445th Operations Group | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1943–1945; 1947–1949; 1952–1958; 1992–1994; 1994–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Airlift |
| Part of | 445th Airlift Wing |
| Garrison/HQ | Wright-Patterson Air Force Base |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation French Croix de Guerre with Palm |
| Battle honours | European theater of World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Col. Raymond A. Smith, JR. |
| Insignia | |
| 445th Operations Group Emblem |  |
The445th Operations Group (445 OG) is the flying component of the445th Airlift Wing, assigned toFourth Air Force of theUnited States Air Force Reserve. The group is stationed atWright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Thegroup was first activated duringWorld War II as the445th Bombardment Group, aConsolidated B-24 Liberator unit stationed in England withVIII Bomber Command. The 445th was stationed atRAF Tibenham in late 1943. The group earned aDistinguished Unit Citation on 24 February 1944 for attacking an aircraft assembly plant atGotha, in Central Germany, losing thirteen aircraft. The 445th also earned theFrench Croix de Guerre with Palm for its operations supporting the liberation of France. The 445th was actorJimmy Stewart's originalbombardment group.
TheUnited States Air Force (USAF) reactivated the group in theAir Force Reserve in 1947. In June 1949 it was inactivated whenContinental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under thewing base reorganization plan.
After theKorean War, the group was again active at as the445th Fighter-Bomber Group, the operational element of the445th Fighter-Bomber Wing nearBuffalo, New York. In 1957 the group moved toMemphis Municipal Airport, where it replaced the319th Fighter-Bomber Group and converted to a troop carrier mission when USAF decided to concentrate its reserve fighter resources in theAir National Guard. The group was inactivated a year later when its parent wing converted to the dual deputy organization and its operational squadrons were assigned directly to the445th Troop Carrier Wing.
In 1992 the group once again assumed its role as the operational element of the445th Airlift Wing under the USAF objective wing organization and became an associate unit of the active duty63d Operations Group. The following year, the group moved toMarch Air Reserve Base, California whenNorton AFB closed. In the spring of 1994 the active duty63d Airlift Wing and its elements inactivated and reserveairlift units joined with theair refueling units already assigned to the452d Air Mobility Wing or inactivated. The 445th was activated again later that year at Wright-Patterson as a stand-aloneLockheed C-141 Starlifter organization.
The445th Operations Group is a unit ofAir Force Reserve Command that in the event of mobilization would be gained byAir Mobility Command. it is currently assigned nineMcDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. The 445 Operation Group's mission is to attain and maintain operational readiness; provide strategic transport of personnel and equipment; provide aeromedical evacuation; and recruit and train toward these goals.[1]
The445th Bombardment Group was activated 1 April 1943 at Gowen Field in Idaho, where initial organization took place while key personnel traveled toOrlando AAB, Florida for training with theArmy Air Forces School of Applied Tactics.[2] Its original components were the700th,[3]701st,[4]702d,[5] and703d Bombardment Squadrons.[6][7] Both elements met atWendover Army Air Field, Utah on 8 June 1943, where initial training with theConsolidated B-24 Liberator took place. While the group was at Wendover, it was joined by actorJimmy Stewart as the operations officer, then thecommander of the 703d Bombardment Squadron. The group moved toSioux City Army Air Base, Iowa in July 1943 to complete training. In late August and early September, the group lost three B-24s to training accidents. In September the group began to receive B-24H aircraft, the model of the Liberator they would fly in combat.[2]
On 20 October 1943 the ground echelon moved to Camp Shanks, New York and embarked on theRMS Queen Mary on 26 October 1943, sailing next day. The unit arrived in theFirth of Clyde, Scotland on 2 November 1943 and disembarked atGourock. The air echelon departed Sioux City late in October 1943 and flew to the United Kingdom via the southern route: Florida, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and West Africa, although one plane was lost en route.[8] Upon arrival in England, the group was assigned to the2nd Combat Bombardment Wing and stationed atRAF Tibenham inEast Anglia.[9] The group was initially given a tail code of "Circle-F".[10]
