492nd Special Operations Wing | |
|---|---|
 PZL C-145A flown by the 6th Special Operations Squadron | |
| Active | 1943–1945; 2017–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Special Operations |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations[1] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation French Croix de Guerre with Palm[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Wing Commander | Col. Patrick V. Wnetrzak |
| Deputy wing commander | Col. Patrick J. DuBe |
| Command Chief | CCM Thomas J. Gunnell |
| Insignia | |
| 492nd Special Operations Wing emblem(approved 13 July 2017)[2] |  |
The492nd Special Operations Wing is aUnited States Air Forces unit stationed atHurlburt Field, Florida. It was activated in May 2017 to replace theAir Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center.
DuringWorld War II the unit entered combat in May 1944, and sustained the heaviest losses of anyConsolidated B-24 Liberator group for a three-month period. Thegroup was withdrawn from combat with its personnel and equipment being reassigned to other units. The 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) was replaced by the 492nd Bombardment Group, and the group performed special operations missions throughout the remainder of the war in Europe. It was inactivated on 17 October 1945.
In June 2017 official USAF descriptions said that the wing organized, trained and equipped forces to conductspecial operations missions. It ledMajor Command irregular warfare activities and executes special operations test and evaluation programs. It also developed doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures forUnited States Air Force special operations forces.[3]
Thegroup was established in October 1943 atAlamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico[note 2] as aConsolidated B-24 Liberatorheavy bomber unit, drawing itscadre from the859th Bombardment Squadron, a formerantisubmarine squadron located atBlythe Army Air Base, California.[4] Its other original squadrons were the856th,857th and858th Bombardment Squadrons.[1][5][6][7] In December, the 859th moved from Blythe to join groupheadquarters and the other three squadrons.[4] The 492nd was one of seven heavy bombardment groups[note 3] activated in the autumn of 1943. These were to be the lastArmy Air Forces heavy bomb groups established.[citation needed]
The group air echelon trained for combat at Alamogordo until April 1944, although the ground echelons of its four squadrons were withdrawn to form other bomber units. New ground elements were organized from other groups of the2nd Bombardment Division already in theater.[8][1] The group's air echelon departed for England on 1 April, flying theSouth Atlantic ferrying route through South America and Africa. Only about 120 members of the group's ground echelon shipped overseas, however, leaving New Mexico on 11 April and sailing on theRMS Queen Elizabeth on 20 April.[8]
The group was the first inVIII Bomber Command group to arrive with aircraft in natural metal finish on all their aircraft.[citation needed] On 14 April, the ground echelon that had been formed in England arrived atRAF North Pickenham[note 4] The air echelon began arriving on 18 April.[8]
The 492nd entered combat on 11 May 1944, operating primarily against industrial targets in central Germany. During the first week in June, the group was diverted from strategic targets to supportOperation Overlord, the invasion ofNormandy by attacking airfields andV-weapon launching sites in France. OnD-Day it bombedcoastal defenses in Normandy and attacked bridges, railroads, and otherinterdiction targets in France until the middle of the month. The group resumed bombardment of strategic targets in Germany and, except for support of the infantry duringOperation Cobra theSaint-Lô breakthrough on 25 July 1944, and continued these operations until August 1944.[1] However, during its three months of strategic operations the 492nd Group suffered the heaviest losses of anyEighth Air Force group. The group's heavy losses had begun with one of the group's earliest missions, an attack onBraunschweig, in which it lost eight Liberators to enemyinterceptors.[9] When the 492nd Group returned to strategic operation, on 20 JuneLuftwaffe fighters, primarilyMesserschmitt Bf 110s, usingair to air rockets shot down fourteen of the 492nd Group's B-24s, the equivalent of losing an entire squadron on one raid.[10] Heavy losses, this time to fighters fromJagdgeschwader 3, were again suffered on 29 June.[11][note 5] After only 89 days of combat, the 492nd had lost 52 aircraft to enemy action, with 588 men killed or missing. In the words of one veteran, "the whole group was wiped out".[citation needed] On 5 August, the decision was made to withdraw the 492nd Group from combat.[8] Rather than try to rebuild the shattered group, the group was stood down and the surviving members were reassigned to other units in theater.[citation needed]
Subsequently, the 492nd was transferred without personnel or equipment, toRAF Harrington on 5 August 1944 and assumed the personnel, equipment, and the Carpetbaggerspecial operations mission of the 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) that was discontinued. With black-painted aircraft configured with engine flame dampers and optimized for night operations, the group operated chiefly over southern France with B-24's and C-47's, transporting agents, supplies, and propaganda leaflets to patriots. The liberation of most of France and Belgium brought an effective end to these missions on 16 September 1944.<ref.Warren, p. 63/> The group's aircraft were used to transport fuel and other supplies to theUS Third Army in France, whose advance had outpaced its supply base. This operation resulted in the aircraft carrying 80 octane fuel in their wing fuel tanks, and having it pumped out to waiting storage tanks and tanker trucks at the advanced airfields in France. Unfortunately, the 80 octane fuel resulted in the wing tanks being chemically degraded so that they could no longer carry aviation fuel. This drastically decreased the range of the aircraft. It being too expensive to change out the wing tanks, the aircraft were flown to a depot area and the entire group was issued new B-24 aircraft.[citation needed] In December 1944, the 859th Squadron was detached to theMediterranean Theater of Operations, where it supportedguerilla operations.[4]
Throughout 1944 the group's missions intermittently included attacks on airfields, oil refineries, seaports, and other targets in France, the Netherlands and Germany. These operations continued until February 1945. In addition, in October 1944 the group began training for night bombardment operations. These operations concentrated on marshaling yards and goods depots in Germany, which the group undertook from February through March 1945. In September 1944 until mid winter 1945 a small Detachment of men from the group, mainly from the 856th bombardment squadron, was sent on a personnel recovery mission in Southeast France near the Swiss border to recover USAAF crews who had been interned in Switzerland that had started coming across the border into France to the American Lines during the Invasion of Southern France.
Two of the Squadrons continued night bombardment missions into 1945. The main OSS/Carpetbagger operations over Germany and German-occupied territory had been handed over to the 856th Bombardment Squadron from the 25th Bombardment Group, which used B-24, A-26, and British Mosquito aircraft for "Red Stocking" missions to drop leaflets, demolition equipment, and agents. The 856th Squadron received aDistinguished Unit Citation for operations during March and April 1945, performed at night despite adverse weather and vigorous opposition from enemy ground forces. It was also cited by the French government for similar operations over France in 1944. It flew its last Carpetbagger mission in April 1945 and then ferried personnel and equipment to and from the Continent until July.
The group left England in July 1945 and was stationed atKirtland Field, New Mexico in August. The group became a very heavy bomb group on arrival at Kirtland.[1] The 492nd was programmed forBoeing B-29 Superfortress operations in the Pacific, but apparently was not equipped when Japan surrendered. It was inactivated on 17 October 1945.[1]
In June 2002, the group was converted to provisional status as the492nd Air Expeditionary Group and assigned toAir Mobility Command (AMC) to activate or inactivate as needed for contingency operations. AMC activated the unit once, atLajes Field in the Azores from March through May 2003 during the2003 invasion of Iraq.[3]
In May 2017, the group was withdrawn from provisional status and returned to its old designation for one day. It became the492nd Special Operations Wing and was activated on 17 May atHurlburt Field, Florida, where it replaced theAir Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center.[3]
In addition to its assigned units, the wing is responsible for the training of twoAir National Guard squadrons, the209th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron and the280th Combat Communications Squadron.[3]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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