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| 93d Operations Group | |
|---|---|
%2c_USA_-_Air_Force_AN0817823.jpg) WingE-8 J-STARS aircraft | |
| Active | 1942–1952; 1991–1995; 1996–2002 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Air control |
| Nickname | Traveling Circus (World War II) Blaze[citation needed] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation[1] |
| Insignia | |
| 93d Operations Group emblem[1][note 1] |  |
| 93d Bombardment Group emblem[2] |  |
The93rd Operations Group is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the93rd Air Control Wing, stationed atRobins Air Force Base, Georgia. The unit was inactivated on 1 October 2002.
During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the93rd Bombardment Group was the firstVIII Bomber CommandConsolidated B-24 Liberator group to bomb targets inOccupied Europe andNazi Germany. It flew fromRAF Alconbury inCambridgeshire. The group became operational with a mission over Occupied France on 9 October 1942.
In the postwar era, the 93rd Bombardment Group was one of the original ten USAAF bombardment groups assigned toStrategic Air Command on 21 March 1946. Equipped with low-hourBoeing B-29 Superfortress surplus World War II aircraft, the group deployed toFar East Air Forces during the early part of theKorean War, and flew combat missions over Korea. The group was inactivated in 1952 when the parent wing adopted the dual deputy organization and assigned all of the group's squadrons directly to the wing.
It was reactivated as the 93rd Operations Group in 1991 when the wing adopted the USAF objective organization.
The93rd Bombardment Group was activated on 1 March 1942. It initially prepared for combat withConsolidated B-24 Liberators. Engaged in antisubmarine operations over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea as part of theIII Bomber Command, May– July 1942.
The group moved to England, August– September 1942, and was assigned to Eighth Air Force. It was assigned to the2d Combat Bombardment Wing. The group flew itsB-24 Liberator aircraft with a tail code of"Circle B". The 93rd was the first Liberator-equipped bomber group to reach the Eighth Air Force. The group became operational with the B-24 on 9 October 1942 by attacking steel and engineering works atLille France. Until December, the group operated primarily againstsubmarine pens along the French coast along theBay of Biscay.
While the 93rd was at RAF Alconbury, His Majesty,King George VI paid his first visit to an Eighth Air Force base on 13 November 1942. During the visit, he was shown the B-24 "Teggie Ann", then considered to be the 93rd's leading aircraft.
On 6 December 1942 most of the group was transferred toTwelfth Air Force in North Africa to support theOperation Torch landings. The group receiving aDistinguished Unit Citation for operations in that theatre, December 1942 – February 1943, when, with inadequate supplies and under the most difficult desert conditions, the detachment struck heavy blows at enemy shipping and communications. The detachment returned to England in February 1943, where its personnel were featured on the cover of the 26 July 1943 issue ofLife Magazine and the unit dubbed "Ted's Traveling Circus" after its first commander, Col. Edward J. Timberlake.
The balance of the 93rd BG was moved toRAF Hardwick (Station 104), in Norfolk where B-24 groups were being concentrated. From February 1943 and until the end of June the group bombed engine repair works, harbors, power plants, and other targets in France, the Low Countries, and Germany.
A detachment returned to the Mediterranean theatre during June and July 1943 to support theAllied invasion of Sicily and to participate in the famouslow-level attack on enemy oil installations at Ploesti on 1 August. Having followed another element of the formation along the wrong course to Ploesti, the 93rd hit targets that had been assigned to other groups, but it carried out its bombing of the vital oil installations despite heavy losses inflicted by attacks from the fully alerted enemy and was awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation for the operation.
After the detachment returned to England in August 1943, the group flew only two missions before the detachment was sent back to the Mediterranean to support theFifth Army atSalerno during theinvasion of Italy in September 1943.
The detachment rejoined the group in October 1943, and until April 1945 the 93rd concentrated on bombardment of strategic targets such as marshalling yards, aircraft factories, oil refineries, chemical plants, and cities in Germany. In addition it bombed gun emplacements, choke points, and bridges nearCherbourg-en-Cotentin during theNormandy invasion in June 1944. It attacked troop concentrations in northern France during theSaint-Lô breakthrough in July 1944; transported food, gasoline, water, and other supplies to the Alliesadvancing across France, August – September 1944; dropped supplies toairborne troops in the Netherlands on 18 September 1944; struck enemy transportation and other targets during theBattle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945; and flew two missions on 24 March 1945 during theairborne assault across the Rhine, dropping supplies to troops nearWesel and bombing a night-fighter base at Stormede.
The 93rd Bombardment Group ceased combat operations in April 1945, and returned toSioux Falls Army Air Field South Dakota during May/June for B-29 Superfortress transition training, prior to deployment to the Pacific Theater. However, the deployment never took place as the war in the Pacific ended. The group was demobilized and was eventually inactivated in December 1945.
The 93rd Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) was activated at Merced Field, California on 21 June 1946 which was assigned to Merced forBoeing B-29 Superfortress training. The 93rd was one of SAC's first ten bomb groups. There were three initial operational squadrons (328th,329th, and330th Bombardment Squadrons) which absorbed the equipment and aircraft of the inactivated444th Bombardment Group.
On 1 October 1946 the airfield was put on "minimal operations on caretaker status", with control of the facility under Colorado Springs AAF. The 93rd Bomb Group, however remained active. It, along with the509th Composite Group atRoswell Army Air Field, New Mexico, was all there was ofStrategic Air Command at that time. The airfield remained in this status until 1 May 1947 when it was reactivated.
On 1 May 1947,Merced Army Air Field was reactivated under Strategic Air Command. On 28 July 1947, the group became the93rd Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy and took host unit responsibility from the group as part of theWing Base organization plan. During 1947–1948, it flewBoeing B-29 Superfortresses, but soon received the upgraded version of the B-29, theBoeing B-50A Superfortress. In 1948, the entire group deployed toKadena Air Base,Okinawa, becoming the first Strategic Air Command bomb group to deploy in full strength to the Far East.
Upon its return to Castle in 1951, the group was re-equipped with B-50s. In June 1952 the group was inactivated when Strategic Air Command reorganized its wings into the dual deputate system.
On 1 September 1991, the 93rd Bombardment Wing was redesignated as the 93rd Wing under the "Objective Wing" concept adopted by the Air Force. The flying components of the wing were reassigned to the newly renamed93rd Operations Group.
As part of their new mission, the 93rd Group also gained theBoeing B-52 Stratofortress squadrons from the 93rd Wing. However, the operations of the reestablished group was short, On 1 June 1992 the 93rd was relieved from assignment to SAC and was reassigned to the newly formedAir Combat Command (ACC). Its B-52G aircraft given the ACC tail code of "CA" and carried blue tail stripes. The 328th Bomb Squadron was inactivated 3 May 1994, and the wing and group were placed on non-operational status. The group was inactivated on 31 October 1994.
Just four months later, however, it was reactivated as the operational arm of the93rd Air Control Wing and was reactivated atRobins Air Force Base, Georgia on 29 January 1996. It was equipped with theBoeing E-8 Joint STARS and it accepted its first production aircraft on 11 June 1996.
Some crews and aircraft deployed from Robins to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996 to support theOperation Joint Endeavor peacekeeping operation. Deployed to Southwest Asia in response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors, 18 February – 3 June 1998. Between 23 February – 28 June 1999, deployed aircraft and personnel toRamstein Air Base, Germany to assist in monitoring Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo.
Upon inactivation on 1 October 2002; Georgia Air National Guard's116th Air Control Wing assumed command responsibility for JSTARS mission.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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