9th Operations Group | |
|---|---|
.jpg) U-2 Dragon Lady 80-1080 from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing | |
| Active | 1922–1948; 1949–1952; 1991–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Reconnaissance |
| Part of | Air Combat Command 9th Reconnaissance Wing |
| Motto | Semper ParatusLatin Always Ready[1] |
| Engagements | World War IIAmerican Theater (1941–1943) Asiatic-Pacific Theater |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[2] |
| Insignia | |
| 9th Operations Gp emblem[note 1][note 2] |  |
| WW II Tail Marking | Circle K |
The9th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the9th Reconnaissance Wing, stationed atBeale Air Force Base, California.
The 9th OG's mission is to organize, train and equipLockheed U-2R,RQ-4 Global Hawk andMC-12W Liberty combat elements for peacetime intelligence gathering, contingency operations, conventional war fighting and Emergency War Order support.
It is a descendant organization of the9th Group (Observation), one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. It is the fourth oldest active group in the USAF, and the seventh created following the establishment of theU.S. Air Service. DuringWorld War II, the9th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy was aB-29 Superfortress group assigned toTwentieth Air Force flying bombardment operations against Japan. Its aircraft were identified by a "X" inside a Circle painted on the tail.
The 1st Squadron was the first squadron organized in the air force, formed on 5 March 1913, atTexas City, Texas, as the1st Aero Squadron. In March 1916, the1st Aero Squadron, withCaptain Benjamin D. Foulois as commander, supportedGeneral "Black Jack" Pershing'spunitive expeditions into Mexico. Pancho Villa had raidedColumbus, New Mexico, and Pershing pursued and hoped to capture him. On 16 March 1916, Captain T.F. Dodd, with Captain Foulois as observer, flew the first American aerial reconnaissance mission in combat. The wavy line in the middle of the wing's emblem represents the Rio Grande and the 1st Aero Squadron's operations in 1916. The5th Aero Squadron was organized in 1917 atKelly Field, Texas, and served as a flying training unit.
Between 12 and 15 September 1918, they joined the great air armada of 1,481 airplanes in a massive air offensive in theSt. Mihiel sector of France. The squadrons also participated in theChampagne-Marne,Aisne-Marne, andMeuse-Argonne combat operations. The four black crosses on the wing's emblem commemorate these air battles.
From June to September 1921 both squadrons served as part of the1st Provisional Air Brigade, organized by Brig. Gen.William L. Mitchell to demonstrate aerial bombardment ofbattleships.
Originally created as the 9th Observation Group on 19 July 1922, as part of theU.S. Army Air Service, the group was organized on 1 August 1922, atMitchel Field, New York.[3] The squadrons assigned to the group were the1st and5th Aero Squadrons (Observation), both re-designated bomb squadrons in March 1935. From 1923 to 1929, both squadrons of the 9th were reassigned to higher echelons, but remained in actuality a part of the group. From 1922 to 1940, they also trained, took part in maneuvers, and participated in air shows. The99th Observation Squadron, organized at Kelly Field in 1917 and earning four campaign streamers in France, was added to the 9th Group on 9 November 1928, and on 15 February 1929, all three squadrons were assigned permanently. The 9th Observation Group used theAirco DH.4 for its observation airplane between 1922 and 1928, and theCurtiss O-1B Falcon from 1928 to 1935.
The Air Service became theU.S. Army Air Corps on 2 July 1926.
The 9th was re designated the ‘’'9th Bombardment Group'’’ in 1935, and early that year, the Air Corps re-organized, with all combat groups within the continental United States being centrally controlled for the first time, under a new command organization calledGeneral Headquarters Air Force. The role of observation as the primary function of the air arm had been de-emphasized in the creation of eight new groups between 1927 and 1932. With the creation of GHQAF it was further de-emphasized and the 9th was converted into a bombardment group. Made a part of the2nd Wing, the 9th BG was responsible for the air defense of the East Coast of the United States.
The group's designation was changed to the9th Bombardment Group on 19 February 1935, the9th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 6 December 1939, and the9th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 20 November 1940. During the period 1935–1940 the 9th Bombardment Group trained aircrews, took part in maneuvers, and participated in air shows, equipped withKeystone B-6 (1935–36),Martin B-10 (1936–38), and theB-18 Bolo (1938–1942).
