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500th Air Expeditionary Group | |
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 Group B-29 on its parking ramp, Saipan, 1945 | |
| Active |
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| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Expeditionary operations |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Motto | Semper Paratus (Latin for 'Always Prepared') |
| Engagements | Pacific Ocean theater of World War II |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation |
| Insignia | |
| 500th Air Refueling Wing emblem[a] |  |
| World War IItail code | Square Z |
The500th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisionalUnited States Air Force unit. Its last known assignment was atChristchurch, New Zealand, where it was activated for the summer 2005–2006 season.
The unitwas firstr organized as the500th Bombardment Group, which was part ofTwentieth Air Force duringWorld War II. The 500th engaged in very heavy (Boeing B-29 Superfortress) bombardment operations against Japan. It was awarded twoDistinguished Unit Citations for actions in 1945.
The500th Air Refueling Wing replaced the 4045th Air Refueling Wing as aStrategic Air Command tanker unit atSelfridge Air Force Base, Michigan on 1 January 1963. The two units were consolidated in 1984.
In 2002, the consolidated unit was converted to provisional status as the500th Air Expeditionary Group. It has been activated several times to support operations in Antarctica.
Thegroup was established as the500th Bombardment Group in late 1943 atGowen Field, Idaho. It was formed as aBoeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group. The unit was initially composed of four bombardmentsquadrons, the881st,882d,883d, and884th Bombardment Squadrons, the 29th, 30th, 31st and 32d Bombardment Maintenance Squadrons and the 18th Photographic Laboratory (Bombardment, Very Heavy).
Due to a shortage of B-29s, the group was equipped withBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses already at Gowen Field. These aircraft were previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel. In January the unit moved toClovis Army Air Field, New Mexico due to the poor flying weather during the winter in Idaho. It moved toWalker Army Air Field, Kansas in April 1944 where it finally received newly manufactured B-29 Superfortresses from the Boeing plant at Wichita, Kansas. In May theUnited States Army Air Forces reconfigured its very heavy groups and the 884th Bombardment Squadron and the Bombardment Maintenance Squadrons were inactivated. Their personnel were consolidated into the remaining squadrons.[b]
The 500th deployed to thePacific Theater of Operations in September 1944, where it was assigned to the73d Bombardment Wing ofXXI Bomber Command in the Northern Mariana Islands, atIsely Field, Saipan. Upon their arrival the group's personnel engaged in Quonset hut construction. By mid-October most personnel were able to move into the huts from the tents which they were assigned to on their arrival in theater. The 500th's assigned tail code was a Z-Square. It entered combat on 11 November 1944 with an attack against a submarine base in theTruk Islands.
On 24 November, the 500th participated in the first attack on Japan by B-29's based in the Marianas. After that attack, the group conducted many daylight raids, operating from high altitude to bomb strategic targets in Japan. It struck theMitsubishi aircraft engine plant atNagoya in January 1945 and received aDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for the mission. The group bombed enemy airfields and other installations onKyūshū in support of theAllied assault on Okinawa in April 1945.
Beginning in March 1945, the group flew missions at night and at low altitude to drop incendiaries on area targets in Japan. It received a second DUC for incendiary attacks on the urban-industrial section ofOsaka, feeder industries atHamamatsu, and shipping and rail targets on Kyūshū during June. The group released propaganda leaflets over the Japanese home islands in July and August, continuing strategic bombing raids and incendiary attacks until the Japanese capitulation in August 1945.
AfterV-J Day, the 500th dropped supplies to Allied prisoners, participated in show-of-force missions, and flew over Japan to evaluate bombardment damage. In October 1945 the unit returned to the United States. It was assigned to Continental Air Forces'Fourth Air Force atMarch Field, California. However demobilization was in full swing and the group was inactivated on 17 January 1946.
The500th Air Refueling Wing was activated and established in 1963 as part ofStrategic Air Command atSelfridge AFB, Michigan. The wing replaced the 4045th Air Refueling Wing at Selfridge, absorbing its personnel and assets.
The 4045th Wing had been established at Selfridge on 1 January 1959, along with threemaintenance squadrons and a security unit and assigned toSecond Air Force. The44th Air Refueling Squadron and307th Air Refueling Squadron moved fromChennault Air Force Base, Louisiana in June 1960 and were assigned to the wing as its operational squadrons. In September, the wing was reassigned to the17th Air Division.
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) wings that were equipped with tactical aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.[c] As a result, the 4045th was replaced by the newly constituted500th Air Refueling Wing on 1 January 1963.[d]
The two refueling squadrons were reassigned to the 500th wing. The 4045th's maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 500th numerical designation of the newly established wing. Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor. The wing was reassigned to the 40th Air Division on 1 July 1963.
The wing supported SAC bombardment andTactical Air Command fighter aircraft with air refueling and occasionally deployed segments of its tanker force overseas to support unit movements and special operations. The unit was discontinued and inactivated on 15 December 1964. The two units were consolidated in 1984.[1]
The consolidated unit was redesignated as the500th Air Expeditionary Group and activated in 2003 to conductOperation Deep Freeze activities underPacific Air Forces, before being replaced by the 13th Air Expeditionary Group. During deployments to support Deep Freeze, the group had controlled ski-equippedLockheed LC-130 Hercules aircraft of the139th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron andMcDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III aircraft of the304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.[2]
500th Bombardment Group
500th Air Expeditionary Group
Tactical Squadrons
Support Units
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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