| Commandant of Cadets (formerly 34th Training Wing)  | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1941–1945; 1963–1965; 1994–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Military Training |
| Part of | United States Air Force Academy |
| Garrison/HQ | Air Force Academy, Colorado |
| Nickname | Vigilantes (Vietnam War) |
| Motto | Valor to Victory |
| Mascot | Falcon[1][a] |
| Engagements | Vietnam War |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Air Force Organizational Excellence Award |
| Commanders | |
| Commandant | Brig Gen Gavin P. Marks (2026) |
| Notable commanders | Patrick K. Gamble Susan Y. Desjardins |
| Insignia | |
| 34th Training Wing emblem[b] |  |
| Unofficial 34th Tactical Group emblem |  |
| 34th Bombardment Group emblem[c] |  |
| World War IITail Code[2] | Square S |
TheCommandant of Cadets is a named organization of theUnited States Air Force based at theUnited States Air Force Academy inColorado Springs, Colorado. Until August 2006 the commander of the 34th Training Wing was "dual-hatted" as the Commandant of Cadets at the Academy. In that month the 34th Wing became a named organization.
The organization was first activated in 1941 as the34th Bombardment Group. Following theattack on Pearl Harbor, the group briefly participated inantisubmarine patrols. During most of 1942 and 1943, the group acted as aheavy bomber training unit. In early 1944, the unit began preparations to move overseas. It served withEighth Air Force in England, from April 1944 until the end of the war, converting from theConsolidated B-24 Liberator to theBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress in the middle of combat operations. It returned to the United States afterVE Day and was inactivated in August 1945.
The34th Tactical Group was activated in the early days of American participation in theVietnam War. It trainedRepublic of Vietnam Air Force airmen and engaged in combat operations and the operational testing of weapons and munitions until 1965, when the increasing American involvement in Vietnam caused it to be replaced by the larger 6251st Tactical Fighter Wing.
In 1984 the34th Bombardment Group and the34th Tactical Group were consolidated into a single unit. The consolidated unit was redesignated the34th Training Wing and activated in October 1994 at the United States Air Force Academy, where it has served the Commandant of Cadets as the military training arm of the academy.
The mission of theCommandant of Cadets is to educate and train potential United States Air Force officers as the administrative organization responsible for cadet leadership and military training programs, instruction in military and airmanship courses, and general supervision of cadet life activities.[3]
The group was first activated atLangley Field, Virginia in January 1941 as the34th Bombardment Group and equipped with a mixture ofB-17C and B-17D Flying Fortresses andDouglas B-18 Bolos. Its original squadrons were the4th,7th, and18th Bombardment Squadrons, while the1st Reconnaissance Squadron)was initially assigned toGeneral Headquarters Air Force, but attached to the34th Bombardment Group.[4][5][6][7] The 34th Group moved toWestover Field, Massachusetts four months after it was activated.[8]
After thePearl Harbor attack the group beganantisubmarine patrols off the Northeast coast of the United States, but soon became part ofWestern Defense Command and moved toPendleton Field, Oregon. By the summer of 1942,Second Air Force had become primarily a heavy bomber training force and the group became a B-17 Replacement Training Unit (RTU) atGeiger Field.[8] RTUs were oversized units which trainedaircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters.[9]
On 15 December 1942 the group moved toBlythe Army Air Base, California a base of theDesert Training Center.[10] The 34th providedcadres for a number ofheavy bomber groups that served withEighth Air Force during this period.[11]
The 34th began training withConsolidated B-24 Liberators for overseas combat operations on 5 January 1944. The ground echelon moved to the port of embarkation on 1 April 1944,[8][11] while the air echelon began its overseas movement on 31 May 1944, taking the southern ferry route, from Florida to Trinidad, Brazil, West Africa and Marrakesh, arriving atRAF Valley, Wales.[11] The group arrived at its permanent station,RAF Mendlesham, England, in April 1944 and enteredcombat on 23 May 1944.[8][11]
The 34th flew 170 operations from Mendlesham, the first sixty-two while flying B-24H and B-24J Liberators and the remainder with B-17G Flying Fortresses.[11] The group helped to prepare forOperation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombingairfields in France and Germany, and supported the June landings by attackingcoastal defenses and communications. It supported ground forces atSaint-Lô in late July and struckV-1 flying bomb launch sites, gun emplacements, and supply lines throughout the summer of 1944.[8]
The mixture of B-24s and B-17s in the3d Bombardment Division presented a number of operational problems, and in early 1944 plans had begun atVIII Bomber Command headquarters to standardize the division with the Flying Fortress.[12] The group flew its last B-24 mission on 24 August 1944.[11] It transferred its Liberators for overhaul and eventual transfer to units of the2d Bombardment Division,[13] and began converting to B-17s and flew its first mission with the new planes on 17 September 1944.[8][11] The 34th engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives from October 1944 to February 1945. Targets included marshalling yards inLudwigshafen,Hamm,Osnabrück, andDarmstadt; oil centers inBielefeld,Merseburg,Hamburg, and Misburg; factories in Berlin, Dalteln, andHanover; and airfields inMünster,Neumünster, andFrankfurt.[8]
