The I Bomber Command (later XX Bomber Command) was an intermediate command of the
Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
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 ...
. It trained
bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings.
Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
units and
aircrew
Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.
Commercial aviation
Flight deck positions ...
s for deployment to combat theaters. From shortly after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
until its assets were transferred to
Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command
The Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command was formed in the fall of 1942 to establish a single command to control antisubmarine warfare (ASW) activities of the Army Air Forces (AAF). It was formed from the resources of I Bomber Command, which ...
in October 1942, it conducted
antisubmarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are ty ...
off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.
The command was activated again for a brief period in 1943, again as a bomber training command, located in the southwestern United States. It was disbanded in October 1943.
History
Initial activation and involvement in antisubmarine warfare
GHQ Air Force (GHQ, AF) had been established with two major combat functions, to maintain a striking force against long range targets, and the
air defense
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
of the United States. In the spring of 1941, GHQ, AF reorganized its Northeast Air District as
1st Air Force. To carry out its mission of training and maintaining a strike force, 1st Air Force organized 1st Bomber Command at
Langley Field Langley may refer to:
People
* Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name
* Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer
* Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfo ...
, Virginia in September 1941, shortly before the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
. The command was originally established to control and train
bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings.
Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
organizations assigned to
1st Air Force.
[Both organizations were established with ]arabic numerals
Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers such a ...
in their names. In September 1942, the Army established that Numbered Air Forces would be identified with spelled out numbers and commands with roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ...
. It drew its cadre
Cadre may refer to:
*Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff
*Cadre (politics)
In political contexts a cadre (, , ) consists of a person recognized as a capable militant within a political ...
from the 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 ...
, which was inactivated the same day, and whose subordinate units were reassigned to the command. Shortly after the attack, The best trained units in the command moved to critical defense areas or were identified for early shipment overseas.
In November 1941, an increase in German U boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...
activity brought a Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
request for reinforcement of Army bomber forces in Newfoundland. In the first week of December, the command dispatched the 49th Bombardment Squadron to meet the Navy request. Then the command's headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
moved to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, New York.[
Within a month after the declaration of war by the United States against Germany, ]German Navy
The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
submarines
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
began operating in American coastal waters. By March 1942 fifty-three ships had been sunk in the North Atlantic Naval Coastal Frontier. Defense plans drawn up before the war began assigned the Navy responsibility for operations beyond the coastline, with Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
aircraft serving in a supporting role. Because naval aviation that could perform long range patrols was nearly non-existent along the Atlantic coast in early 1942, the burden for aerial antisubmarine patrols fell on the Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
(AAF), which had available long range and very long range aircraft,[At the time, 600 miles was considered "long range" and 1000 miles was "very long range." Warnock, p. 2] but whose crews had not been trained for the mission. Moreover, the AAF's long range planes were armed with bombs, rather than depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...
s.
As a result, the Commander of the North Atlantic Naval Coastal Frontier requested the Army's Eastern Defense Command to undertake offshore patrols with all available aircraft. The first patrols were performed by elements of I Bomber Command, which would be the primary AAF command involved in antisubmarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are ty ...
(ASW) in early 1942, with assistance from I Air Support Command
I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
. However, although I Bomber Command was primarily involved in conducting ASW, it was doing so on an emergency basis, and was subject to withdrawal from these duties to perform its primary bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings.
Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
function. The command used Douglas B-18 Bolo and North American B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
s to patrol as far out as 300 miles, and 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 ...
es to patrol to 600 miles from shore, but in early operations was only able to maintain six aircraft on patrol. For patrols closer to the shore, the command relied on the civilian pilots of the new Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...
.
In March 1942, the command received its first planes equipped with radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
. It soon became apparent that if the AAF were to continue with the ASW mission, its units would have to be organized under a specially trained and equipped command. The personnel and assets of I Bomber Command were transferred to the newly created Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command
The Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command was formed in the fall of 1942 to establish a single command to control antisubmarine warfare (ASW) activities of the Army Air Forces (AAF). It was formed from the resources of I Bomber Command, which ...
on 15 October 1942.[
]
Return to bomber training
The command was reactivated as a bomber training command at El Paso, Texas in May 1943 and assigned to 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 defende ...
, which was training all heavy bomber units and aircrew
Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.
Commercial aviation
Flight deck positions ...
s for the AAF. It was renamed the XX Bomber Command in August 1943, avoiding duplication with another I Bomber Command, which would be located at 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 later in August. The command was disbanded in October 1943.[
]
Lineage
* Constituted as the 1st Bomber Command on 4 September 1941
*: Activated on 5 September 1941
* Redesignated I Bomber Command on 18 September 1942
*: Inactivated on 15 October 1942
* Activated on 1 May 1943
*: Redesignated XX Bomber Command c. 15 August 1943
*: Disbanded on 6 October 1943[When the ]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 ...
became a separate service in September 1947, former Air Corps units were transferred to it, including units like the command, that had been disbanded.
Assignments
* First Air Force, 5 September 1941 – 15 October 1942
* Second Air Force, 1 May – 6 October 1943[
]
Components
Groups
* 1st Pursuit Group, 5 September – 9 December 1941[
* ]2d Bombardment Group 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to:
Airports
*0O2, Baker Airport
*O02, Nervino Airport
Astronomy
*1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila
*1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun
Fiction
*002, fictional British 00 Agent
*'' 002 Operazione Lu ...
, 5 September 1941 – 15 October 1942[ Haulman says transfer occurred on 13 October 1942, but AAF Antisubmarine Command was not activated until 15 October.]
* 13th Bombardment Group
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave p ...
: 5 September 1941 – 15 October 1942
* 22d Bombardment Group, 5 September 1941 – February 1942
* 34th Bombardment Group, 5 September 1941 – 27 January 1942
* 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 ...
, c. 5 September 1941 – c. 28 March 1942
* 45th Bombardment Group: 5 January – 15 October 1942
* 46th Bombardment Group, 15 May – 6 October 1943
Squadron
* 124th Observation Squadron
The 124th Attack Squadron is a unit of the Iowa Air National Guard 132d Wing. It is assigned to Des Moines International Airport (Des Moines ANGB), Iowa and was formerly equipped with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The unit is reequipping with t ...
: attached 3 July – 15 October 1942[Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 349]
Stations
* Langley Field, Virginia, 5 September 1941
* New York City, New York, 12 December 1941 – 15 October 1942
* El Paso, Texas, 1 May – 16 October 1943[
]
Campaign
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
* {{cite web , url= http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100924-006.pdf , last1=Warnock, first1=Timothy, title=The Battle Against the U-Boat in the American Theater, publisher=Air Force History Support Office, location=Bolling AFB, DC, access-date=22 June 2015
01
Military units and formations disestablished in 1943