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| 379th Air Expeditionary Wing | |
|---|---|
 379th Air Expeditionary Wing emblem | |
| Active | 1953–present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Air Expeditionary |
| Role | Various |
| Garrison/HQ | Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar |
| Mottos | Diligentia et accuratio – Precision and accuracy |
| Engagements | Operation Desert Storm;Operation Enduring Freedom;Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Brig. Gen. Gerald A. Donohue[1] |
| Vice commander | Col. Jeremy E. Williams |
| CommandChief | CCM Israel Jaeger |
| Notable commanders | Eugene E. Habiger |
The379th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisionalUnited States Air Force unit assigned toAir Combat Command. As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time.
The Wing is one of the largest, most diverse expeditionary wings in the Air Force, providing combat airpower and support for the Global War on Terrorism inOperation Iraqi Freedom,Operation Enduring Freedom,Operation New Dawn,Operation Odyssey Dawn and through the support ofCombined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa. The wing and its associate units operate more than 100 aircraft, making the base a large hub for humanitarian airlift activity while providing mission-essential combat power, aeromedical evacuation and intelligence support for three theaters of operations.
During World War II, the Wing's predecessor unit, the379th Bombardment Group was aVIII Bomber CommandB-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. Assigned toRAF Kimbolton in early 1943, the group flew more sorties than any other bomb group in theEighth Air Force, and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other group. The combat record of the 379th was the most successful of all the Eighth Air Force heavy bomber groups, receiving twoDistinguished Unit Citations. Active for over 50 years, the379th Bombardment Wing was a component organization ofStrategic Air Command's deterrent force during theCold War, as a strategic bombardment wing.
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Current
The following aircraft types are used by this wing:[9]
Former
The group was activated on 26 November 1942 atGowen Field, Idaho. It assembled atWendover Field, Utah on 2 December 1942. They trained there until 2 March 1943. Then moved to Sioux City AAB Iowa on 3 February 1943 until their departure on 9 April 1943. The ground echelon moved for final processing at Camp Douglas, Wis, and then to Camp Shanks, New York. They sailed on theSS Aquitania on 10 May 1943, and arrived at Clyde on 18 May 1943. The aircraft left Sioux City on 9 April 1943 for Bangor, Maine, via Kearney, Nebraska, and Selfridge, Michigan. They commenced overseas movement on 15 April 1943 by the North Atlantic ferry route from Presque Isle, Maine via Greenland, Iceland to Prestwick, Scotland.
Arrived in England in May 1943, assigned toVIII Bomber Command,41st Combat Bombardment Wing. Stationed atRAF Kimbolton, assignedTriangle-K as its tail identification code.
The 379th BG began operations with Eighth AF on 19 May 1943, and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations over Europe from May 1943 through July 1944. The group engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets such as industries, oil refineries, storage plants, submarine pens, airfields and communications centres in Germany, France, theNetherlands, Belgium, Norway and Poland.
Specific targets included a chemical plant inLudwigshafen, an aircraft assembly plant inBrunswick, ball-bearing plants atSchweinfurt andLeipzig, synthetic oil refineries atMerseburg andGelsenkirchen, marshalling yards atHamm andReims and airfields in Mesnil au Val and Berlin.
The Group received another DUC for flying without fighter protection into central Germany to attack vital aircraft factories on 11 January 1944. On several occasions the Group attacked interdictory targets and operated in support of ground forces. It bombed V-weapon sites, airfields, radar stations and other installations before the Normandy invasion in June 1944, bombed defended positions just ahead of the Allied landings on 6 June and struck airfields, rail choke points, and gun emplacements during the campaign that followed.
During the Battle of France, the Group bombed enemy positions to assist ground troops at St Lo during the breakthrough, 24–25 July 1944, attacked German communications and fortifications during theBattle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945, and bombed bridges and viaducts in France and Germany to aid the Allied assault across the Rhine, February–March 1945.
The combat record of the 379th was the most successful of all the Eighth Air Force heavy bomber groups. It held records as far as bomb tonnage dropped – 26,459 tons – more than any other unit including those operational before the 379th arrived in the UK. It also exceeded all other UK Bomb Groups in the total number of missions flown, carrying out 330 between May 1943 and 15 May 1945. One B-17G, "Ol Gappy", itself completed 157 missions, probably more than any other Eighth Air Force bomber.
