The 1st Strategic Aerospace Division (1st STRAD) is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

organization. Its last assignment was with

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

, assigned to

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

, being stationed at

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg Sp ...

, California. It was inactivated on 1 September 1991. The division directed and supervised heavy bombardment (1943–1945) and fighter (1944–1945) operations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

within the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forc ...

in the European Theater. Replacing the Eighth Air Force in

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

in June 1946, the division directed fighter reconnaissance and bomber organizations, and provided air defense for the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yon ...

, Japan until December 1948. From 1954 to 1955, the division served as a holding unit at

Westover Air Force Base Westover may refer to: People * Al Westover (born 1954), American professional basketball player in Australia * Arthur Westover (1864–1935), Canadian sport shooter and 1908 Olympian * Charles Westover (1934–1990), better known as Del Shannon, ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, for personnel of Eighth Air Force, who moved to the base as part of a transfer of Eighth's headquarters from

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

, Texas. Activated again under the

Air Research and Development Command The Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command. It was established in April 1951, being split off from Air Materiel Command. The mission of AFSC was Research and Development for new weapons systems. Ove ...

in April 1957, it was the first division level organization controlling intermediate range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. It became an operational component of

(SAC) in January 1958 and began operational testing of missile systems, supporting missile launchings by SAC and other agencies, and training SAC missilemen. These missions continued until the final disbandment on 1 September 1991.

Lineage

* Established as the 1st Bombardment Division on 30 August 1943 : Activated on 13 September 1943 : Redesignated 1st Air Division on 19 December 1944 : Inactivated on 31 October 1945 * Activated on 7 June 1946 : Inactivated on 1 December 1948 : Activated on 1 July 1954 : Inactivated on 1 April 1955 * Redesignated 1st Air Division (Meteorological Survey) on 12 April 1955 : Activated on 15 April 1955 : Inactivated on 20 May 1956 * Redesignated 1st Missile Division on 18 March 1957 : Activated on 15 April 1957 * Redesignated 1st Strategic Aerospace Division on 21 July 1961 : Redesignated Strategic Missile Center on 31 July 1990 : Inactivated on 1 September 1991

Assignments

* VIII Bomber Command (later,

), 13 September 1943 *

VIII Fighter Command The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command of fighter operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European The ...

, 16 July – 31 October 1945 * Pacific Air Command, U.S. Army (later

Far East Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (fo ...

), 7 June 1946 – 1 December 1948 * Eighth Air Force, 1 July 1954 – 1 April 1955 *

, 15 April 1955 – 20 May 1956 * Air Research and Development Command, 15 April 1957 * Strategic Air Command, 1 January 1958 *

, 1 September 1988 – 1 September 1991

Stations

Brampton Grange The Brampton Grange in Brampton, Cambridgeshire, England, is a historic building that dates back to 1773. The building was once vital to the planning and bombing of Germany as the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 1st Bombardment Division, ...

, United Kingdom, 13 September 1943 *

RAF Alconbury Royal Air Force Alconbury or more simply RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, England. The airfield is in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, close to the villages of Great Stukeley, Little Stukeley, and Alconbur ...

, United Kingdom, 16 September – 31 October 1945 * Kadena (later Kadena Army Air Base, Kadena Air Force Base),

, 7 June 1946 – 1 December 1948 *

, Massachusetts, 1 July 1954 – 1 April 1955 *

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Ai ...

, Nebraska, 15 April 1955 – 20 May 1956 * Inglewood, CA, 15 April 1957 * Cooke Air Force Base (later

), California, 16 July 1957 – 1 September 1991

Components

Divisions * 301st Fighter Division (Provisional): 18 August – 16 September 1948 (not operational entire period) * 316th Air Division: ''See'' 316th Bombardment Wing below Wings : (World War II) * 1st Combat Bombardment Wing (later 1st Bombardment Wing): 13 September 1943 – 12 August 1945 *

2d Bombardment Wing The 2nd Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command and the Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The wing is also the host unit at Barksdale. The wing was a ...