The 445th entered combat on 13 December 1943 by attackingU-boat installations atKiel. Only fifteen crews were considered fit for this mission which was heavily defended area. It suffered its first combat loss on 20 December in an attack againstBremen.[11] The unit operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until the war ended, striking such targets as industries inOsnabrück, synthetic oil plants in Lutzendorf, chemical works inLudwigshafen,marshalling yards at Hamm, anairfield atMunich, an ammunition plant at Duneberg, underground oil storage facilities at Ehmen, and factories atMünster.[7]
The group participated in the Allied campaign against the German aircraft industry duringBig Week, from 20 to 25 February 1944, being awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation for attacking aBf 110 aircraft assembly plant atGotha on 24 February.[7] Thirteen of the group's twenty-five attacking aircraft were lost along with 122aircrew.[12] This was the longest running, continuous air battle of World War II – some two and a half hours of fighter attacks and flak en route and leaving the target area.[13] Bomb damage assessment photographs showed that the plant was knocked out of production indefinitely.[12]
The group occasionally flewair interdiction andair support missions. It helped to prepare for the invasion ofNormandy by bombing airfields,V-1 andV-2 launch sites, and other targets. The unit attacked shore installations onD-Day, 6 June 1944 with 81 sorties[14] and supported ground forces atSaint-Lô by striking enemy defenses in July 1944. During theBattle of the Bulge, between December 1944 and January 1945 it bombed German communications. Early on 24 March 1945 the 445th dropped food, medical supplies, and ammunition to troops that landed nearWesel during theairborne assault across the Rhine and that afternoon flew a bombing mission to the same area, hitting a landing ground at Stormede.[7]
On occasion the unit droppedpropaganda leaflets and hauled fuel to France. It was awarded theCroix de Guerre with Palm by the French government for operations in the theater from December 1943 to February 1945[7] supplying the resistance.
By far, the 445th's most tragic mission is theattack on Kassel[15] of 27 September 1944. In cloud, the navigator of the lead bomber miscalculated and the 35 planes left the bomber stream of the 2d Air Division and proceeded toGöttingen some 35 miles (56 km) from the primary target. After the bomb run, the group was alone in the skies and was attacked from the rear by an estimated 150Luftwaffe planes, resulting in the most concentrated air battle in history. The Luftwaffe unit was aSturmgruppe, a special unit intended to attack bombers by flying in tight formations of up to ten fighters in line abreast. This was intended to break the bomber formation at a single pass. The361st Fighter Group intervened, preventing complete destruction of the Group. Twenty-nine German and 25 American planes went down in a 15-mile (24 km) radius. Only four 445th planes made it back to the base – two crashing in France, one in Belgium, another atRAF Old Buckenham.[15] Two landed atRAF Manston. Only one of the 35 attacking aircraft was fit to fly next day, but 445th sent 10 planes to the same target, Kassel.[16]
After the end of the air war in Europe, the 445th flew low level "Trolley" missions over Germany carrying ground personnel so they could see the result of their efforts during the war.[17] The group's air echelon departed Tibenham on 17 May 1945, and departed the United Kingdom on 20 May 1945. The 703rd BS ground echelon sailed onUSATArgentina from Southampton and the other squadrons on the USATCristobal from Bristol.[17] Both ships arrived at New York on 8 June 1945. Personnel were given 30 days R&R. The group reestablished at Fort Dix, New Jersey, with the exception of the air echelon, which had flown toSioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota. Most personnel were discharged or transferred to other units, and only a handful were left[17] when the group was inactivated on 12 September 1945.[7]
During World War II, the group flew 280 missions, losing 138 B-24s.[18]
