The 4th Air Division 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 Signal ...

unit. Its last assignment was with

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 ...

, stationed at

Francis E. Warren Air Force Base Francis E. Warren Air Force Base , shortened as F.E. Warren AFB is a United States Air Force base (AFB) located approximately west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is one of three strategic-missile bases in the U.S. It was named in honor of Francis E ...

, Wyoming. It was inactivated on 23 August 1988. As the 4th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one of the primary

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 Theater ...

heavy strategic bombardment wings of

VIII Bomber Command 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

(later

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 Force ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, the 4th Air Division' was an intermediate command echelon of

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 ...

, controlling strategic bombardment and intercontinental strategic missile wings until inactivated in 1988.

History

The 4th Bombardment Wing moved to England in June 1943 and as a part of

began bombing operations against German occupied Europe. Targets included shipyards, synthetic rubber plants, chemical plants, marshalling yards, and oil facilities. In July the wing grew to seven combat groups, which resulted in a reorganization of its groups on 13 September 1943 into the

3d Bombardment Division 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

as a new higher echelon over the 4th and two wings which had groups assigned for the first time: the 13th and 45th Combat Bomb Wings. The 4th CBW administratively controlled only two groups until December 1943, when the newly arrived 447th BG was assigned to it. In 1944, some subordinate units attacked coastline defenses and marshalling yards in preparation for the Allied invasion of France. Some units supported ground troops during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945) and the assault across the Rhine (March 1945 – April 1945). In the postwar years, the command was part of

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), 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 est ...

assigned as a reserve wing assigned to

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern; 1 AF-AFNORTH) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission is the air defense of the Co ...

from 1946 to 1949. Rectivated in 1951 as an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command, the 4th Air Division was part of

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 ...

, controlling

B-29 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 Fly ...

Boeing B-50 Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and ot ...

and

B-47 The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long- range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircr ...

wings. In 1962, units controlled by the 4th Air Division supported 2d Air Force's post attack command and control system, and became responsible for the Advanced Airborne Command Post. It participated in the 1962

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

and trained in electronic countermeasures and conducted combat operations in Southeast Asia in the late 1960s. Reassigned to SAC's

in 1970, the 4th assured that assigned units were capable of conducting strategic aerospace warfare using intercontinental ballistic missiles, long-range bombardment, and air refueling resources, according to the Emergency War Order. In addition, the division assumed airborne command and control responsibilities that consisted of supporting auxiliary airborne command post aircraft. Inactivated in 1988 as a result of budget reductions and a consolidation of SAC's command and control echelons.

Lineage

* Established as the 4th Bombardment Wing on 19 October 1940 : Activated on 18 December 1940 : Inactivated on 1 October 1941 * Activated on 7 June 1942 : Redesignated 4th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 30 August 1943 : Redesignated 4th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 24 August 1944 : Disestablished on 18 June 1945 * Reestablished and redesignated 4th Bombardment Wing, Light on 31 December 1946 : Activated in the Reserve on 20 December 1946 : Redesignated 4th Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948 : Inactivated on 27 June 1949 * Redesignated 4th Air Division on 1 February 1951 : Organized on 10 February 1951 : Discontinued on 16 June 1952 * Activated on 16 June 1952 : Redesignated 4th Strategic Aerospace Division on 1 September 1964 : Redesignated 4th Strategic Missile Division on 30 June 1971 : Redesignated 4th Air Division on 1 March 1973 : Inactivated on 23 August 1988

Assignments

General Headquarters Air Force The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, 18 December 1940 – 1 October 1941 : Apparently further assigned to

Northeast Air District The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern; 1 AF-AFNORTH) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission is the air defense of the Conti ...

(later, First Air Force) c. 16 January 1941 *

, 7 June 1942 *

, 13 September 1943 – 18 June 1945 *

, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949 *

, 16 June 1952 *

, 31 March 1970 – 23 August 1988

Components

Wings *

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 ...

: 1 April 1963 – 1 September 1964 * 28th Bombardment Wing: 15 January 1973 – 1 May 1982 * 44th Strategic Missile Wing: 30 June 1971 – 1 May 1982; 23 January 1987 – 15 July 1988 *

55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing The 55th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. The wing is primarily stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, but maintains one of its groups and associated squadrons at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ar ...

: 1 October 1976 – 1 April 1980 *

90th Strategic Missile 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 ...

: 30 June 1971 – 23 August 1988 * 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (later 91st Strategic Missile Wing): 10 February – 11 September 1951; 30 June 1971 – 30 November 1972 *

92d Strategic Aerospace 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 ...

: 31 March 1970 – 30 June 1971 * 97th Bombardment Wing: 1 July 1959 – 1 July 1963 *

301st Bombardment Wing The 301st Air Refueling Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force being last assigned to the Strategic Air Command at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, where it was inactivated on 1 June 1992. History : ''See the 301st Operations ...

(later 301st Air Refueling Wing): 10 February 1951 – 15 April 1958 (detached 3 December 1951 – c. 4 March 1953; c. 10 February-c. 17 April 1954); 5 January – 23 August 1988 *

319th Bombardment Wing __NOTOC__ Year 319 ( CCCXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinius (or, less frequently, year ...

: 1 September 1964 – 30 June 1971; 15 January 1973 – 22 January 1975; 1 May 1982 – 23 January 1987 * 321st Strategic Missile Wing: 1 November 1964 – 22 January 1975; 1 May 1982 – 23 January 1987 * 340th Bombardment Wing: 1 September 1963 – 1 September 1964 (detached c. 1–31 August 1964). 321 Strategic Missile: 1 November 1964 – 22 January 1975; 1 May 1982 – 23 January 1987 * 341st Strategic Missile Wing: 30 June 1971 – 15 January 1973; 23 January 1987 – 23 August 1988 * 351st Strategic Missile Wing: 30 June 1971 – 1 July 1973 *

376th Bombardment Wing 376th may refer to: * 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, inactive wing of the United States Air Force, last stationed at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyz Republic * 376th Air Refueling Squadron, inactive United States Air Force ...

