492nd Special Operations Wing
492nd Special Operations Wing | |
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Insignia | |
492nd Special Operations Wing emblem (approved 13 July 2017)[2] |
The 492nd Special Operations Wing is a
During
In June 2017 official USAF descriptions said that the wing organized, trained and equipped forces to conduct
History
World War II
Bombardment training
The
The group air echelon trained for combat at Alamogordo until April 1944, although the ground echelons of its four squadrons were withdrawn to form other bomber units. New ground elements were organized from other groups of the
Bombardment operations
The group was the first in
The 492nd entered combat on 11 May 1944, operating primarily against industrial targets in central Germany. During the first week in June, the group was diverted from strategic targets to support
Special operations (Operation Carpetbagger)
Subsequently, the 492nd was transferred without personnel or equipment, to
Throughout 1944 the group's missions intermittently included attacks on airfields, oil refineries, seaports, and other targets in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. These operations continued until February 1945. In addition, in October 1944 the group began training for night bombardment operations. These operations concentrated on marshaling yards and goods depots in Germany, which the group undertook from February through March 1945. In September 1944 until mid winter 1945 a small Detachment of men from the group, mainly from the 856th bombardment squadron, was sent on a personnel recovery mission in Southeast France near the Swiss border to recover USAAF crews who had been interned in Switzerland that had started coming across the border into France during the Invasion of Southern France to the American Lines.
Two of the Squadrons continued night bombardment missions into 1945. The main OSS/Carpetbagger operations over Germany and German-occupied territory had been handed over to the 856th Bombardment Squadron from the 25th Bombardment Group, which used B-24, A-26, and British Mosquito aircraft for "Red Stocking" missions to drop leaflets, demolition equipment, and agents. The 856th Squadron received a
The group left England in July 1945 and was stationed at
Expeditionary unit
In June 2002, the group was converted to provisional status as the 492nd Air Expeditionary Group and assigned to Air Mobility Command (AMC) to activate or inactivate as needed for contingency operations. AMC activated the unit once, at Lajes Field in the Azores from March through May 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[3]
Return to special operations
In May 2017, the group was withdrawn from provisional status and returned to its old designation for one day. It became the 492nd Special Operations Wing and was activated on 17 May at Hurlburt Field, Florida, where it replaced the Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center.[3]
In addition to its assigned units, the wing is responsible for the training of two
Lineage
- Constituted as the 492nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 14 September 1943
- Activated on 1 October 1943
- Redesignated 492nd Bombardment Group, Heavy on 20 August 1944
- Redesignated 492nd Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 17 August 1945
- Inactivated on 17 October 1945
- Redesignated 492nd Air Expeditionary Group and converted to provisional status on 12 June 2002
- Activated on 1 March 2003
- Inactivated on 27 May 2003
- Withdrawn from provisional status and redesignated 492nd Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 3 May 2017
- Redesignated 492nd Special Operations Wing on 4 May 2017
- Activated on 10 May 2017[2]
Assignments
- Second Air Force, 1 October 1943
- Eighth Air Force, April 1944
- VIII Bomber Command, April 1944
- 2nd Bombardment Division, April 1944
- VIII Air Force Composite Command, c. 10 August 1944
- VIII Fighter Command, 1 October 1944
- 1st Bombardment Division(later 1st Air Division), c. 22 October 1944
- Second Air Force, c. 14 August–17 October 1945
- Air Mobility Command 12 June 2002 – 3 May 2017
- Attached to Twenty-First Air Force, 1 March–27 May 2003
- Air Force Special Operations Command, 17 May 2017 – present[2]
Components
Groups
- 492nd Special Operations Group, 17 May 2017 – present
- 492nd Special Operations Training Group, 17 May 2017 – present
Squadrons
- 6th Special Operations Squadron: 10 May 2017[12][13] – October 2022.
