1st Strategic Aerospace Division 1st Strategic Aerospace Division emblem
Active 1943–31 October 1945; 1946–1948; 1954–1955; 1955–1956; 1957–1991 Country United States Branch United States Air Force Role Command of Missile units Part of Strategic Air Command Garrison/HQ Vandenberg Air Force Base , CaliforniaEngagements European Campaign (1943–1945) Decorations Distinguished Unit Citation : Germany, January 11, 1944Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards : January 1, 1970 – June 30, 1971; July 1, 1974 – June 30, 1976; July 1, 1977 – June 30, 1979; July 1, 1982 – June 30, 1983; July 1, 1984 – June 30, 1986; July 1, 1986 – June 30, 1988.Commanders Notable Lt GenGerald W. Johnson
Military unit
The1st Strategic Aerospace Division is an inactiveUnited States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was withStrategic Air Command , assigned toFifteenth Air Force , being stationed atVandenberg Air Force Base , California. It was inactivated on September 1, 1991.
The division directed and supervised heavy bombardment (1943–1945) and fighter (1944–1945) operations duringWorld War II within theEighth Air Force in the European Theater.
Replacing the Eighth Air Force inOkinawa in June 1946, the division directed fighter reconnaissance and bomber organizations, and provided air defense for theRyukyu Islands , Japan until December 1948.
From 1954 to 1955, the division served as a holding unit atWestover Air Force Base ,Massachusetts , for personnel of Eighth Air Force, who moved to the base as part of a transfer of Eighth's headquarters fromCarswell Air Force Base , Texas.
Activated again under theAir Research and Development Command in April 1957, it was the first division level organization controlling intermediate range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. It became an operational component ofStrategic Air Command (SAC) in January 1958 and began operational testing of missile systems, supporting missile launchings by SAC and other agencies, and training SAC missilemen. These missions continued until the final disbandment on September 1, 1991.
Established as the1st Bombardment Division on August 30, 1943 Activated on September 13, 1943 Redesignated1st Air Division on December 19, 1944 Inactivated on October 31, 1945 Activated on June 7, 1946 Inactivated on December 1, 1948 Activated on July 1, 1954 Inactivated on April 1, 1955 Redesignated1st Air Division (Meteorological Survey) on April 12, 1955 Activated on April 15, 1955 Inactivated on May 20, 1956 Redesignated1st Missile Division on March 18, 1957 Activated on April 15, 1957 Redesignated1st Strategic Aerospace Division on July 21, 1961 RedesignatedStrategic Missile Center on July 31, 1990 Inactivated on September 1, 1991[ 1] VIII Bomber Command (later,Eighth Air Force ), September 13, 1943 VIII Fighter Command , July 16 – October 31, 1945Pacific Air Command, U.S. Army (laterFar East Air Forces ), June 7, 1946 – December 1, 1948 Eighth Air Force, July 1, 1954 – April 1, 1955 Strategic Air Command , April 15, 1955 – May 20, 1956Air Research and Development Command, April 15, 1957 Strategic Air Command, January 1, 1958 Fifteenth Air Force , September 1, 1988 – September 1, 1991[ 1] Brampton Grange , United Kingdom, September 13, 1943RAF Alconbury , United Kingdom, September 16 – October 31, 1945Kadena (later Kadena Army Air Base, Kadena Air Force Base) ,Okinawa , June 7, 1946 – December 1, 1948Westover Air Force Base , Massachusetts, July 1, 1954 – April 1, 1955Offutt Air Force Base , Nebraska, April 15, 1955 – May 20, 1956Inglewood, CA, April 15, 1957 Cooke Air Force Base (laterVandenberg Air Force Base ), California, July 16, 1957 – September 1, 1991[ 1] Divisions
301st Fighter Division (Provisional): August 18 – September 16, 1948 (not operational entire period) 316th Air Division :See 316th Bombardment Wing below[ 1] Wings
(World War II) 1st Combat Bombardment Wing (later1st Bombardment Wing ): September 13, 1943 – August 12, 1945 2d Bombardment Wing : July 31 – August 12, 194540th Combat Bombardment Wing (later 40th Bombardment Wing): September 13, 1943 – September 26, 194541st Combat Bombardment Wing (later 41st Bombardment Wing): September 13, 1943 – June 1, 194567th Fighter Wing : attached October 6 – December 31, 1944, assigned January 1 – August 12, 194592d Combat Bombardment Wing : December 1 – c. December 11, 194394th Combat Bombardment Wing (later 94 Bombardment Wing): December 12, 1943 – June 18, 1945101st Provisional Heavy Bombardment Combat: attached September 13–16, 1943 102d Provisional Heavy Bombardment Combat: attached September 13–16, 1943 103d Provisional Heavy Bombardment Combat: attached September 13–16, 1943[ 1] (United States Air Force) 32d Composite Wing : August 24 – December 1, 194851st Fighter Wing : August 18 – December 1, 1948.71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing : August 18 – October 25, 1948 (not operational, and