Fighter-Bomber Group, but was inactivated in 1957, when the reserves converted to the troop carrier mission. It remained inactive until 1991.

In 2019 the group was reactivated at Grand Forks Air Force Base as the Operations Group in charge of all active duty RQ-4 Global Hawk operations.

History

World War II

319th Bomb Group B-26 Marauders taking off en-masse from a desert base in North Africa, 1943

The 319th Bombardment Group trained in Louisiana in

Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it was assigned to the Twelfth Air Force.[2]

After it moved to Algeria as the first Marauder unit in that theater, arriving with just 15 aircraft and losing group commander Col. Alvord Rutherford over France en route, the 319th entered combat for the first time on 28 November, bombing and strafing warehouses, docks, and railroad yards at

Po River in northern Italy using B-25 bombers to block the stream of German supplies and reinforcements going southward. The 319th Bombardment Group supported the invasion of southern France in August 1944 by attacking coastal batteries, radar stations, and bridges. From Corsica, it hit railroad bridges in Northern Italy and late in the year attacked railroad lines through the Brenner Pass that connected Germany and Austria with Italy.[2]

In January 1945, the 319th returned to the United States, where it began to train with

Kyūshū and occupied Shanghai area of China, and shipping around the Ryukyu Islands and in the East China Sea. In November and December 1945, the group returned to the United States.[2]

Air Force reserve

Initial activation and mobilization for the Korean War

The group was activated again in the

50th Bombardment Squadron, which had been disbanded during the war.[7] The group was filled out in July 1947, when two more disbanded squadrons, the 51st and 59th Bombardment Squadrons, were reconstituted and assigned to the group.[8][9]

At Mitchel, the group trained under the supervision of the 113th AAF Base Unit (later the 2230 Air Force Reserve Training Center), although it is not clear whether any of its elements were fully manned or equipped during this period. In July 1948

52d Fighter Wing.[1][12][13][14]

A-26 Invader in flight

The group moved on paper to

512th Troop Carrier Group.[1][18]

The group activated again about a month later, on 10 October 1949 at

514th Troop Carrier Group. Training at Birmingham was conducted by the 2587th Air Force Reserve Training Center. All reserve combat and corollary units were mobilized for the Korean war,[19] and the 319th was called up on 10 March 1951. Its personnel and aircraft were used as fillers for other units,[20] and the group was inactivated on 22 March.[1]

Fighter operations

F-84s as flown by the group

The reserve mobilization for the Korean War had left the reserve without aircraft, and reserve units did not receive aircraft until July 1952.

New Orleans Naval Air Station, under what was termed the Detached Squadron Concept.[7][25]

Meanwhile, the

445th Troop Carrier Group.[1][16][28]

Reactivation at Grand Forks

Main article:
319th Air Base Wing

Bomber operations

B-1 Lancer from the 319th refueling

The group was reactivated at

Rockwell B-1B Lancer, the 905th Air Refueling Squadron, flying the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and the 319th Operations Support Squadron. Shortly after the group was activated, President George H. W. Bush directed on 28 September that the group no longer keep half of its aircraft on nuclear alert and the group began to focus on training for conventional bombing missions. This became the group's primary mission in February 1993.[29]

In July 1992, the Air Force reorganized its combat commands. SAC's The bomber mission and the 319th Wing were assigned to

air refueling mission was assigned to Air Mobility Command (AMC). In this reorganization, the 905th Air Refueling Squadron was reassigned from the group, although it remained at Grand Forks. In late February and March 1992, the group set a dozen world time-to-climb records to various altitudes with its Lancer aircraft.[30] However, the transfer of the air refueling mission required a major realignment of the tanker force and by 1994, the Air Force decided that Grand Forks was to become one of three "super tanker" bases. On 1 October 1993, the 319th transferred from ACC to AMC. It regained the 905th Air Refueling Squadron, but the 46th Bomb Squadron was transferred to the 319th Bomb Group.[31][note 4]

Air refueling operations

In 1994, the 319th gained the 906th, 911th and 912th Air Refueling Squadrons equipped with KC-135R and KC-135T aircraft.[32][33][34] In its first active years, the group deployed aircrews and aircraft to support Operation Provide Comfort, humanitarian relief to Kurds fleeing Iraq to in Turkey; Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no fly zone in southern Iraq; Operation Vigilant Warrior, the deployment of forces to Saudi Arabia to counter threats from Iraq; Operation Deny Flight, enforcing the no-fly zone in Bosnia Herzegovina; Operation Uphold Democracy, the removal of a military junta in Haiti; and Operation Constant Vigil, counter-drug operations based in Panama.[31]

Toward the end of 1998 and into 1999, the group deployed resources to the Persian Gulf and Europe in support of