: 1 June 1951 – 3 December 1957 (detached 1 June – 10 October 1951) * 401st Provisional Combat Bommbardment Wing: 6 June – 14 September 1943 *

410th Bombardment Wing The United States Air Force's 410th Air Expeditionary Wing (410 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command (ACC) It may be activated or inactivated at any time. The unit was known to be active during the 2 ...

: 1 September 1964 – 31 March 1970 * 454th Bombardment Wing: 1 February – 1 July 1963 *

494th Bombardment Wing 494th may refer to: * 494th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 494th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit *494th Fighter Squadron The 494th Fighter Squadron (494th FS), nicknamed ''the Panthers'', i ...

: 1 July 1963 – 1 July 1964 * 4130th Strategic Wing: 1 July-l September 1963 * 4228th Strategic Wing: 1 July 1958 – 1 February 1963 * 4238th Strategic Wing: 1 March 1958 – 1 April 1963 Groups * 34th Bombardment Group: 18 August-c. 1 October 1941 *

43d Bombardment Group The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, "43rd Elizabeth" or the Old Poor Law was passed in 1601 and created a poor la ...

: August-5 September 1941 *

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 pr ...

: 13 June 1943 – 6 January 1945 *

95th Bombardment Group 95 or 95th may refer to: * 95 (number) * one of the years 95 BC, AD 95, 1995, 2095, etc. * 95th Division (disambiguation) * 95th Regiment ** 95th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) * 95th Squadron (disambiguation) * Atomic number 95: americium * ...

: July-13 September 1943 * 96th Bombardment Group: c. May-c. September 1943 *

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 ...

: 6 June 1943 – 1 January 1944 * 319th Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949 *

320th Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949 * 385th Bombardment Group: c. June 1943-c. August 1945 * 388th Bombardment Group: c. July 1943-c. August 1945 *

390th Bombardment Group 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 ...

: c. July-13 September 1943 * 447th Bombardment Group: c. November 1943-c. June 1945 *

486th Bombardment Group 486th may refer to: * 486th Air Expeditionary Wing, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command * 486th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 486th Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air ...

: c. January-c. June 1945 * 487th Bombardment Group: c. January-c. August 1945 Squadron *

376th Air Refueling Squadron The 376th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4081st Strategic Wing at Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, where it was inactivated in June 1966. History World War II Estab ...

: 1 June 1951 – 20 May 1952; 1 December 1957 – 15 April 1958

Stations

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

, New York, 18 December 1940 *

Westover Field 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, 20 March – 1 October 1941; 7 June 1942 *

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German (Bölling): from a ...

, District of Columbia, c. 28 July c. 28 August 1942 *

RAF High Wycombe RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s ...

(Camp Lynn) (AAF-101), England, 12 September 1942 * Marks Hall (AAF-160), England, 18 January 1943 * Camp Blainey, England, June 1943 *

RAF Bury St Edmunds Rougham Airfield, formerly Royal Air Force Station Bury St Edmunds or more simply RAF Bury St Edmunds is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. It is not to be confused with the RAF grass strip o ...

(AAF-468), England, 13 September 1943 – 18 June 1945 * Mitchel Field, New York, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949 *

Barksdale Air Force Base Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in northwest Louisiana, United States, in Bossier Parish. It is contiguous to Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale AFB ...

, Louisiana, 10 February 1951 16 June 1952; 16 June 1952 – 1 September 1964 *

Grand Forks Air Force Base Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and west of Grand Forks. The host unit is the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (319 RW) assigned to the Air Combat C ...

, North Dakota, 1 September 1964 *

, Wyoming, 30 June 1971 – 23 August 1988

Aircraft and missiles

A-29 Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and prim ...

1941 *

B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company f ...

1941 * LB-30 1941 * B-17 Flying Fortress 1943–1945 * B/RB-45 Tornado 1951 *

RB-50 Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger s ...

1951 *

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 ...

1951 – 1952, 1952–1954 * KB-29 Superfortress 1951 – 1952, 1952–1953 *

B-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...

1953 – 1958 *

KC-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Design and developme ...

1953 – 1958 * B/E/EB-47 Stratojet 1954 – 1957 *

RB-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-Range (aeronautics), range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic flight, subsonic speed and at high altitude ...

1958 *

B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

1959 – 1988 *

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...

1959 – 1988 * LGM-30A Minuteman I 1963 – 1974 *

LGM-30F Minuteman II The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and re ...

1965 – 1988 * LGM 30G Minuteman III 1971 – 1972 1973 – 1988 *

C-135 Stratolifter The Boeing C-135 Stratolifter is a transport aircraft derived from the prototype Boeing 367-80 jet airliner (also the basis for the 707) in the early 1950s. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave the aircraft the i ...

1977 – 1980 * E-4 Nightwatch 1977 – 1980 *

EC-135 Looking Glass Looking Glass (or Operation Looking Glass) is the (historic) code name for an airborne command and control center operated by the United States. In more recent years it has been more officially referred to as the ABNCP (Airborne National Command ...

1977 – 1982 *

RC-135 Rivet Joint The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies, including General Dynamics, Lockheed, LTV, E-Systems, and L3 Technologies, and used by the United States Air Force and Royal ...

1977 – 1980 *

LGM-118A Peacekeeper The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark ...

1986 – 1988

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{USAAF 8th Air Force UK 004 Division 0004 1940 establishments in New York (state) 1988 disestablishments in Wyoming