detached, August 24 – October 25, 1948)301st Fighter Wing : June 7, 1946 – December 1, 1948 (not operational, August 18 – December 1, 1948)316th Bombardment Wing (later 316th Air Division): June 7, 1946 – June 21, 1948 392d Strategic Missile Wing : October 18 – December 20, 1961456th Troop Carrier Wing : attached c. April 15, 1955 – March 26, 1956703d Strategic Missile Wing : September 25, 1958 – January 15, 1959704th Strategic Missile Wing : August 1, 1957 – July 1, 1959 (not operational April 6 – July 1, 1959)706th Strategic Missile Wing : February 23, 1958 – January 16, 19594320th Strategic Wing (Missile): February 1–23, 19584392d Aerospace Support Wing : July 21 – December 20, 1961, July 1, 1987 – January 15, 1991Strategic Missile, Provisional: attached January 1 – February 1, 1958 (became 4320th Strategic Wing subsequently)[ 1] Groups
Squadrons
644th Strategic Missile Squadron : April–December 1959, attached Apr 6-Jun 30, 1959, assigned Jul 1-l Nov 1959 (never operational).864 Strategic Missile (later, 864 Technical Training): attached 1 Nov 1958-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-1 Jun 1960. 865 Strategic Missile (later, 865 Technical Training): attached 1 Nov 1958-30 Jun 1959, assigned Jul 1-Nov 1, 1959. 866 Strategic Missile (later, 866 Technical Training): attached 1 Nov 1958-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-25 May 1962 (not operational, May 17-25, 1962) 4315th Combat Crew Training Squadron [ 2] [ note 1] Others, including 6 Troop Carrier: attached Jun 10, 1946-c. Apr 1947. 25 Liaison: Mar 30-Sep 15, 1947. 36 Bombardment: 21 Nov 1943-27 Feb 1944 (detached 4 Dec 1943-27 Feb 1944); Jan 1-Aug 12, 1945; Sep 1-Oct 1945. 392 Missile Training: attached Apr 6-Jun 30, 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-1 Feb 1963. 394 Missile Training (later, 394 Strategic Missile; 394 ICBM Test Maintenance): attached Apr 6-Dec 15, 1958; assigned 1 Jul 1960-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-1 Sep 1991. 395 Missile Training (later 395 Strategic Missile): attached Apr 6-Jun 30, 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-31 Dec 1969. 406 Bombardment: c. 11 Nov 1943-26 Feb 1944 (detached 4 Dec 1943-21 Feb 1944); 30 Dec 1944-5 Aug 1945. 576 Strategic Missile: attached Apr 6-Jun 30, 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-2 Apr 1966. 6652 Bombardment: Jul 13-Aug 25, 1945; Sep 1-Oct 12, 1945. 857 Bombardment: attached Mar 10-c. Aug 1945.[ 3] Aircraft and missiles operated [ edit ] From[ note 2]
Aircraft Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress , 1943–1945Consolidated B-24 Liberator , 1943–1945North American P-51 Mustang , 1944–1945Boeing B-29 Superfortress 1946–1948Republic P-47 Thunderbolt , 1944, 1946–1948Northrop P-61 Black Widow , 1946–1948Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star , 1947–1948B/ERB-17, 1946–1948 B-25, 1946 B-29/F-13, 1946–1947 Beechcrat C-45 Expeditor , 1946Curtiss C-46 Commando , 1946–1947L-4, 1946 L-5, 1946–1948 OA-10, 1946–1947 R-6, 1946 B/FB-17, 1948 RB-29, 1948 F-2, 1948 C-119, 1955–1956 Missile systems
^ I was assigned to the 4315 CCTS at Vandenberg from April 1979 through July 1984 as Chief of Maintenance for the ICBM crew training simulators. '^ See list in Air Force Historical Research Agency Factsheet, 1 Strategic Aerospace Divisionpublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Berger, Carl.History of the 1st Missile Division .Santa Barbara County , California:Vandenberg Air Force Base , 1960. Bishop, Cliff T.Fortresses of the Big Triangle First: A History of the Aircraft Assigned to the First Bombardment Wing and the First Bombardment Division of the Eighth Air Force for August 1942-31 March 1944 . Bishop's Stortford, UK: East Anglia Books, 1986.ISBN 1-869987-00-4 Bowman, Martin W.Airfields of 1st Air Division (USAAF): Cambridgeshire * Northamptonshire * Bedfordshire . Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Books, 2007.ISBN 1-84415-453-X Mackay, Ron.First in the Field: The 1st Air Division over Europe in WWII . Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2007.ISBN 0-7643-2588-4 Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961].Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-912799-02-1 LCCN 61060979 . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on December 20, 2016. 1st Air Division, Okinawa . Okinawan, Japan: McFadden, 1947.Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984).Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977 ISBN 0-912799-12-9 USAF .History and Lineage: 1st Strategic Aerospace Division, 1st Bombardment Division, 1st Air Division, 1st Missile Division . Santa Barbara County, California: Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1981.
Units
Commands Air Divisions Wings
Groups
Bombardment Fighter Troop Carrier Reconnaissance
United States Army Air Forces
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
