| 399th Tactical Missile Wing | |
|---|---|
 TM-61 Matador training missile | |
| Active | 1943–1944; 1957–1958 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | heavy bomber, thencruise missile training |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Lewis S. Norman |
The399th Tactical Missile Wing is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. The unit was formed in 1985 by the consolidation of two inactive units.
The399th Bombardment Group was activated in March 1943 and served as anOperational Training Unit, then as aReplacement Training Unit until it was disbanded in March 1944 when theArmy Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States.
The589th Tactical Missile Group was aTM-61 Matador training unit, which served in Florida from 1957 through 1958.
Thewing's first predecessor was the399th Bombardment Group, which was activated atDavis-Monthan Field, Arizona on 1 March 1943, but made two moves the following month, arriving atWendover Field, Utah on 27 April. The group was composed of the 604th,605th,606th, and 607th Bombardment Squadrons. At Wendover, it served as anOperational Training Unit (OTU) forConsolidated B-24 Liberator units until August.[1] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to providecadres to "satellite groups".[2]
Thegroup became aReplacement Training Unit (RTU).[1] Like OTUs, RTUs were oversize units, however their mission was to train individualpilots andaircrews.[2] Following this mission change, the 399th was reassigned fromSecond Air Force toFourth Air Force, then moved toMarch Field, California in December.[1]
However, theArmy Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 399th, which were assigned personnel and equipment based on relatively inflexibletables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, which was manned and equipped based on the station's requirements.[3] The 399th Group was disbanded, and along with its elements and supporting units at March was used to form the 420th AAF Base Unit (Bombardment Replacement Training Unit-Heavy).[1][4]
The second predecessor of the wing was the589th Tactical Missile Group, which was activated atOrlando Air Force Base, Florida on 8 March 1957 as a training unit for theTM-61 Matadorcruise missile. The group formed part of the4504th Tactical Missile Wing. In April 1958, the group's missile squadron, the24th Tactical Missile Squadron was transferred to the588th Tactical Missile Group, when the 588th's17th Tactical Missile Squadron deployed to Taiwan independently and plans were developed to deploy the 588th toOsan Air Base, South Korea. Although the 24th engaged in crew training at Orlando, it never received any missiles. The squadron did, however, deploy toCape Canaveral Air Force Station, where it launched TM-61 Matador missiles under the guidance of the 6555th Guided Missile Squadron. The group was then inactivated on 8 June 58, when its training functions were assigned directly to the 4504th Wing's 4504th Missile Training Squadron.[5]
The 399th Bombardment Group was reconstituted in July 1985 and consolidated with the 589th Tactical Missile Group as the399th Tactical Missile Wing, but has not been active since.[6]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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