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| 3rd Air Division | |
|---|---|
 3rd Air Division emblem | |
| Active | 30 August 1943 – 21 November 1945 23 August 1948 – 1 May 1951 8 October 1953 – 1 March 1954 8 June 1954 – 1 April 1970 1 January 1975 – 1 April 1992 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Garrison/HQ | see "Stations" section below |
| Equipment | see "Aircraft" section below |
| Engagements |   
|
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Major GeneralEarle E. Partridge |
The3rd Air Division (3d AD) is an inactiveUnited States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was withStrategic Air Command, assigned toFifteenth Air Force, being stationed atHickam AFB,Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 April 1992.
The 3rd Air Division was created inEngland during World War II as the3rd Bombardment Division, an upper command echelon of theEighth Air Force. With five combat bomb wings and 14heavy bomber groups assigned, it was one of the two largest U.S. air combat organizations during World War II.
The3rd Air Division was activated in September 1943 as an intermediate command and control organization between command and wing levels. It was assigned to VIII Bomber Command,Eighth Air Force. The Division commanded three combat bombardment wings (4th, 13th and 45th), consisting of sevenBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomb groups.[a] The addition of the 92nd and 93rd Combat Bomb Wings in 1944 and additional bomb groups to the other wings increased the number of combat groups to fourteen. Between May 1944 and September 1944 the division operated both B-17 Flying Fortress (nine groups) andConsolidated B-24 Liberator (five groups) aircraft, before converting to an all-B-17 organization for the remainder of the war. In September 1944 the 66th Fighter Wing was assigned directly to the division for fighter support.
The bomb groups bombedAxis targets in theEuropean Theater of Operations (ETO). During the weeks immediately precedingthe invasion of France, division aircraft bombed tactical targets such as German communications centers and lines of support, and on 6 June 1944 hit targets on the Cherbourg Peninsula immediately behind the landing beaches.
After V-E Day, the 3rd Air Division briefly became part of theUnited States Air Forces in Europe. As former Eighth Air Force units were withdrawn from Europe and returned to the United States during the summer and fall of 1945, the Division was assigned toVIII Fighter Command and controlled a mixture of bombardment and fighter groups before itself being inactivated on 21 November 1945.
In August 1948, in response to theBerlin Blockade, the U.S. deployed long-rangeBoeing B-29 Superfortress strategic bombers to four EnglishEast Anglian bases. The 3rd Air Division (Provisional) was activated as part ofUnited States Air Forces in Europe to receive, support and operationally control the B-29 units deployed for training. At this time these units were only expected to take part in 30- to 60-day temporary duty cycles. It was formed atRAF Marham in Norfolk, and on 23 August 1948, the provisional title was dropped, and on 8 September the headquarters moved into quarters atBushy Park in London and remained there until April 1949 when it moved to the Victoria Park Estate,South Ruislip.
It also provided aircraft maintenance support atRAF Burtonwood (Cheshire) forDouglas C-54 Skymaster aircraft used in theBerlin Airlift.
It was briefly elevated to theMajor Command level from 3 January 1949 – 21 January 1951. When the Berlin Airlift ended in 1949, the division participated in theMilitary Assistance Program in England and began an extensive air base construction program through May 1951 and a large number of USAF organizations based in the United Kingdom.
With the advent of theKorean War and the growingCold War threat of theSoviet Union, the U.S. and UK agreed to an even greater U.S. military presence in the United Kingdom. The resulting growing size and complexity of the American military presence required a larger command and organizational structure, that could meet the needs of the increased operations.
The 3rd Air Division was inactivated on 1 May 1951. In its placeUnited States Air Forces Europe activatedThird Air Force to command its units in the United Kingdom.Strategic Air Command (SAC) had activated the7th Air Division a few days earlier to control its forces deployed in Europe. SAC's intent in activating a separate headquarters was to maintain control of these forces by keeping them out of the control of the theater commander and avoid what it regarded as the misuse of its forces in theKorean War, in which its bombers had been kept from striking strategic targets by the theater commander.[1]
The 3rd Air Division was activated again atAndersen Air Force Base,Guam in June 1954 as theheadquarters for all SAC units in the Pacific. Thedivision replaced the Far East Air Forces Bomber Command (Provisional), which was simultaneously discontinued atYokota Air Base, Japan.[2] In addition to the strategic bomber force, the division exercised operational control over numerous deployed tactical components, and all Strategic Air Command (SAC) operations in the region came under its jurisdiction. It also supported air refueling needs of all United States military agencies operating in or transiting the region.
In mid-1958, the deployment of entire SAC wings to Guam was replaced by an"Air Mail" alert program, whereby severalBoeing B-47 Stratojet wings in the U.S. maintained a specific number of B-47s and KC-97s atAndersen AFB to meet both routine and alert requirements.
In April 1964, the division switched from "Air Mail" B-47 / KC-97 to B-52 / KC-135 alert forces, again with aircraft and crews furnished in deployed status from U.S. based SAC wings. In 1965, it became heavily involved inArc Light and Young Tiger operations in the Far East and SE Asia (SEA). Strategic Air Command wings in the U.S. furnished the aircrews and aircraft for these operations. The first elements of the 3rd Air Division to enter combat in SEA were the tanker forces under Young Tiger. In June 1965, Arc Light B-52s struck suspectedViet Cong targets inSouth Vietnam, commencing the first SAC combat missions. B-52s began striking targets inNorth Vietnam on 11 April 1966; the initial attack against theMu Gia Pass marked the largest single bomber raid since World War II. By late 1969, most Arc Light operations staged fromU-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield,Thailand, while others were mounted fromKadena Air Base,Okinawa and Andersen. Andersen AFB remained the primary base for SAC deployed forces from the U.S., however, and aircraft and crews were sent from Guam to Kadena and U Tapao for combat missions.
On 1 April 1970 the 3rd Air Division's resources passed to theEighth Air Force. Effective 1 January 1975, 3rd Air Division again controlled all SAC operations in theWestern Pacific,Far East, andSoutheast Asia. Additionally, it assumed responsibility for air refueling support of all U.S. military forces in these areas. DuringPersian Gulf operations in late 1990 through early 1991, it tasked and supported numerous sorties supporting the deployment in the Pacific Area of Responsibility (AOR).
Temporary attached Air Mail/Reflex units not listed. Check AFHRA link for details.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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