- 18th Special Operations Test and Evaluation Squadron?? - present
- 19th Special Operations Squadron: ?? - present
- 406th Bombardment Squadron: 5 August – 17 October 1945
- 524th Special Operations Squadron[12]
- 551st Special Operations Squadron: ?? - present
- 856th Bombardment Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 17 October 1945
- 857th Bombardment Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 17 October 1945 (attached to 1st Air Division 10 March–c. August 1945)[6]
- 858th Bombardment Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 19 June 1944; 5 August 1944 – 17 October 1945
- 859th Bombardment Squadron: 1 October 1943 – 14 August 1945 (attached to 15th Special Group (Provisional) (later 2641st Special Group [Provisional]) after 17 December 1944)[4][14]
Stations
- Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 1 October 1943 – April 1944
- RAF North Pickenham (AAF-143),[15] England, 18 April 1944 (air echelon), 28 April 1944 (ground echelon)
- RAF Harrington (AAF-179),[15] England, c. 10 August 1944 – July 1945
- Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, 14 August 1945
- Kirtland Field, New Mexico, 17 August-17 October 1945.
- Lajes Field, Azores, 1 March–27 May 2003
- Hurlburt Field, Florida, 10 May 2017 – present[2]
Aircraft
- Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
- Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1944–1945
- Douglas A-26 Invader, 1945
- de Havilland Mosquito, 1945[2]
References
Notes
- Explanatory Notes
- ^ Aircraft is Consolidated B-24D-65-CO Liberator serial 42-40509, nicknamed "Cookie". This airplane was lost in an accident on 7 October 1943.
- Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico and did not move to Alamogordo until November. Freeman, p. 262. Maurer and Haulman both give Alamogordo as the organization station.
- 494th Bombardment Groups
- ^ Although North Pickenham had been the squadrons' nominal station since 1 January, it was actually being assembled at other 2nd Bombardment Division stations. Freeman, p. 262.
- 392nd Bombardment Groupand it was now resting on the 492nd Group. Freeman, p. 160. Others speculated that the Luftwaffe was concentrating on the 492nd Group because it was the first Liberator group to arrive in the theater with uncamouflaged B-24s. However, other groups were receiving uncamouflaged planes to replace their losses. Postwar review of Luftwaffe records does not support the theory that the Luftwaffe singled out any unit for particular attention. However, Luftwaffe fighter controllers, naturally, directed fighters to what they perceived as the most vulnerable portions of the American bomber formations, a position that the 492nd Group seems to have occupied a disproportionate number of times. Freeman, p. 172.
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 361-362
- ^ a b c d e Haulman, Daniel L. (17 May 2017). "Factsheet 492 Special Operations Wing (AFSOC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d Staff writer, no byline. "Units: 492nd Special Operations Wing". Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ^ a b c d Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 785
- ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 783-784
- ^ a b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 784
- ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 784-785
- ^ a b c d Freeman, p. 262
- ^ Freeman, p. 142
- ^ Freeman, p. 156
- ^ Freeman, p. 160
- ^ a b "Air Force Special Operations Command Units: 492nd Special Operations Wing". Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ Assignments in Bailey, except as noted.
- ^ Information on component squadrons in Haulman, Factsheet, 492 Special Operations Wing except as noted.
- ^ a b Station number in Anderson.
Bibliography
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- Fish, Col Robert W. (1990). Memories of the 801st/492nd Bombardment Group Carpetbaggers (PDF). 801st/492nd Bombardment Group Association. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2.
- 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. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- 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. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- Warren, Maj Harris G. (June 1947). "Special Operations: AAF Aid to European Resistance Movements, USAF Historical Study No. 121" (PDF). Air Historical Office, Army Air forces. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
External links
- Media related to 492d Bombardment Group (United States Army Air Forces) at Wikimedia Commons
- The Carpetbaggers, Air Force Special Operations in World War II
- 492nd Bomb Group, online museum providing mission and crew data.