| 400th Bombardment Group (later 400th Tactical Missile Wing) | |
|---|---|
 B-24 Liberator as flown by the 400th Group | |
| Active | 1943–1944 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | heavy bomber training |
| Insignia | |
| 400th Bombardment Group emblem "Duke the Spook" |  |
The400th Tactical Missile Wing is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. It was last active as the400th Bombardment Group, aWorld War IIConsolidated B-24 LiberatorReplacement Training Unit. The unit was disbanded in 1944 in a general reorganization ofArmy Air Forces training units. It was reconstituted as a missile wing in 1985, but has not been active since then.
Thegroup was activated as the400th Bombardment Group, atPyote Army Air Base, Texas on 1 March 1943, but made four moves before the end of the year. it was composed of the608th,609th,610th and 611th Bombardment Squadrons.[1] It served as anOperational Training Unit (OTU) forConsolidated B-24 Liberator units until December.[2][3]
The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to providecadres to “satellite groups"[4] The OTU program was patterned after the unit training system of theRoyal Air Force. It then assumed responsibility for training these new groups and oversaw their expansion with graduates ofArmy Air Forces Training Command schools to become effective combat units.[5][6] Phase I training concentrated on individual training increwmember specialties. Phase II training emphasized the coordination for the crew to act as a team. The final phase concentrated on operation as a unit.[7]
In December, the group moved toCharleston Army Air Base, South Carolina, where it became aReplacement Training Unit (RTU).[3] Like OTUs, RTUs were oversize units, however their mission was to train individualpilots andaircrews.[4] By the beginning of 1944, most (90%) of the AAF's combat units had been activated and almost three quarters of them had deployed overseas. With the exception of special programs, like formingBoeing B-29 Superfortress units, training “fillers” for existing units became more important than unit training.[8] With this mission change, the 400th Group and its components were reassigned fromSecond Air Force toFirst Air Force.[2][3]
However, theArmy Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 400th, 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.[9] Groups like the 400th Group serving as RTUs disbanded, and along with operational and supporting units at Charleston, was used to form the 113th AAF Base Unit (Bombardment (Heavy)).[3][10]
The group was reconstituted in July 1985 as the400th Tactical Missile Wing, but has not been active since.[11]
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| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.png) | American Theater without inscription | 1 March 1943 – 10 April 1944 | 400th Bombardment Group[3] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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