The 9th moved toRio Hato Airport, Panama, on 12 November 1940, to serve as part of the defense force for thePanama Canal. The44th Reconnaissance Squadron stationed atAlbrook Field,Panama Canal Zone, was attached to the 9th on 20 November 1940. In addition to 5 additional B-18's it provided a singleB-17B Flying Fortress to the group. The group later hunted GermanU-boats in theCaribbean.
The 9th Bombardment Group relocated in a series of moves toCaribbean bases to conductantisubmarine patrols. The1st Bomb Squadron moved toPiarco Airport,Trinidad, on 24 April 1941; followed by the5th Bomb Squadron toBeane Field, Saint Lucia, on 28 September; the group headquarters squadron toWaller Field,Trinidad, on 30 October (where it was joined by the 1st Bomb Squadron); the44th Reconnaissance Squadron toAtkinson Field,British Guiana, on 4 November; and the99th Bomb Squadron toZandrey Field,Surinam, on 3 December 1941.
The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron was assigned to the 9th Bombardment Group on 25 February 1942, and re designated the430th Bombardment Squadron on 22 April. The group's Headquarters Squadron was disbanded on 22 July 1942. The1st Bomb Squadron changed stations toEdinburg Field,Trinidad, on 23 August, and the group was assigned to theAntilles Air Task Force on 18 September, where it continued antisubmarine patrols and conducted reconnaissance of theVichy French fleet atMartinique, using B-18 aircraft from a base inTrinidad. It then returned without personnel or equipment to the United States on 31 October 1942.
The 9th Bombardment Group's assets were transferred to the25th Bombardment Group and it was returned without personnel or equipment to the US in October 1942, where it was reconstituted as part of theArmy Air Force School of Applied Tactics atOrlando Army Air Base, Florida. The group's squadrons were assigned as school squadrons, with the 1st located atBrooksville Army Air Field, the 5th atPinecastle Army Air Field, and the 99th atMontbrook Army Air Field, Florida. These usedB-17 Flying Fortress,B-24 Liberator, andB-26 Marauder aircraft to train cadres for 44 bomb groups in organization and operations, performed bombing pattern tests, experimented with 3-plane formations to attack moving ships, and performed over a hundred equipment tests.
On 3 March 1944, the ‘’'9th Bombardment Group'’’ was established on paper atDalhart Army Air Field, Texas, as part of the313th Bombardment Wing, to organize and train forB-29 operations in theWestern Pacific. The 9th helped to develop operational bombardment tactics and tested special devices and equipment during this time.
During April, the key personnel of the new group (including group commander Col. Donald Eisenhart and Deputy Group Commander Lt.Col. Henry Huglin) assembled at Dalhart, forming the command and operations cadres, and were transferred with the group toMcCook Army Airfield, Nebraska. After a brief period establishing the units at McCook, the cadre of group and squadron operations staffs went by train to theArmy Air Force School of Applied Tactics inOrlando, Florida. This occurred during May for the 4-week training course in organizing and conducting combat operations with very heavy bomb group units.
While the cadre was training in Florida, an influx of new personnel continued at McCook.
After the return of the group and squadron cadres in June 1944, the squadrons organized new combat crews and the group conducted an intensive program of ground and flying training using B-17 aircraft to practice takeoffs, landings, instrument and night flying, cross-country navigation, high altitude formation flying, and bombing and gunnery practice.
The 9th Group had been forced to use B-17's in its training because the development of the B-29 as an operational weapon had been plagued since an early flight test on 28 December 1942, resulted in an engine fire. This culminated in a massive emergency modification program in the winter of 1943–44 ordered by Chief of theU.S. Army Air Forces, GeneralHenry H. Arnold, and nicknamed the "Battle of Kansas". In particular the program sought to resolve a spate of problems with serious engine fires and faulty gunnery central fire control systems. All B-29s modified in this program were diverted to the58th Bombardment Wing to meet PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's commitment to China to have B-29's deployed to theChina Burma India Theater in the spring of 1944. This commitment inadvertently led to there being no available aircraft to equip the 12 new groups being formed in the73rd,313th, and314th Bombardment Wings.