: 31 July – 12 August 1945 * 40th Combat Bombardment Wing (later 40th Bombardment Wing): 13 September 1943 – 26 September 1945 * 41st Combat Bombardment Wing (later 41st Bombardment Wing): 13 September 1943 – 1 June 1945 * 67th Fighter Wing: attached 6 October – 31 December 1944, assigned 1 January – 12 August 1945 *

92d Combat Bombardment Wing 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

: 1 December – c. 11 December 1943 * 94th Combat Bombardment Wing (later 94 Bombardment Wing): 12 December 1943 – 18 June 1945 * 101st Provisional Heavy Bombardment Combat: attached 13–16 September 1943 * 102d Provisional Heavy Bombardment Combat: attached 13–16 September 1943 * 103d Provisional Heavy Bombardment Combat: attached 13–16 September 1943 : (United States Air Force) * 32d Composite Wing: 24 August – 1 December 1948 * 51st Fighter Wing: 18 August – 1 December 1948. * 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing: 18 August – 25 October 1948 (not operational, and detached, 24 August – 25 October 1948) * 301st Fighter Wing: 7 June 1946 – 1 December 1948 (not operational, 18 August – 1 December 1948) * 316th Bombardment Wing (later 316th Air Division): 7 June 1946 – 21 June 1948 *

392d Strategic Missile Wing 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song ...

: 18 October – 20 December 1961 *

456th Troop Carrier Wing 456th may refer to: *456th Bombardment Group, air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War *456th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *456th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Fo ...

: attached c. 15 April 1955 – 26 March 1956 *

703d Strategic Missile Wing The 703rd Strategic Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Strategic Air Command's 13th Air Division at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. It was Strategic Air Command's first Titan I wing, but ne ...

: 25 September 1958 – 15 January 1959 *

704th Strategic Missile Wing 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

: 1 August 1957 – 1 July 1959 (not operational 6 April – 1 July 1959) *

706th Strategic Missile Wing 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, ...

: 23 February 1958 – 16 January 1959 * 4320th Strategic Wing (Missile): 1–23 February 1958 * 4392d Aerospace Support Wing: 21 July – 20 December 1961, 1 July 1987 – 15 January 1991 * Strategic Missile, Provisional: attached 1 January – 1 February 1958 (became 4320th Strategic Wing subsequently) Groups *

6th Bombardment Group Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film '' GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Ale ...

: 1 June 1947 – 18 October 1948 (not operational) * 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group: attached 18 August – 1 November 1948 * 93d Bombardment Group: attached 24 May – 25 August 1948 *

94th Bombardment Group The Type 094 (; Chinese designation: 09- IV; NATO reporting name: Jin class) is a class of ballistic missile submarine developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force. The Type 094 succeeds the Type 092 submarine and ...

: 12 August – 26 September 1945 * 96th Bombardment Group: 12 August – 26 September 1945 * 98th Bombardment Group: attached 25 August – 1 December 1948 *