Scheduled to transport US troops from Europe to Casablanca. The unit moved to Casablanca in early June with the last aircraft flown back to the States and the Group inactivated as Casablanca on 25 July 1945.
The wing was first activated as the379th Bombardment Wing, Medium on 1 November 1955 atHomestead Air Force Base in Florida (replacing the 4276th Air Base Squadron). From 1 November 1955 to 31 May 1956 the unit was attached to the 813th Air Division atPinecastle Air Force Base, Florida. Its operational squadrons were the 524th, 525th 526th and 527th Bomb Squadrons. Upon activation, the unit was bestowed the honors, history and colors of the World War IIEighth Air Force379th Bombardment Group.
In April 1956, the wing began training for air refueling and strategic bombardment operations with theB-47E andKC-97G. It was an assigned unit to the 823d Air Division at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, from 1 June 1956 to 9 January 1961. During this time, the wing was attached to Sidi Slimane Air Base,French Morocco, from 6 March to 12 May 1957 during anOperation Reflex deployment coming under the control of SAC's5th Air Division. Beginning in October 1960, the wing began transferring its B-47s to other SAC wings and became non-operational.
The 379th was reassigned toWurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan without personnel or equipment in January 1961, assuming the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the discontinued4026th Strategic Wing. The 4026th was a SAC Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing that had been organized on 1 August 1958. On 15 July 1960, the 4026th was assigned its first operational unit, the920th Air Refueling Squadron equipped withBoeing KC-135A Stratotankers. The 4026th was established by SAC in a program to disperse itsBoeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for theSoviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.[10] One half of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minutealert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.[11] However, it never equipped with B-52s before being replaced by the 379th. The 853d Medical Group, 910th Air Refueling Squadron and the 67th Munitions Maintenance Squadron transferred to the 379th when it replaced the 4026th, but the remaining support units of the 4026th were discontinued along with the wing.[12]
With the B-47 being programmed for retirement, and in order to retain the lineage of 379th, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue the4026th Strategic Wing and to activate an AFCON unit which could carry a lineage and history. SAC discontinued the 4026th and in its place the newly redesignated379th Bombardment Wing, Heavy was moved from Homestead along with its 524th Bombardment Squadron on 9 January 1961, assuming the resources of the inactivated 4026th. The 379th immediately resumed training for strategic bombardment and air refueling operations.
On 9 May 1961, the 379th took delivery of SAC's first B-52H, equipped withTF33 turbofan engines andM61 Vulcan 20mm defensive armament. By the end of June, it was fully equipped with the H series of the Stratofortress. However, these early planes were not equipped with the terrain avoidance radar designed for this type and had to be retrofitted the following year.[13]
Personnel and KC-135 tankers from the 379th were deployed to forward bases in the Pacific to support combat operations over Southeast Asia from 1965 to 1975, however its B-52H aircraft remained at Wurtsmith on nuclear alert.
In 1977, the 379th exchanged their B-52Hs for the conventional bomb capable B-52G. In 1989, the Air Force selected Wurtsmith as one of seven bases that would house LGM-118A Peacekeeper ICBMPeacekeeper Rail Garrison. A Rail Garrison would address the survivability problem by which 25 trains, each with two missiles, would use the national railroad system to conceal themselves. It was intended that this system would become operational in late 1992, but budgetary constraints and the changing international situation led to it being scrapped.
Retirement of the B-52G began in the late 1980s, however theGulf War of 1990–1991 resulted in a temporary delay in the inactivation of B-52G units. Wurtsmith-based B-52s were flown on missions against Iraq staged out of Prince Abdullah AB in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. These planes were part of the 1708th Bombardment Wing (Provisional), a provisional wing formed from B-52s out of Barksdale, Castle, Wurtsmith, and others. The planes arrived at dawn on the first day of the air war.
One plane flew 29 missions out of Jeddah, the most of any bomber crew in the theater. During the Gulf War, 379th Bomb Wing aircraft carried the "Triangle K" tail flash in honor of their World War II predecessors and heritage.
The 379th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 30 June 1993 as a result of the 1991Base Realignment and Closure process which closed Wurtsmith AFB. On the overcast foggy morning of 15 December 1992, the last B-52, 57–6492, Old Crow Express, was flown toDavis–Monthan Air Force Base.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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