The 73d 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
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 ...
at
Tyndall Air Force Base
Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (325 ...
, Florida, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1966.
History
World War II
![497th Bomb Group B-29 Formation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/497th_Bomb_Group_B-29_Formation.jpg)
The 73d Bombardment Wing was activated as 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 ...
on 17 February 1943.
[ Its original mission was to process personnel assigned to ]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 Theater ...
and 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 ...
Replacement Training Units (RTU) based in the midwest. It was inactivated on 15 October 1943[ with the drawdown of heavy bomber training.
The wing was reactivated and redesignated as the 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) on 20 November 1943 at ]Smoky Hill Army Air Field
Salina Regional Airport , formerly Salina Municipal Airport, is three miles southwest of Salina, Kansas, United States. The airport is owned by the Salina Airport Authority. It is used for general aviation, with service by one passenger airline, ...
, Kansas. The new 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 ...
wing was assigned four newly organized groups (the 497th, 498th, 499th and 500th Bombardment Groups),[ which were training in New Mexico and Arizona with B-17s and B-24s, due to a lack of B-29 aircraft. In April 1944, the groups were brought to several airfields in Kansas (]Great Bend Army Air Field
Great Bend Army Air Field is a closed United States Air Force base. It is located west-southwest of Great Bend, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Great Bend Municipal Airport.
Great Bend Army Air Field (AAF) is significantly ...
, Smoky Hill Army Air Field
Salina Regional Airport , formerly Salina Municipal Airport, is three miles southwest of Salina, Kansas, United States. The airport is owned by the Salina Airport Authority. It is used for general aviation, with service by one passenger airline, ...
and Walker Army Air Field
Walker Army Airfield (also known as Victoria-Pratt Airfield o Walker-Hays Airfield is an abandoned airfield located north of Interstate 70 in Ellis County, 1 mile northwest of Walker, Kansas or 3 miles northeast of Victoria, Kansas.
Walker Arm ...
) where they were equipped with new B-29s manufactured by Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
at their Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
plant.
By August the wing's groups had completed their training and their aircraft were readied for deployment. Originally assigned to Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.
20 AF's primary mission is Interco ...
's XX Bomber Command
The XX Bomber Command was a United States Army Air Forces bomber formation. Its last assignment was with Twentieth Air Force, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 16 July 1945.
History
The idea of basing Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in ...
in India, the wing was instead assigned to the new XXI Bomber Command
The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II.
The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization an ...
in the Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. The 73d Wing deployed to newly constructed airfields
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...
on Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
in the Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
. The 73d Bomb Wing was the first B-29 wing to be assigned to the Marianas, and the first B-29 of the 497th Bomb Group arrived at Isely Field
Saipan International Airport , also known as Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, is a public airport located on Saipan Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The airport is owned by Commonwealth Port ...
, Saipan on 12 October 1944. The 498th arrived shortly after, with the 499th and 500th Bomb Groups arriving in early November. By 22 November, over 100 B-29s were on Saipan. The XXI Bomber Command was assigned the task of destroying the aircraft industry of Japan in a series of high-altitude, daylight precision attacks
In late October and early November 1944, a series of tactical raids were carried out as training exercises for the crews. From Saipan, the groups of the 73d Bomb Wing flew several bombing missions against Truk to gain combat experience. Aware that there was now a new threat, Japanese aircraft based on Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
staged a low-level raid on Isely Field on 2 November, damaging several B-29s on the ground. Retaliatory strikes were ordered on Iwo Jima on 5 and 11 November.
In November 1944, the groups of the 73rd began bombing Japan, with only moderate success. Poor weather, the lack of precision radar bombing equipment, and tremendous winds encountered at high altitudes over Japan made accuracy difficult. The initial raids against Japan had taken place at high altitudes in order to stay above anti-aircraft fire and the effective altitude of defending fighters. Tactics were changed and high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime. The aircraft would attack individually, which meant that no assembly over the base at the start of the mission or along the way would be needed.
Consequently, it turned to devastating low altitude incendiary attacks. The Division continued attacking urban areas until the end of the war in August 1945, its subordinate units conducted raids against strategic objectives, bombing aircraft factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, and other targets in Japan. The wing flew its last combat missions on 14 August when hostilities ended. Afterwards, the wing's B 29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and Manchuria.
The 73d and its subordinate units demobilized rapidly after V-J Day, and the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Field for scrapping, or to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona. The 73d Bomb Wing was reassigned to the United States in December 1945, where it was assigned first to Continental Air Force's Fourth Air Force
The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California.
4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reser ...
, then to 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 ...
(SAC) on 21 March 1946. However demobilization was in full swing and few SAC units were actually equipped and manned. The 73d wing was inactivated on 31 March.[
]
Air Force Reserve
In 1947, the 73d Bomb Wing was reactivated with the 338th and 351st Bombardment Groups being assigned to it, both reserve B-29 Superfortress organizations. A third group, the 381st Bombardment Group was added in 1948.[ However SAC was having enough difficulties keeping its front-line active duty B-29 bomb units in the air to maintain even minimal pilot proficiency in the late 1940s. The wing and its bomb groups were all inactivated in 1949.][
]
Air Defense Command
The organization was reactivated as 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 ...