The 9th Group received its first training B-29 on 13 July 1944. After four further months of training, Col. Eisenhart declared the unit ready for movement overseas, and its ground echelon left McCook for theSeattle, Washington, port of embarkation on 18 November 1944, traveling by the troopshipU.S.S. Cape Henlopen to theMariana Islands on a voyage that required thirty days. The ground echelon of the group debarked atTinian on 28 December and was assigned a camp on the west side of the island between the two airfields.
The air echelon of the 9th Bombardment Group began its overseas movement in January 1945 by sending the combat crews toHerington Field,Kansas, where over a three-week period they accepted 37 new B-29s. The first bombers left their staging field atMather Army Airfield, California on 15 January 1945, and proceeded individually by way ofHickam Field, Hawaii, andKwajalein toNorth Field, Tinian, with the first five arriving on 18 January 1945. The last of the original 37 airplanes to reach Tinian arrived on 12 February, by which time the group had already flown its first combat mission.
The 9th Bombardment Group was one of four groups of the313th Bombardment Wing stationed at North Field as part ofXXI Bomber Command,Twentieth Air Force. It was assigned theUnit identification aircraft markings of the letter "X" above a small blacktriangle symbol, both placed above the aircraft's tail fin serial and victor number (a one- or two-digit number assigned an airplane to identify it individually both within the group and squadron). The group carried this marking until April, when the 313th Wing changed its marking to that of a 126-inch-diameter (3.2 m) circle in black to outline a 63-inch-high (1.6 m) group letter.
The 9th Bombardment Group conducted four training missions against the Japanese-heldMaug Islands in theNorthern Marianas on 27, 29, 31 January, and 6 February. Its first combat mission took place on 9 February 1945 with 30 aircraft bombing a Japanese naval airfield located on the island ofMoen atTruk atoll (now known as theChuuk Islands). Flown by day at an altitude of 25,000 feet, it was in actuality a further training mission, encountering no opposition.
The second group mission was a pre-invasion bombing ofIwo Jima on 12 February, one week prior to D-Day forOperation Detachment. The capture ofIwo Jima had as its objective an emergency landing field forTwentieth Air Force bombers attacking Japan and a base forP-51D Mustang andP-47N Thunderbolt fighters to fly escort and strafing missions.
The first mission to the Japanese home islands was the 9th Bombardment Group's fifth mission overall. It was flown on 25 February 1945. Again, a day mission flown at high altitude, the target was the port facilities of Tokyo. That same day Col. Eisenhart was madeOperations Officer of the339th Bombardment Wing and was succeeded in command of the group by Lt. Col. Huglin.
Unlike their counterparts in theEighth Air Force andFifteenth Air Forces, B-29s of theTwentieth Air Force did not assemble in defensive formations over friendly territory before proceeding on the mission. On daytime missions to Japan (which because of the seven- to eight-hour flight time to Japan from the Marianas usually resulted in night takeoffs) B-29's took off from Tinian's multiplerunways to shorten group launch times.
To conserve fuel and engine stress when the aircraft were at their heaviest, the bombers flew individually at low altitude, usually climbing to bombing altitude only in the last hour before rendezvous (dictated by weather conditions encountered). After 9 March bombing altitudes rarely exceeded 20,000 feet, reducing the amount of climb required to assemble and further conserving fuel and engine life. Flight profiles were carefully calculated during mission planning and recorded as detailed performance tables, specifying power settings and fuel consumption rates, and carried by the flight deck crews during the mission.
At a designated rendezvous point off the coast of Japan, lead B-29's (using colored-smoke generators to identify themselves) flew circles with a radius of a mile or more, at different altitudes and in different directions for squadrons within a group. Aircraft formed on the leader as they arrived, and it was not uncommon for formations to include aircraft from other groups that had been unable to locate their own group formation. If the mission plan called for a wing assembly, the lead group flew to a second assembly point and flew one large circle, measured in minutes and not distance, to allow following groups to join up. The formation stayed together only in the target area, breaking up again and reducing altitude to return to base (or Iwo Jima) individually.
