73rd Air Division
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2013) |
73d Air Division | |
---|---|
Air Defense | |
Equipment | see "Aerospace vehicles" section below |
Engagements | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944–1945) |
Insignia | |
73d Air Division emblem[note 1][1] |
The 73d Air Division is an inactive
History
World War II
The 73d Bombardment Wing was activated as part of Second Air Force on 17 February 1943.[1] Its original mission was to process personnel assigned to Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator Replacement Training Units (RTU) based in the midwest. It was inactivated on 15 October 1943[1] with the drawdown of heavy bomber training.
The wing was reactivated and redesignated as the 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) on 20 November 1943 at
By August the wing's groups had completed their training and their aircraft were readied for deployment. Originally assigned to
In late October and early November 1944, a series of tactical raids were carried out as training exercises for the crews. From Saipan, the groups of the 73d Bomb Wing flew several bombing missions against Truk to gain combat experience. Aware that there was now a new threat, Japanese aircraft based on Iwo Jima staged a low-level raid on Isely Field on 2 November, damaging several B-29s on the ground. Retaliatory strikes were ordered on Iwo Jima on 5 and 11 November.
In November 1944, the groups of the 73rd began bombing Japan, with only moderate success. Poor weather, the lack of precision radar bombing equipment, and tremendous winds encountered at high altitudes over Japan made accuracy difficult. The initial raids against Japan had taken place at high altitudes in order to stay above anti-aircraft fire and the effective altitude of defending fighters. Tactics were changed and high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime. The aircraft would attack individually, which meant that no assembly over the base at the start of the mission or along the way would be needed.
Consequently, it turned to devastating low altitude incendiary attacks. The Division continued attacking urban areas until the end of the war in August 1945, its subordinate units conducted raids against strategic objectives, bombing aircraft factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, and other targets in Japan. The wing flew its last combat missions on 14 August when hostilities ended. Afterwards, the wing's B 29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and Manchuria.
The 73d and its subordinate units demobilized rapidly after V-J Day, and the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to
Air Force Reserve
In 1947, the 73d Bomb Wing was reactivated with the
Air Defense Command
The organization was reactivated as part of
The 73d Air Division was inactivated on 1 April 1966.[1]
Lineage
- Constituted as the 5th Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters on 9 February 1943.
- Activated on 17 February 1943
- Redesignated 73d Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Heavy) on 12 August 1943.
- Inactivated on 15 October 1943
- Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 19 November 1943
- Activated on 20 November 1943
- Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, Special on 13 January 1944
- Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 24 June 1944
- Inactivated on 31 May 1946
- Activated in the reserve on 12 June 1947
- Redesignated 73d Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948
- Inactivated on 27 June 1949
- Redesignated 73d Air Division (Weapons) on 1 April 1957
- Activated on 1 July 1957
- Redesignated 73d Air Division on 1 March 1963
- Discontinued and inactivated on 1 April 1966[1]
Assignments
- Second Air Force, 12 August 1945 – 15 October 1943
- XX Bomber Command, 20 November 1943
- Second Air Force, 2 June 1944 – 30 July 1944
- Twentieth Air Force, c. 6 August 1944
- XXI Bomber Command, 9 November 1944 – 16 July 1945
- Twentieth Air Force, 16 July 1945
- Fourth Air Force, 7 December 1945
- Third Air Force, 5 January 1946
- Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946
- Fifteenth Air Force, 31 March 1946 – 31 May 1946
- Tenth Air Force, 1 July 1948 – 27 June 1949
- Air Defense Command, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966[1]
Components
Sector
- Montgomery Air Defense Sector: 1 October 1964 – 1 April 1966[1]
- Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama
Wings
- 4750th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1957 – 25 June 1960
- Vincent Air Force Base, Arizona
- 4751st Air Defense Wing: 15 January 1958 – 1 October 1959
- Eglin Auxiliary Field #9, Florida
- 4756th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1957 – 1 July 1960
- 4756th Air Defense Wing: 1 September 1962 – 1 April 1966[note 2]
- 4780th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1962 – 1 April 1966[1]
- Perrin Air Force Base, Texas
Groups
Operational Groups
- 338th Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949
- 351st Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 4 June 1948
- Scott Field (later Scott Air Force Base), Illinois[2]
- 381st Bombardment Group: 4 June 1948 – 27 June 1949
- Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska[3]
- 497th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 31 March 1946
- 498th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 31 May 1946
- 499th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 16 February 1946
- 500th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 17 January 1946
- 4756th Air Defense Group: 1 July 1960 – 1 September 1962[1]
Support Groups
- 65th Air Service Group
- 91st Air Service Group
- 303d Air Service Group
- 330th Air Service Group
- 4756th Air Base Group: 1 July 1960 – 1 September 1962
Stations
- Walker Army Air Field, 17 February 1943
- Smoky Hill Army Airfield, Kansas, 30 June – 15 October 1943; 20 November 1943
- Colorado Springs, Colorado, 29 February – 17 July 1944
- Isely Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 24 August 1944 – 20 October 1945
- MacDill Field, Florida, 15 January – 31 May 1946.
- Orchard Place Airport, Illinois, 12 June 1947 – 29 June 1949.
- Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966[1]
Aircraft
- Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1943–1946
- Martin B-57E Canberra, c. 1957 – c. 1960
- North American F-86D Sabre, c. 1955 – c. 1957
- Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, c. 1957 – c. 1966
- Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, c. 1957 – c. 1960
- Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, c. 1957 – 1966
- McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, c. 1960 – c. 1966
- Convair F-106 Delta Dart, c. 1960 – c. 1966[1]
See also
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
- Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons
- List of United States Air Force air divisions
References
Notes
- Explanatory notes
- Citations
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 23 November 2006. 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. ISBN 978-0-912799-02-5.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6.
- Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
- Winkler, David F.; Webster, Julie L (1997). Searching the skies: The legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program. Champaign, IL: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. ]