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392d Air Expeditionary Group | |
|---|---|
 Atlas missiles atVandenberg Air Force Base | |
| Active | 1943–1945, 1947–1949; 1961 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Expeditionary operations |
| Part of | Air Combat Command |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation |
| Insignia | |
| Unofficial 392d Bombardment Group emblem[1] |  |
| VIII Bomber Command tail marking until May 1944 | Circle D |
| VIII Bomber Command tail marking after May 1944 | White with 3-foot horizontal black stripe |
The392d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisionalUnited States Air Force unit. It is assigned toAir Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed. The group was last active as the392d Strategic Missile Wing atVandenberg Air Force Base, California, where it briefly operated three early models ofintercontinental ballistic missile during 1961. In 1984, the wing was consolidated with the392d Bombardment Group
During World War II, the 392d Group, its predecessor unit, was anEighth Air ForceConsolidated B-24 Liberator heavybombardment group. The group flew combat missions fromRAF Wendling in England, earning aDistinguished Unit Citation. The group flew 285 combat missions, suffering 1,552 casualties including 835 killed in action or line of duty and 184 aircraft lost. AfterVE Day the group returned to the United States and flewairlift missions until inactivated in September 1945.
The group was reactivated in theAir Force Reserve in 1947 as a very heavy bomber group. In 1949, it converted to alight bomber group and was assigned to the wing under thewing base organization system. It was a corollary unit of the47th Bombardment Group until inactivating in November 1949.
Activated 26 January 1943 at Davis Monthan AAFd, Arizona, and trained there until February 1943. The unit moved to Biggs Field, Texas, and in March 1943, and then to Alamogordo AAB, New Mexico on 18 April 1943. The ground unit left for theNew York Port of Embarkation on 18 July 1943. The unit sailed out from New York on 25 July 1943, and arrived in England on 30 July 1943. Assigned to theEighth Air Force atRAF Wendling inEast Anglia. The group was assigned to the 14th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-D".
The 392d BG entered combat on 9 September 1943 and engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives on the Continent until April 1945. The group attacked such targets as an oil refinery atGelsenkirchen, a marshalling yard atOsnabrück, a railroad viaduct atBielefeld, steel plants atBrunswick, a tank factory atKassel, and gas works at Berlin.
The group took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry duringBig Week, 20–25 February 1944, being awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation for bombing an aircraft and component parts factory atGotha on 24 February. The unit sometimes supported ground forces or carried out interdictory operations along with bombing airfields and V-weapon sites in France prior to theNormandy invasion in June 1944 and struck coastal defenses and choke points on D-Day.
The group hit enemy positions to assist ground forces atSaint-Lô during the breakthrough in July 1944. Bombed railroads, bridges, and highways to cut off German supply lines during theBattle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945. Dropped supplies to Allied troops during theair attack on the Netherlands in September 1944 and during theairborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
The 392d Bomb Group flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945, then carried food to the Dutch. The unit returned to Charleston AAFSouth Carolina on 25 June 1945 and was inactivated on 13 September 1945.
Redeployed to the US May/June 1945. First of the aircraft departed the United Kingdom on 29 May 1945. Ground echelon sailed on Queen Mary on 15 June 1945, arriving in New York on 20 June 1945. Personnel had 30 days R and R with the unit assembling in Charleston AAFd, South Carolina, in late June 1945 for air transport duties but was not fully manned and inactivated on 13 September 1945.
Reactivated as a reserve corollary of the47th Bombardment Wing, Light in 1949.
The wing was reformed in 1961 to control missile training operations atVandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California. It operated the Atlas missile, with the 564th SMS (18 October 1961 – 20 December 1961) and the 565th SMS (1 July 1961 – 1 December 1964)and the Titan. However it was eliminated by a reorganization of1st Strategic Aerospace Division.
In 2003, the wing was converted to provisional status as the392d Air Expeditionary Group and assigned toAir Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed. Although details apparently remain classified, the group earned campaign credit for theLiberation of Iraq campaign.[3][note 2]
The103d Fighter Squadron and104th Fighter Squadron (Maryland and Pennsylvania ANGs) apparently operated with the group during the Kuwait/Talil deployment.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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