Night missions had similar profiles to and from the target, except that aircraft did not assemble in the target area but bombed individually, guided by their own navigation systems and by the glow of fires started bypathfinder aircraft. In addition, bombing altitudes were rarely higher than 8,000 feet.
On the group's seventh mission, which lasted from 9 to 10 March 1945,XXI Bomber Command radically changed tactics at the direction of its commander, Maj. Gen.Curtis LeMay,attacking Tokyo's urban center by night with incendiary bombs and at altitudes of only 6,400 to 7,800 feet, resulting in one of the most destructive attacks in history. The mission resulted in the first two losses to the group when B-29s from both the1st Bomb Squadron and99th Bomb Squadrons were forced to crash-land at sea after they ran out of fuel while returning to Tinian. The crew of the 1st BS B-29 was rescued, but three members of the 99th BS crew were killed, including the GroupRadar Officer.
The Tokyo fire raid was the first of five flown between 9 and 18 March, resulting in devastation of four urban areas (Tokyo,Nagoya,Osaka, andKobe) and extensive civilian loss of life. The 9th Bombardment Group had its first bomber shot down on 16 March Kobe mission, and its second on 24 March 1945, attacking theMitsubishi Aircraft factory at Nagoya (ironically the same crew that had ditched on 10 March).
On 27 March, the 9th Bombardment Group began a week of night missions sowing both acoustic and magnetic aerialanti-shipping mines in Japanese harbor approaches andInland Sea ship passages, with a mission to block theShimonoseki Straits. Attacks in April were a combination of night and medium altitude day missions against the Japanese aircraft industry, and beginning 18 April, three weeks of daytime attacks against Japanese airfields onKyūshū launchingKamikaze attacks againstU.S. naval forces atOkinawa.
The 9th Bombardment Group was awarded aPresidential Unit Citation for the mission of 15–16 April 1945, during which the313th Bombardment Group flew B-29s for 1,500 miles at a low-level to avoid detection, over water, at night, to attack the heavily defended industrial area ofKawasaki, Japan. The group also attackedKawasaki Heavy Industries at Kawasaki, Japan, a target judged to be "an important link in the component productive capacity...upon which industries in Tokyo and Yokahama depended."[citation needed]
Because of its strategic location between two heavily defended areas, the objective was strongly guarded by masses of defenses both on the flanks and in the immediate target area, making the approach, the bomb run, and the break-away from the target extremely hazardous." The 9th Group, dispatching 33 aircraft on a "maximum effort", was the last group over the target. Japaneseanti-aircraft defenses had by then determined the bombing altitude and direction of attack, and the 9th Bombardment Group experienced close coordination between Japanese searchlights and anti-aircraft guns while over land, and accurate fire from flak boats on ingress and egress to the target area. 56 Japanese fighters were reported by returning crews, including a number ofKamikaze planes, with 2 claimed as shot down. Enemy searchlight, anti-aircraft guns, and flak boats destroyed four of the group's 33 bombers and damaged six others. Nevertheless, the attack demolished Kawasaki's strategic industrial district. The group earned aDistinguished Unit Emblem (DUE) for its actions.
On 18 May 1945, the 9th Bombardment Group resumed mine-laying operations, which continued through 28 May, for which the group was awarded its secondDistinguished Unit Citation. Flying at night at 5,500 feet in what the citation stated was "the second most heavily-defended zone in Japan", the group sowed 1425 mines in 209 sorties with a 92% accuracy rate, primarily againstShimonoseki Straits and harbors onKyūshū and the northwest coast ofHonshū. This caused the 9th to win another DUE the following month that and the blocking of Inland Sea traffic as well as the isolation of important Japanese ports. During the mining campaign the 9th lost one B-29 on a takeoff accident on 20 May and a second in combat on 28 May.
On 1 June 9 Bombardment Group resumed a grim campaign of night incendiary raids against the remaining urban areas of Japan not previously attacked that continued to its final mission, 14 August 1945.
The 9th Bombardment Group flew 71 combat missions, three show-of-force flyover missions after the cessation of hostilities, and one mission to drop medical and food supplies to liberatedprisoners-of-war. Total combat sorties for the group were 2,012, of which 1,843 were against the Japanese home islands. The group logged approximately 28,000 total hours of combat flight time and dropped approximately 12,000 tons of bombs and mines.
