322d Air Expeditionary Group

322d Air Expeditionary Group
322d Air Expeditionary Group
	Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
322d Air Expeditionary Group emblem
322 Bombardment Gp emblem

The 322d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional

United States Air Forces in Europe

. As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time.

The group appears to have been activated periodically on-order to provide support to U.S./AU activities in Africa under USAFE's

Seventeenth Air Force. In 2004, elements of the group assisted the AU deployment to Sudan;^[3] Operation Odyssey Dawn

for Libya 2011–12.

During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the 322d Bombardment Group (Medium) was a

B-26 Marauder bombardment group assigned to the Eighth and later Ninth Air Force

.

History

322d Bombardment Group (Medium)

Martin B-26 Marauder of the 322d Bomb Group (Medium) on the perimeter track prior to takeoff

Martin B-26 Marauder of the 322d Bomb Group on a mission over enemy-occupied territory, 1944.

Constituted as 322d Bombardment Group (Medium) on 19 June 1942. Activated on 17 July 1942 at

RAF Bury St Edmunds

, England, November–December 1942; planes and crews followed, March–April 1943. Initially assigned to the Eighth Air Force. The group was assigned to the 3d Bomb Wing.

Ongoing construction at Bury St. Edmunds forced two of the group's squadrons to locate at RAF Rattlesden, and the group's aircraft did not arrive until late in March 1943. Once operational, the 322d flew two low-level bombing operations from Bury St. Edmunds. The first, on 14 May when it dispatched 12 planes for a minimum-level attack on an electrical generating plant near Ijtnuiden. This was the first operational combat mission flown by B-26s.

The second was a disastrous mission to the Netherlands on Monday, 17 May, when the group sent 11 aircraft on a similar operation from which none of the aircraft penetrating the enemy coast, returned. 60 crewmen were lost to flak and interceptors. Group morale was not improved when, on 29 May, a B-26 crashed onto the airfield killing the crew and damaging a hangar.

After these missions, the group was re-equipped and trained for medium-altitude operations for several weeks before returning to combat operations. On 13 June, the 322d moved to RAF Andrews Field in Essex.

In common with other Marauder units of the 3d Bomb Wing, the 322d was transferred to Ninth Air Force on 16 October 1943. The group attacked enemy airfields in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands attacking the principal targets but the group also attacked secondary targets such as power stations, shipyards, construction works, and marshalling yards.

On 11 December 1943 Andrews Field was attacked by the Luftwaffe but little damage was done and beginning in March 1944 the 322d bombed railway and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.

On 8 May 1944, one of the 322nd aircraft, nicknamed "Mild and Bitter" (serial 41-31819) became the first B-26 flying from England to complete 100 combat missions. Another B-26, "Flak Bait" (41-31773) survived to the end of hostilities with 202 missions to its credit, the only US bomber involved in combat over Europe to pass the 200 mark.

On

D-Day, 6 June 1944 the 322d Bomb Group attacked coastal defences and gun batteries. Afterwards, during the Normandy campaign, the 322d pounded fuel and ammunition dumps, bridges, and road junctions, supporting the Allied offensive at Caen and the breakthrough at Saint-Lô

in July.

From Andrews Field the 322d received a

Distinguished Unit Citation for the period 14 May 1943 – 24 July 1944. The group moved during September 1944, transferring to Beauvais

(A-61) Airfield in northern France, and aiding the drive of Third Army across France.

The 322d flew its last mission on 24 April 1945. After

V-E Day, the group was assigned to occupation duty in Germany beginning in June 1945, engaging in inventorying and disassembling German Air Force equipment and facilities. Returned to Camp Kilmer

, New Jersey in December 1945, and was inactivated on 15 December.

322d Bombardment Group, Light

During the

Douglas A-20 Havocs

. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949.

322d Tactical Fighter Group

Boeing KB-50D Superfortress 48-123 of the 622d Air Refueling Squadron carrying out first triple-point refueling operation with three North American F-100C Super Sabres (54-1825, 53-1774 & 54-1848) of the 451st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 1956

The

450th Fighter-Day Wing, initially as three squadron (450th, 451st, 452d) North American F-86 Sabre-equipped wing. In 1956, the group was upgraded to the North American F-100 Super Sabre

and was redesignated as the 322d Tactical Fighter group. The 322d was inactivated on 1 January 1959 along with the closure of Foster Air Force Base in a budgetary economy move.