The445th Bombardment Group was activated again in the Reserve during the summer of 1947 atMcChord Field, Washington as aBoeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group[7] and assigned two of its World War II squadrons, the 700th[3] and 701st.[4] By the end of the summer it added two additional squadrons located atHill Field, Utah,[5][19] the15th and 702d Bombardment Squadrons. At the beginning of 1948 it added a third squadron at McChord, the 703d, although the squadron moved away in May and was reassigned.[6] The group was inactivated in June 1949[7] whenContinental Air Command reorganized to thewing base organizational model. It was replaced at McChord by the302d Troop Carrier Group of the302d Troop Carrier Wing.[20] It does not appear that the squadrons at Hill were ever equipped with aircraft[5][19] and reserve training at Hill was continued by the 9013th Volunteer Air Reserve Training Wing.[21]
The group was activated again in the reserves as the445th Fighter-Bomber Group, an element of the445th Fighter-Bomber Wing in 1952 atBuffalo Municipal Airport, New York with the 700th, 701st and 702d Fighter-Bomber Squadrons assigned. Although designated as a fighter unit, until 1955 the group primarily flewNorth American T-6 aircraft,[22] although it was equipped with a fewNorth American F-51 Mustangs andLockheed F-80 Shooting Stars. In 1955 the group moved a few miles toNiagara Falls Municipal Airport and converted to theRepublic F-84 Thunderjet.[23]
In 1957 theUnited States Air Force realigned its reserve forces, transferring allfighter aircraft to theAir National Guard, whileAir Force Reserve organizations flewtactical airlift aircraft. As a result, the 445th redesignated as the445th Troop Carrier Group in September and its remaining squadron began training inFairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft. In July 1957 reserve operations at Niagara Falls had been reduced to a single squadron when the 701st and 702d squadrons inactivated.[4][5] In mid-November 1957 the 445th Group moved toMemphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee,[23] where it replaced the319th Fighter-Bomber Group and reserve operations at Niagara Falls were transferred to the64th Troop Carrier Squadron.[24] The 445th wing and the 700th squadron moved toDobbins AFB, Georgia at the same time.[3][22] Simultaneously, the 701st and 702d Troop Carrier Squadrons were reactivated and joined the group at its new station, while the357th Troop Carrier Squadron atDonaldson AFB, South Carolina was reassigned to the group.[25]
In November,Continental Air Command reorganized under the dual deputy system. The group was inactivated,[23] and its squadrons transferred directly to the 445th Troop Carrier Wing.[22]
In 1992 the group once again assumed its role as the operational element of the 445th Airlift Wing under the USAF Objective Wing organization.The 445th wing had been a reserve associate of the active duty63d Airlift Wing atNorton Air Force Base, California since 1973. Under the reserve associate concept, the 445th wing had no aircraft of its own, but its reservists flew and maintained the 63d wing's aircraft alongside the regular airman assigned to the 63d.[22] In the summer of 1992, the group was again activated as the445th Operations Group and became an associate unit of the active duty63d Operations Group. The729th and730th Airlift Squadrons were reassigned from the wing to the group,[23] while the445th Operations Support Flight was activated under the group.
The following year both wings and their subordinate elements moved toMarch Air Reserve Base, California asNorton AFB closed.[26]Air Mobility Command had combinedairlift andair refueling units at a number of locations into what were designated "Air Mobility Wings." In the spring of 1994 the active duty63d Airlift Wing and its elements inactivated at March and reserveairlift units were joined with theair refueling units already assigned to the452d Air Mobility Wing, while the 445th wing and group inactivated.[27]
The 445th was activated again later that year atWright-Patterson AFB, Ohio as a stand-aloneLockheed C-141 Starlifter organization. It absorbed two squadrons already stationed at Wright-Patterson, the89th Airlift Squadron from the 906th Operations Group[28] and the356th Airlift Squadron from the 907th Operations Group.[29]
In 2006, the 356th inactivated[29] while the 89th and the 445th converted toLockheed C-5 Galaxys and in 2011 toMcDonnell Douglas C-17s. The group trained for and flew strategic airlift missions worldwide, performing channel flights and special assignment airlift missions. It participated in various contingency and humanitarian operations and training exercises. The group also tested and calibrated the laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system.[23]
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) (ISBN is for Revised edition published in 2010. The 1947 edition does not contain page numbers. Page numbers in citations are those in the online .pdf version)| Leadership |  | ||||||||||
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