9/11 attacks, the group stood up a quick reaction alert force to support homeland defense in Operation Noble Eagle, and deployed resources for Operation Enduring Freedom.[35]

The group's deployments included deployments in which it was the primary force provider for expeditionary operations. In those cases, a 319th Air Expeditionary Group was activated as a provisional unit, deployed to a makeshift tent city somewhere in the arid desert of Southwest Asia. From the start of air operations over Afghanistan 7 October, by 2 November 2001 the 319th Air Expeditionary Group ad flown over 150 sorties and more than 1050 hours; pumping over 1.4 million US gallons (5,300 m3) of gas into more than 450 planes. The expeditionary group includes not only operational, but maintenance organizations. Its deployment location was not officially identified, but is likely to have been

Masirah Air Base
, where the RAF and USAF have long had facilities.

The group began to diminish in size in June 2007, when the 911th Air Refueling Squadron inactivated.[33] The 906th Squadron followed on 2 October 2009,[32] and the 912th on 1 October 2010.[34] The group's first refueling squadron, the 905th, was the last operational squadron of the group. The wing frequently deployed elements to Southwest Asia, occasionally being the major force provider for the 319th Air Expeditionary Group. They both inactivated on 31 December 2010, as manned flying operations ended at Grand Forks.[36][37]

Lineage

  • Established as the 319th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 19 June 1942
Activated on 26 June 1942
Redesignated 319th Bombardment Group, Medium on 20 August 1943
Redesignated 319th Bombardment Group, Light on 3 February 1945
Inactivated on 18 December 1945
  • Activated in the reserve on 27 December 1946
Inactivated on 2 September 1949
  • Activated in the Reserve on 10 October 1949
Ordered to active duty on 10 March 1951
Inactivated on 22 March 1951
  • Redesignated 319th Fighter-Bomber Group on 12 April 1955
Activated in the reserve on 18 May 1955[38]
Inactivated on 16 November 1957
  • Redesignated 319th Bombardment Group, Heavy on 31 July 1985 (remained inactive)
  • Redesignated 319th Operations Group on 29 August 1991
Activated on 1 September 1991
Inactivated on 31 December 2010[37]
Reactivated in 2019

Assignments

Components

Stations

Aircraft

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ When assigned to the 319th Wing, the group uses the wing emblem with the group designation on the scroll. Air Force Instruction 84–105, Organizational Lineage, Honors and Heraldry, 19 March 2013, para 3.3.3.
  2. ^ This emblem was used during the war in a slightly different form. The shield was straight-sided and there were no scrolls. Watkins, pp. 82–83.
  3. 22d Antisubmarine Squadron
    and was then disbanded. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 114–115.
  4. ^ The 319th Bomb Group was a new organization, and not related to the 319th Operations Group, despite the similarity of its name to 319th Bombardment Group.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 198–199
  2. ^ a b c "319th Bombardment Group". Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 541
  4. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 542
  5. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 543–544
  6. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 544–545
  7. ^ a b c Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 215
  8. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 217
  9. ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 232–233
  10. ^ "Abstract, Mission Project Closeup, Continental Air Command". Air Force History Index. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  11. ^ Knaack, p. 25
  12. ^ Cantwell, p. 73
  13. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 150–151
  14. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 85–86
  15. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 202–203
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ravenstein, pp. 168–169
  17. ^ Cantwell, p. 74
  18. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 20–21
  19. ^ Cantwell, p. 87
  20. ^ Cantwell, pp. 96, 137
  21. ^ Cantwell, p. 139
  22. ^ Cantwell, p. 146
  23. ^ a b 'Cantwell, p. 152
  24. ^ Cantwell, p. 148
  25. ^ Cantwell, pp. 156, 169
  26. ^ Cantwell, p. 168
  27. ^ Cantwell, pp. 168–169
  28. ^ Haulman, Daniel L. (28 December 2007). "445 Operations Group (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  29. ^ History of Grand Forks, pp. 9–10
  30. ^ History of Grand Forks, p.14
  31. ^ a b History of Grand Forks, p.10
  32. ^ a b c Robertson, Patsy (6 April 2012). "Factsheet 906 Air Refueling Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  33. ^ a b c Robertson, Patsy (13 May 2008). "Factsheet 911 Air Refueling Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  34. ^ a b c Robertson, Patsy (26 April 2011). "Factsheet 912 Air Refueling Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  35. ^ History of Grand Forks, p.11
  36. ^ a b No byline (31 March 2008). "Factsheet 905 Air Refueling Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  37. ^ a b c Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, December 2010, Maxwell AFB, AL
  38. ^ Lineage through 1957 in Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 198–199.
  39. ^ "Factsheet 47 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  40. ^ "Factsheet 42 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  41. ^ "Factsheet 57 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  42. ^ "Factsheet 4 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  43. ^ a b Station number in Anderson.

Bibliography

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

External links