29th Flying Training Wing | |
|---|---|
 T-38 Talon as flown by the 29th Flying Training Wing | |
| Active | 1939–1944; 1944–1946; 1972–1977 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Flying training |
| Motto | Power for Peace |
| Engagements | Pacific Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 29th Flying Training Wing emblem(Approved 12 March 1973)[1] |  |
| 29th Bombardment Group emblem(Approved 14 October 1940)[2] |  |
| World War II tail code | Square O |
The29th Flying Training Wing is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit last based atCraig Air Force Base, Alabama. It was inactivated when Craig was closed when the Air Force reduced its pilot training program after theVietnam War.
The unit began with itsUnited States Army Air ForcesWorld War II predecessor, the29th Bombardment Group. It originally conductedanti-submarine warfare over the Gulf of Mexico during the early years of the war. Later, the 29th was a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). In 1944, the group was reequipped withBoeing B-29 Superfortresses and fought as part ofTwentieth Air Force. The group's aircraft bombed Japan, during which it earned twoDistinguished Unit Citations.
Thewing was first activated atLangley Field, Virginia, as the29th Bombardment Group in January 1940. with the6th,43d and52d Bombardment Squadrons assigned as its original components.[3][4][5] Its organization was part of the pre-World War II buildup of theUnited States Army Air Corps after the breakout of war in Europe. In May, it moved toMacDill Field, Florida, where it was equipped with a mix of pre-production YB-17s and early modelBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses andDouglas B-18 Bolos.[2]
In September 1941, thegroup expanded when a fourthsquadron, the21st Reconnaissance Squadron, was attached to it.[6] The group was still at MacDill when the Japaneseattacked Pearl Harbor, and it began to flyantisubmarine patrol missions in the Gulf of Mexico from January 1942.[2] While the group was engaged in antisubmarine patrols, its 21st Reconnaisssance Squadron was renamed the 411th Bombardment Squadron, recognizing that its mission no longer differed from that of the other three squadrons in the group.[6] By the summer of 1942, theU-boat threat in the Gulf began to diminish, with all German submarines being withdrawn from the area by September.[7]
No longer needed in the Gulf, the group moved toGowen Field, Idaho, where it became anOperational Training Unit (OTU)[2] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to providecadres to "satellite groups".[8] The96th,381st,384th and388th Bombardment Groups were all formed at Gowen in the second half of 1942.[9][10]
In 1943, the 29th Group exchanged its B-17s forConsolidated B-24 Liberators. The group mission also changed as theArmy Air Forces' (AAF) need for new units diminished and its need for replacements increased. The group became aReplacement Training Unit (RTU).[2] Like OTUs, RTUs were oversized units, but their mission was to train individualpilots andaircrews. However, standard military units, like the 29th Group, were based on relatively inflexibletables of organization, and were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, the AAF adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[11] The 29th Bombardment Group and its four squadrons were inactivated. Its personnel and equipment, along with that of supporting units at Gowen Field were combined into the 212th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Heavy) on 1 April 1944.[2][12]
The AAF was organizing newBoeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment units, and the group was activated the same day atPratt Army Air Field, Kansas. The group briefly returned to flying B-17s until B-29s became available for training. In May, The AAF reorganized its very heavy bomber units, and the 411th Bombardment Squadron was inactivated, leaving the group with its original three squadrons.[6] The 29th continued training with the Superfortress until December 1944.[2] Training included long range overwater flights toBorinquen Field, Puerto Rico.[13]
The group deployed toNorth Field, Guam, where it became a component of the314th Bombardment Wing ofXXI Bomber Command. Its first combat mission was an attack onTokyo on 25 February 1945. Until March 1945, it engaged primarily in daytimehigh altitude attacks on strategic targets, such as refineries and factories. The campaign against Japan switched that month and the group began to conduct low altitude night raids, usingincendiaries against area targets. The group received aDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a 31 March attack against anairfield atOmura, Japan. The group earned a second DUC in June for an attack on an industrial area ofShizuoka Prefecture, which included an aircraft factory operated byMitsubishi and the ChigusaArsenal.[2]
Staff Sergeant Henry E."Red" Erwin was awarded theMedal of Honor for action that saved his B-29 during a mission overKoriyama, Japan, on 12 April 1945. Sgt Erwin was assigned to job of droppingwhite phosphorus bombs through a launching chute in the floor of his bomber. A bomb exploded in the chute and shot back into the plane, severely wounding Sgt Erwin and filling the plane with heavy smoke. Despite being blinded by the burning bomb, he picked it up, carried it forward to the cockpit area of the plane and threw it out an open window. Once the smoke had cleared, the pilot was able to pull the Superfortress out of a dive and recover at an emergency base.[2][14]
DuringOperation Iceberg, the invasion ofOkinawa, the group was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japanese industry and attacked airfields from whichkamikaze attacks were being launched against the landing force. FollowingVJ Day, the group dropped food and supplies to Alliedprisoners of war and participated in severalshow of force missions over Japan.[2] It also conducted reconnaissance flights over Japanese cities.[15] The group remained on Guam until it was inactivated in March 1946.[2]
The29th Flying Training Wing replaced, and absorbed resources of, the 3615th Pilot Training Wing on 1 July 1972 atCraig Air Force Base, Alabama. The 29th conducted undergraduate pilot training (UPT) and operated Craig facilities. In 1974, Craig was selected as one of two UPT bases to be closed in a post-Vietnam economic move. In 1977,Air Training Command closed Craig Air Force Base along withWebb Air Force Base in Texas. Thewing was inactivated on 30 September 1977,[1] and the field was placed on caretaker status the next day.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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