(ADC) in 1957 as the 73d Air Division.[ As part of ADC, it evaluated, upgraded, and determined the proficiency of the Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor and missile squadrons, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966. The division developed and tested ]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 ...
tactics, equipment, aircraft, guided missiles, and related equipment and armaments. It also maintained active contact with Army, Navy, and other Air Force commands to assure coordinated military effort in the use of rocket and missile ranges, defense plans, air sea land rescue, and airspace and airways directly concerned with the operations of the Air Defense Command Weapons Center.
The 73d Air Division was inactivated on 1 April 1966.[
]
Lineage
* Constituted as the 5th Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters on 9 February 1943.
: Activated on 17 February 1943
: Redesignated 73d Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Heavy) on 12 August 1943.
: Inactivated on 15 October 1943
* Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 19 November 1943
: Activated on 20 November 1943
: Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, Special on 13 January 1944
: Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 24 June 1944
: Inactivated on 31 May 1946
* Activated in the reserve on 12 June 1947
: Redesignated 73d Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948
: Inactivated on 27 June 1949
* Redesignated 73d Air Division (Weapons) on 1 April 1957
: Activated on 1 July 1957
: Redesignated 73d Air Division on 1 March 1963
: Discontinued and inactivated on 1 April 1966[
]
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 ...
, 12 August 1945 – 15 October 1943
* XX Bomber Command, 20 November 1943
* Second Air Force, 2 June 1944 – 30 July 1944
* Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.
20 AF's primary mission is Interco ...
, c. 6 August 1944
* XXI Bomber Command, 9 November 1944 – 16 July 1945
* Twentieth Air Force, 16 July 1945
* Fourth Air Force
The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California.
4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reser ...
, 7 December 1945
* Third Air Force
The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...
, 5 January 1946
* Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946
* Fifteenth Air Force, 31 March 1946 – 31 May 1946
* 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 AF ...
, 1 July 1948 – 27 June 1949
* Air Defense Command, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966[
]
Components
Sector
* Montgomery Air Defense Sector
The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005, ...
: 1 October 1964 – 1 April 1966[
: ]Gunter Air Force Base
Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gu ...
, Alabama
Wings
* 4750th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1957 – 25 June 1960
: Vincent Air Force Base, Arizona
* 4751st Air Defense Wing: 15 January 1958 – 1 October 1959
: Eglin Auxiliary Field #9, Florida
* 4756th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1957 – 1 July 1960
* 4756th Air Defense Wing: 1 September 1962 – 1 April 1966[Despite having the identical name, this wing was a different unit than the one listed first.]
* 4780th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1962 – 1 April 1966[
: ]Perrin Air Force Base
Perrin Air Force Station (ADC ID: RP-78, NORAD ID: Z-78) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located southeast of North Texas Regional Airport, Texas. It was closed in 1969.
History
Perrin Air Force ...
, Texas
Groups
Operational Groups
* 338th Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949
* 351st Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 4 June 1948
: Scott Field (later Scott Air Force Base
Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...
), Illinois
* 381st Bombardment Group: 4 June 1948 – 27 June 1949
: 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 Air ...
, Nebraska[Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 268–269]
* 497th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 31 March 1946
* 498th Bombardment Group 498th may refer to:
*498th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit
*498th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit
*498th Nuclear Systems Wing
The 498th Nuclear Systems Wing was a wing of the United ...
: 20 November 1943 – 31 May 1946
* 499th Bombardment Group 499th may refer to:
*499th Air Refueling Wing, aerial refueling unit located at Westover AFB, Massachusetts
*499th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit
*499th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
The 499th Fighter-Bomber Squadron is ...
: 20 November 1943 – 16 February 1946
* 500th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 17 January 1946
* 4756th Air Defense Group: 1 July 1960 – 1 September 1962[
Support Groups
* 65th Air Service Group
* 91st Air Service Group
* 303d Air Service Group
* 330th Air Service Group
* 4756th Air Base Group: 1 July 1960 – 1 September 1962
]
Stations
* Walker Army Air Field, 17 February 1943
* Smoky Hill Army Airfield, Kansas, 30 June – 15 October 1943; 20 November 1943
* Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
, Colorado, 29 February – 17 July 1944
* Isely Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 24 August 1944 – 20 October 1945
* MacDill Field
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
, Florida, 15 January – 31 May 1946.
* Orchard Place Airport, Illinois, 12 June 1947 – 29 June 1949.
* Tyndall Air Force Base
Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (325 ...
, Florida, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966[
]
Aircraft
* Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1943–1946
* Martin B-57E Canberra, c. 1957 – c. 1960
* North American F-86D Sabre, c. 1955 – c. 1957
* Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair.
Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpos ...
, c. 1957 – c. 1966
* Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...
, c. 1957 – c. 1960
* Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star
The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...
, c. 1957 – 1966
* McDonnell F-101 Voodoo
The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a ''p ...
, c. 1960 – c. 1966
* Convair F-106 Delta Dart
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last specialist interceptor i ...
, c. 1960 – c. 1966[
]
See also
*
* Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons
The second iteration of Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) was established on 21 March 1946 as a component of the United States Army Air Forces, with the mission of planning for and executing the air defense of the United States. Air Defense Command ...
* List of United States Air Force air divisions List of United States Air Force air divisions is a comprehensive and consolidated list of USAF Air Divisions.
;Air Divisions 1–15
*1st Strategic Aerospace Division
* Air Division, Provisional, 1 1962–1963 Homestead Air Force Base Cuban Missil ...
References
Notes
; Explanatory notes
; Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
External links
March Field Museum B-29 from the 500th Bomb Wing
{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II
Japan campaign
World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre
073
Aerospace Defense Command units