| 17th Air Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1940–1941; 1942–1943; 1944–1946; 1959–1971; 1975 – 1976 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army United States Air Force |
| Insignia | |
| 17th Air Division emblem[a][1] |  |
The17th Air Division is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was withPacific Air Forces, stationed atU-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1976.
Theair division was first activated as the17th Bombardment Wing on 18 December 1940, and assigned to theSoutheast Air District. It was assigned the3d and27th Bombardment Groups as its operational units, and the 22d Pursuit Wing was attached from January to June 1942.[1] In September 1941, thewing was inactivated and its personnel used to form the3d Air Support Command.[2]
Reactivated as part ofSecond Air Force in June 1942 as the17th Bombardment Training Wing. Was the primary training command organization for USAAF heavy bombardment (Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress andConsolidated B-24 Liberator) groups duringWorld War II from June 1942 until May 1944. Initially, it controlled the third phase of training, in which each bombardment group split into tactical components and operated from squadron sized airfields under simulated combat conditions. Later, the 17th supervised the first and second phases of heavy bombardment group and crew training.[1]
In 1943 assumed mission for trainingBoeing B-29 Superfortress Very Heavy bombardment groups prior to their deployment toTwentieth Air Force in thePacific Theater until April 1946 when it ceased all activity. It also exercised limited supervision over the training of theXXI andXXII Bomber Commands during 1944.[1]
The disbanded wing was reconstituted and redesignated the17th Air Division and activated on 15 July 1959. It gained control of the 340th and the 305th Bombardment Wings atBunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana, and the 4040th Air Base Squadron atRichard I. Bong Air Force Base, Wisconsin in 1959. The two bombardment wings flew normalStrategic Air Command alert patrols and participated in special exercises as required. The division lost its bombardment wings and gained missile wings in 1963, assuming responsibility for Titan and Minuteman missiles in Missouri, Kansas, and later Arkansas. When joined by the70th Bombardment Wing, on 1 July 1965 withBoeing B-52 Stratofortress andBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, the division reverted to an earlier designation –17th Strategic Aerospace Division. From 1965 to 1971, the division's units frequently deployed bomber and tanker resources.Operation Arc Light operations inSoutheast Asia, consisting of military operations against enemy forces in Vietnam, drew most of the deployments.[1]
From 1 July 1975 to 1 January 1976 as part ofPacific Air Forces, it supervised training for United States Air Force tactical units inThailand. It was inactivated as part of the USAF withdrawal from Thailand after the end of theVietnam War.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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