Of the 71 combat missions, 27 were incendiary raids, 14 mining operations (with 328 total sorties), 13 against airfields, 9 against aircraft production, and 9 against other industry or targets other than the home islands. 39 of the missions were flown at night, and 32 by day. Only six of the 71 combat missions were flown above 20,000 feet altitude.
The group began combat operations with 37 aircraft and ended them with 48 B-29's, with an average of 47 on hand and 33 in commission at any one time. 78 B-29's were assigned to the group at some point while it was stationed on Tinian, of which 5 were transferred to other groups. Of the remainder, 11 were shot down in combat or lost on return because of battle damage (a combat attrition rate of 16%), 2 were lost after running out of fuel, 1 crashed on takeoff, 1 crashed attempting to land, 4 were written off assalvage, and 3 were declared "war-weary" and retired from combat operations while being carried on the group inventory.
| 9th BG losses | |
|---|---|
| 11 | B-29's lost in combat |
| 4 | B-29's lost in accidents |
| 25 | Air crewkilled in action |
| 21 | Air crewwounded in action |
| 84 | Air crewmissing in action |
| 12 | Air crewcaptured |
91 combat crews of eleven crewmembers each served with the 9th Bombardment Group on Tinian. 11 combat crews were lost (13%) on combat missions while 10 crews completed a full 35-mission tour by the end of hostilities (although 12 additional crews had accumulated 31 or more missions by 15 August 1945).
The 9th Bombardment Group (VH) had 153 total aircrew casualties:
The history of the group reports that part or all of 4 crews captured after parachuting over Japan were killed in a fire in Tokyo on 25 May 1945, when prison guards intentionally kept them confined for which the guards were later prosecuted forwar crimes.
Although partially demobilized with personnel and aircraft, the 9th returned to the United States, and moved toClark Field in the Philippines on 15 April 1946. It relocated toHarmon Field onGuam on 9 June 1947, by which time it was largely a paper organization with few personnel or aircraft. The group was inactivated on Guam on 20 October 1948, and its squadrons reassigned to other units.
On 1 May 1949 the9th Strategic Reconnaissance Group and the 1st, 5th, and 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadrons were re-activated atFairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California. Upon activation, the group was assigned to the new9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing under thewing base organization.
The 9th's mission was to obtain complete data through visual, photographic, electronic, and weather reconnaissance operations. To carry out this mission, the group flewRB-29 Superfortresses and a fewRB-36 Peacemakers. The 9th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron also joined the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing on 1 May 1949.
On 1 April 1950, the Air Force redesignated the 9th SRW as the9th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, with similar redesignations of the 9th Group and the 1st, 5th, and 99th Squadrons. Seven months later, on 2 November, the wing and subordinate units were again re-designated to Bombardment, Medium with the transfer of the RB-36s, leaving the wing at B-29 Superfortress unit. In early February 1951, the Air Force realigned its flying operation and placed the flying squadrons directly under control of the wings. The Air Force, therefore, placed the 9th Bombardment Group in Records Unit status as part of the tri-deputate reorganization, then inactivated the group on 16 June 1952.
Reactivated as the 9th Operations Group on 1 September 1991 as part of the Objective Wing organization of the 9th Wing.
U-2s surveyed earthquake damage over California'sYucca Valley, in June and July 1992, andNorthridge in 1994. The reconnaissance photographs helped geologists map surface ruptures, fault lines, and potential landslide sites. The pictures also pinpointed infrastructure damage and allowed local and national planners to assess the relief and recovery needs.
In the early 1990s personnel and aircraft provided reconnaissance coverage during the crises inCroatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. Later, U-2s verified compliance with theDayton Peace Accords that ended the immediate crisis. Then, when Serbia began the "ethnic cleansing" of Albanians inKosovo,Operation Allied Force halted the killing and restored order. During Operation Allied Force, U-2s provided over 80% of the targeting intelligence forNATO forces. NATO leadership credited the U-2 with the destruction of 39 surface-to-air missile sites and 28 aircraft of the Serbian military.
During U.S. military operations in Afghanistan in late 2001 and Iraq in early 2003, the group also flew the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. Serves as the sole manager for U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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