494th Air Expeditionary Group | |
|---|---|
 Consolidated B-24J of the864th Bombardment Squadron c. 1945. | |
| Active | 1943–1946, 1963–1966, 2002-unknown |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Insignia | |
| 494th Bombardment Wing Emblem(approved 11 February 1964)[1] |  |
The494th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisionalUnited States Air Force group assigned toAir Mobility Command (AMC) to activate or inactivate as needed. The group was activated in the events surrounding Operation Iraqi Freedom, the2003 United States invasion of Iraq. Now-Lieutenant GeneralStayce D. Harris is listed by the USAF as commanding the 494th AEG atMoron Air Base, Spain, from July to October 2003.[2] In addition, a patch published atUSAF Patches.com implies that the group was active in Spain during "Iraqi Freedom."[note 1]
The group was originally activated in 1943 as the494th Bombardment Group. It was the lastB-24 Liberator group formed by theUnited States Army Air Forces. The unit served primarily inWestern Pacific, taking part in numerous campaigns. It earned thePhilippine Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the liberation of the Philippines.
It was then active during theCold War as the494th Bombardment Wing aStrategic Air Command unit, flyingBoeing B-52 Stratofortress andBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft atSheppard Air Force Base, Texas from 1962 1966.
The group was established in late 1943 as the494th Bombardment Group, aConsolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group, and activated on 1 December atWendover Field, Utah.[3] Its initial squadrons were the864th,[4]865th,[5]866th,[6] and867th Bombardment Squadrons (BS).[7] The 494th was the last of seven heavy bombardment Groups – 488th through 494th – activated in the autumn of 1943, asB-29 Superfortress production was beginning in large numbers. The 494th was subsequently the last heavy bomb group formed and trained by the Army Air Forces.[citation needed]
The group's origins begin when the10th Antisubmarine Squadron moved toGowen Field, Idaho to retrain as a heavy bombardment unit with B-24s. At Gowen, the unit was renamed the 867th BS and moved toWendover Field, Utah[7] where it was joined by the newly activated 864th, 865th and 866th BS. The headquarters element of the group was formed from the staff of the 10th Antisubmarine Squadron.[citation needed] The group trained at Wendover until April when the base was converted bySecond Air Force for B-29 training. It moved toMountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho to complete its final phase of training. At Mountain Home, the group received new very long range B-24J aircraft in early May.[citation needed]
The group was dispatched to the Pacific, initially toBarking Sands Army Airfield in Hawaii.[3] It flew from Idaho toHamilton Field, California before its overseas movement. In Hawaii, the group received additional training in long range ocean navigation while the ground echelon of the group moved by rail toSeattle, then by troop ship to Hawaii, arriving in mid-June. The unit remained in Hawaii throughout the summer of 1944 while its B-24s were modified atHickam Field to meet the standards required bySeventh Air Force. Modifications were completed by 1 August, however the group was not deployed to theSouthwest Pacific Area until mid-September as its planned airfield onAngaur in thePalau Islands was not yet constructed due to ongoing combat on the island.[citation needed]
Aircraft were deployed from Hawaii on 10 October 1944, departing forJohnston Island,Kwajalein andSaipan. At Saipan, the unit was delayed a further 10 days due to combat ongoing in the Pelelieus. On Saipan, the 494th flew their first combat mission with crews of the30th Bombardment Group, stationed on Saipan. The first elements of the 494th arrived onAngaur on 16 October, being strafed by Japanese forces still on the island as thebattle of Bloody-Nose Ridge was still ongoing. As the area was finally secured in late October, additional aircraft began arriving; with the group completely established by the end of the month.[citation needed] The combat on the island had not allowed the construction of buildings and other support facilities, so the personnel of the group were engaged in construction activities upon their arrival.[3]
The 494th entered combat on 3 November 1944 with attacks against Japanese airfields onYap andKoror. Subsequently, the group engaged in very long range strategic bombing raids on other bypassed Japanese installations in the Pacific and against the Japanese in the Philippines. Late in 1944 the unit hit gun emplacements, personnel areas, ant storage depots onCorregidor andCaballo at the entrance toManila Bay. It bombed radio installations and power plants at Japanese bases in the Philippines and attacked enemy-held airfields, includingClark Field on Luzon. Early in 1945 it struck airfields onMindanao and ammunition and supply dumps in the Davao Gulf and Illana Bay areas.[3]
The group moved to the newly builtYontan Airfield onOkinawa in June 1945. On Okinawa, the373d Bombardment Squadron was assigned to the 494th from the CBI.[8] From its new base, the group engaged primarily in very long range attacks against enemy airfields onKyūshū. The group also participated in incendiary raids, dropped propaganda leaflets over urban areas of Kyūshū and struck airfields in China, in southernKorea, and around the InlandSea of Japan until the Japanese capitulation in August.[3]
After the war's end in September, the unit remained on Okinawa as older units began to demobilize. The group was engaged in transporting personnel and supplies in the Southwest Pacific, and moving necessary occupation support elements fromManila to Tokyo.[3] It began to demobilize in November and December, with personnel returning to the United States. the 494th was inactivated as a paper unit in the United States on 4 January 1946.
4245th Strategic Wing
The origins of the494th Bombardment Wing began on 5 January 1959 whenStrategic Air Command (SAC) established the4245th Strategic Wing as a tenant atSheppard Air Force Base, Texas, anAir Training Command base[9] and assigned it to the816th Air Division (later 816th Strategic Aerospace Division)[10] as part of SAC's plan to disperse itsBoeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for theSoviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.[11] The wing remained a headquarters only until 1 August 1959, when the 61st Aviation Depot Squadron was activated to oversee the wing's special weapons. Two months later, three maintenance squadrons and a squadron to provide security for special weapons were activated and assigned to the wing.[9]
The 4245th finally added its first operational squadron on 1 February 1960 when the717th Bombardment Squadron (BS), consisting of 15Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses moved to Sheppard fromEllsworth AFB, South Dakota where it had been one of the three squadrons of the28th Bombardment Wing.[12] The wing became fully operational on 1 October 1962 when the900th Air Refueling Squadron, flyingBoeing KC-135 Stratotankers, was organized and assigned to the wing. One third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minutealert, fully fueled, armed and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the wing's aircraft in 1962.[13] The 4245th (and later the 494th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until it was inactivated.
494th Bombardment Wing
In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustriousWorld War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time, which could carry a lineage and history.[note 2]
As a result, the 4245th SW was replaced by the newly constituted494th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (BW),[1] which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 February 1963.[note 3]In the same way the864th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 717th BS. The 61st Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 900th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 494th. The 4245th's maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 494th numerical designation of the newly established wing. Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor. Under the Dual Deputate organization,[note 4] all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group element was activated. The 494th Bomb Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC's operational commitments.[1]
By 1966,Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States' strategic triad, and the need for B-52s had been reduced. In addition, funds were also needed to cover the costs of combat operations inIndochina. The 494th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and its aircraft were reassigned to other SAC units.
The group was converted to provisional status as the 494th Air Expeditionary Group in mid-2002, and active atMoron Air Base in Spain for a period in 2003.[2]
494th Bombardment Group
494th Bombardment Wing
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Operational Squadrons
Support Squadrons
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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