The 44th Air Division, Bombardment was redesignated as a division on 16 April 1948, when it was at Brooks Field (later,

Brooks Air Force Base Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio. In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developm ...

), Texas, under the

14th Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...

, then transferred to the

12th Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

on 1 July 1948.

History

World War II

The unit started as the 44th Bombardment Wing, conducting medium bomber training in the United States. It deployed to the European Theater of Operations in the summer of 1943, but before it could being combat operations, was redesignated in November 1943 as the 99th Bombardment Wing and assigned to the new IX Bomber Command, the medium bombardment component of the revamped

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

. Its subordinate units attacked enemy airfields in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands between December 1943 and February 1944. Beginning in March 1944, they bombed rail road and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. Its subordinate units supported the Allied offensive at

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.

, France, in July 1944. Between October and December 1944, they bombed bridges, road junctions, and ordnance depots in support of the assault on the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the we ...

. On 16 December 1944, during a period of poor flying weather, the Germans launched a major offensive, known as the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

, in the Ardennes Forest. When the weather cleared, 99th BW units bombed supply points, communication centres, bridges, marshalling yards, roads, and oil storage tanks.

Air Force Reserve

The wing was reactivated as a reserve unit under

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly ina ...

(ADC) on 26 June 1947 at Brooks Field, Texas (later

. In 1948, when the regular Air Force implemented the wing base organization system, the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

, along with other multi-base reserve wings was redesignated as an air division. The same year

Continental Air Command Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary au ...

assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC. The 44th was inactivated when Continental Air Command reorganized in June 1949 in response to President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget that required reductions in the number of unit (groups – 48) in the Air Force.Knaack, p. 25 Performed bombing operations in Europe until

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...

Lineage

* Established as the 44th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 15 February 1943 * Activated on 1 March 1943 * Redesignated 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) on 2 November 1943 * Redesignated 99th Combat Bombardment Wing, Medium on 13 August 1944 * Redesignated 99th Bombardment Wing, Medium on 16 June 1945 * Inactivated on 4 October 1945 * Redesignated 44th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 27 May 1947 and allotted to the reserve. * Activated on 26 June 1947 * Redesignated 44th Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948 * Inactivated on 27 June 1949

Assignments

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

, 1 March 1943 *

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 Forces ...

, c.28 July 1943 * VIII Air Support Command, c.28 September 1943 * IX Bomber Command (later, 9 Bombardment Division, 9th Air Division), c. November 1943–16 September 1945 * Army Service Forces, Port of Embarkation, 17 September 1945 – 4 October 1945 *

Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell ...

, 26 June 1947 *

Fourteenth Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizati ...

, 1 July 1948 *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

, 12 January 1949 – 27 June 1949

Components

* Ninth Air Force : 322d Bombardment Group: 16 October 1943 – 15 September 1945 (B-26 Marauder) : 344th Bombardment Group: c.28 February 1944–c.30 April 1945 :

386th Bombardment Group 386th may refer to: * 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Central *386th Fighter Squadron or 174th Air Refueling Squadron, unit of the Iowa Air National Guard 185th Air Refueli ...

: 16 October 1943 – 27 July 1945 (B-26 Marauder) :

391st Bombardment Group 391st may refer to: * 391st Bombardment Group, non-flying unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, stationed at Horsham Air National Guard Station *391st Bombardment Squadron, part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida ...

: 25 January 1944 – 27 July 1945 (B-26 Marauder) *

394th Bombardment Group The 106th Rescue Wing (106th RQW) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air F ...

: c.22 January 1945 – 30 November 1945 * United States Air Force Reserve : 312th Bombardment Group: 30 July 1947 – 27 June 1949 :

401st Bombardment Group The 401st Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe to be activated or inactivated at any time as needed. It is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The group was fir ...

: 1947–1949 : 447th Bombardment Group: 1947–1949

Stations

* Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah, 1 March 1943 * Biggs Field, Texas, 14 May 1943 – 4 July 1943 *

RAF Aldermaston Royal Air Force Aldermaston or more simply RAF Aldermaston is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Newbury, Berkshire and southwest of Reading, Berkshire, England. Originally built as an RAF Bomber Command airfield during 1941 ...

(AAF-467), United Kingdom, 28 July 1943 * RAF Great Dunmow (AAF-164), United Kingdom, 12 November 1943 * Beaumont sur Oise Airfield (A-60), 25 September 1944 * Tirlemont ( Tienen), Belgium, 27 April 1945 * Namur Airfield, Belgium, 1 July 1945–c.8 August 1945 *

Camp Myles Standish Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...

, Massachusetts, 3 October 1945 – 4 October 1945 * Brooks Field (later

, Texas, 26 June 1947 – 27 June 1949

Aircraft

Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in th ...

, 1943–1945 *

Douglas A-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major C ...

, 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 F ...

, 1948–1949

Service streamers

This unit earned the following organizational service streamers: * World War II: European African Middle Eastern (EAME) Theater

Commanders

* Unknown, 1 March 1943 – 11 November 1943
Brigadier General Herbert B. Thatcher
12 November 1943 * Colonel Reginald F. C. Vance, 7 November 1944 * Major Charles F. Salter, 1 July 1945 * Lieutenant Colonel William W. Brier, 13 July 1945 * Brigadier General Richard C. Sanders, 12 August 1945– c.4 October 1945 * Unknown, 26 June 1947 – 27 June 1949

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{cite book, last=Knaack, first=Marcelle Size, title=Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems, volume=2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973, year= 1988 , publisher= Office of Air Force History, location= Washington, DC, isbn=0-912799-59-5 044