During this period the group also supported ground forces during theBattle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. In March 1945, with few enemy industrial targets remaining and with Allied armies advancing across Germany, the 34th turned almost solely to interdicting enemy communications and supporting Allied ground forces.[8] As training programs in the States accelerated, replacement crews arriving later in the war tended to be younger than those arriving earlier. One 34th crew, that of 2d Lt Joe Novick, was claimed to be the youngest in VIII Bomber Command. Lt Novicki was the "old man" at 21 and all other crew members were 19 or 20 years old in 1945.[14] The 34th flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945.[11]
AfterV-E Day the group flew six missions carrying food to flooded areas of theNetherlands and transported prisoners of war from German camps to Allied centers. The group redeployed to the United States in June and July 1945.[8] The first elements of the air echelon departed 19 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard theRMS Queen Elizabeth fromSouthampton on 6 August 1945. Upon arrival in the states, group personnel were given 30 days leave.[11] The group reassembled atSioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.[8]
The34th Tactical Group was activated in July 1963 to trainRepublic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) personnel incounter-insurgency operations. It trained VNAF strikepilots,forward air controllers, and observers. Its initial squadrons were the1st Air Commando Squadron, a composite unit flyingDouglas B-26 Invaders at first, and the19th Tactical Air Support Squadron, equipped withCessna O-1 Bird Dogs.[3] Later, the 1st also operatedHelio U-10 Couriers,North American T-28 Trojans andDouglas C-47 Skytrains.[3][15] The Air Force intended to turn the 19th's Bird Dogs over to the VNAF, and the squadron was inactivated in August 1964. However, theGulf of Tonkin incident altered these plans and the squadron was activated again in October.[16] The squadron'sforward air controllers became more critical as the war expanded into populated areas and it became necessary to minimize civilian casualties.[17]
Plans had also been made to withdraw the 1st Air Commando Squadron and transfer its aircraft to the VNAF after replacing its AT-28s and B-26s with A-1Hs, but these plans were cancelled. Due to age and hard use in combat, two AT-28s lost their wings and crashed in March and April 1964, while in June all B-26s were grounded. The 1st only remained operational by borrowing nine T-28Bs from the VNAF. These incidents confirmed the plan to convert the squadron's attack aircraft to theDouglas A-1 Skyraider[18]
The 34th also flew combat missions, includingclose air support, fighter escort andinterdiction,psychological warfare, aerial supply, forward air control and tactical liaison. It pioneered tacticalweapons andmunitions, such as theminigun, thedaisycutter, and thegunship. In the fall of 1964, the602d Fighter Squadron (Commando) was activated and assigned to the group.[3] The Skyraider became the primary strike aircraft of the 1st and 602d Squadrons from this time.[15]
The group controlled its first jet aircraft in 1964 whenMartin B-57 Canberras of the8th and13th Bombardment Squadrons, stationed atClark Air Base in the Philippines began to rotate to Bien Hoa, where they were attached to the group for operations.[3] These were the first USAF jets in Viet Nam. Prior to the passage of theGulf of Tonkin Resolution, the United States had interpreted theGeneva Accords as prohibiting jet combat aircraft from former French Indochina.[19] On the night of 1 November,Viet Cong located just outside the perimeter of Bien Hoa attacked the base with mortars, destroying five B-57s and damaging an additional 15.[20]
Aircrews of the 1st Air Commando Squadron performed the first combat tests of the FC-47 (laterDouglas AC-47 Spooky) gunship beginning in December 1964. As more Air Force units moved to Bien Hoa,[21] the 6251st Tactical Fighter Wing replaced the group in July 1965, and the 34th was inactivated.[3]
In September 1985, the34th Bombardment Group and the34th Tactical Group were consolidated into a single unit. In late 1994, the consolidated unit was redesignated the34th Training Wing and activated with two assigned groups as the administrative organization responsible forcadet leadership and military training programs under the supervision of theCommandant of Cadets at theUnited States Air Force Academy. It is responsible for instruction in military and general supervision of cadet life activities. Until October 2004 it also provided airmanship courses.[3] Its 34th Operations Group was inactivated in 2004 and its airmanship training mission became the responsibility of the306th Flying Training Group ofAir Education and Training Command. In 2006, it reorganized and its 34th Education Group was inactivated and replaced by four Cadet Groups.[22]
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| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | [8 July] 1963 – 31 Jul 1964 | 34th Tactical Group[3][f] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 September 1994 – 31 October 1995 | 34th Training Wing[3] |
 | Air Force Organizational Excellence Award | 1 January 2005 – 31 December 2006 | 34th Training Wing (later Commandant of Cadets)[3] |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Antisubmarine | 7 December 1941-c. 13 May 1942 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
 | Air Offensive, Europe | 23 April 1944 – 5 June 1944 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
| Normandy | 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
| Northern France | 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
| Rhineland | 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
| Central Europe | 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
| Air Combat, EAME Theater | 7 December 1941 – 11 May 1945 | 34th Bombardment Group[3] |
 | Vietnam Advisory | 8 July 1963 – 1 March 1965 | 34th Tactical Group[3] |
| Vietnam Defensive | 2 March 1965 – 8 July 1965 | 34th Tactical Group[3] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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