100th Bombardment Group 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

: 12 August – 26 September 1945 * 4000th Support Group (later other designations): 1966–1983 Squadrons * 644th Strategic Missile Squadron: April–December 1959, attached 6 Apr-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul-l Nov 1959 (never operational). * 864 Strategic Missile (later, 864 Technical Training): attached 1 Nov 1958-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-1 Jun 1960. * 865 Strategic Missile (later, 865 Technical Training): attached 1 Nov 1958-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul-1 Nov 1959. * 866 Strategic Missile (later, 866 Technical Training): attached 1 Nov 1958-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-25 May 1962 (not operational, 17-25 May 1962) * 4315th Combat Crew Training Squadron * Others, including 6 Troop Carrier: attached 10 Jun 1946-c. Apr 1947. 25 Liaison: 30 Mar-15 Sep 1947. 36 Bombardment: 21 Nov 1943-27 Feb 1944 (detached 4 Dec 1943-27 Feb 1944); 1 Jan-12 Aug 1945; 1 Sep-Oct 1945. 392 Missile Training: attached 6 Apr-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-1 Feb 1963. 394 Missile Training (later, 394 Strategic Missile; 394 ICBM Test Maintenance): attached 6 Apr-15 Dec 1958; assigned 1 Jul 1960-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-1 Sep 1991. 395 Missile Training (later 395 Strategic Missile): attached 6 Apr-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-31 Dec 1969. 406 Bombardment: c. 11 Nov 1943-26 Feb 1944 (detached 4 Dec 1943-21 Feb 1944); 30 Dec 1944-5 Aug 1945. 576 Strategic Missile: attached 6 Apr-30 Jun 1959, assigned 1 Jul 1959-18 Oct 1961; assigned 20 Dec 1961-2 Apr 1966. 6652 Bombardment: 13 Jul-25 Aug 1945; 1 Sep-12 Oct 1945. 857 Bombardment: attached 10 Mar-c. Aug 1945. ''See'' list in Air Force Historical Research Agency Factsheet, 1 Strategic Aerospace Division

Aircraft and missiles operated

From ;Aircraft *

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...

, 1943–1945 *

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

, 1943–1945 *

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

, 1944–1945 *

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

1946–1948 *

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...

, 1944, 1946–1948 *

Northrop P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night figh ...

, 1946–1948 *

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, pro ...

, 1947–1948 *B/ERB-17, 1946–1948 *B-25, 1946 *B-29/F-13, 1946–1947 * Beechcrat C-45 Expeditor, 1946 *

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

, 1946–1947 *L-4, 1946 *L-5, 1946–1948 *OA-10, 1946–1947 *R-6, 1946 *B/FB-17, 1948 *RB-29, 1948 *F-2, 1948 *C-119, 1955–1956 ;Missile systems *

PGM-17 Thor The PGM-17A Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the United States Air Force (USAF). Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate-range ballistic ...

, 1958–1962 *

SM-65 Atlas The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dy ...

, 1958–1966 *

PGM-19 Jupiter The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first nuclear armed, medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was a liquid-propellant rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR79-NA (model S-3D) r ...

, 1958–1962 *

SM-68 Titan The SM-68 Titan (individual variants later designated HGM-25 Titan I and LGM-25 Titan II) was the designation of two intercontinental ballistic missiles developed for the United States Air Force. The Titan I and Titan II missiles were operationa ...

, 1960–1969 * Minuteman I, 1961–1975 *

LGM-25C Titan II The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and used as an ICBM, but was later adapted as a medium-lift space l ...

, 1962–1977 * Minuteman II, 1966 * Minuteman III, 1971–1991.

Notes

References

General references

* Berger, Carl. ''History of the 1st Missile Division''.

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

, California:

, 1960. * Bishop, Cliff T. ''Fortresses of the Big Triangle First: A History of the Aircraft Assigned to the First Bombardment Wing and the First Bombardment Division of the Eighth Air Force for August 1942-31 March 1944''. Bishop's Stortford, UK: East Anglia Books, 1986. . * Bowman, Martin W. ''Airfields of 1st Air Division (USAAF): Cambridgeshire * Northamptonshire * Bedfordshire''. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Books, 2007. . * Mackay, Ron. ''First in the Field: The 1st Air Division over Europe in WWII''. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2007. . * * Merritt, Robert F. ''1st Air Division, Okinawa''. Okinawan, Japan: McFadden, 1947. * *

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. ''History and Lineage: 1st Strategic Aerospace Division, 1st Bombardment Division, 1st Air Division, 1st Missile Division''. Santa Barbara County, California: Vandenberg Air Force Base, 1981. {{USAAF 8th Air Force UK 001 Military units and formations disestablished in 1991 1943 establishments in England 1991 disestablishments in California