The 397th Bombardment Wing 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, last assigned to the

45th Air Division The 45th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire. It was inactivated on 14 June 1989. History As the 45th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one ...

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 ...

Dow Air Force Base Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base. Created in 1927 as the commercial Godfrey Field, the airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army just before World War II and renamed Godfrey Army Airfield and later Dow Ar ...

, Maine, where it was inactivated on 25 April 1968. It was originally organized as the 397th Bombardment Group, a

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 ...

United States 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 ...

combat organization. It deployed to Western Europe with

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 ...

as a medium bombardment unit equipped with

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 t ...

s. It returned to the United States during December 1945, being inactivated on 6 January 1946. The 397th Bombardment Wing was organized in 1963 as a component organization of

's deterrent force 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 ...

. It was inactivated when Dow closed. In early 1984 the group and wing were consolidated into a single unit, but have not been active since.

History

World War II

Constituted as 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 20 March 1943. Activated on 20 April 1943. Trained with B-26's. Moved to

RAF Gosfield Royal Air Force Gosfield or more simply RAF Gosfield is a former Royal Air Force station in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately north of Braintree; about north-northeast of London Opened in 1943, it was used by both th ...

England, March–April 1944, and assigned to

, however. no sooner had they arrived than they were moved on to

RAF Rivenhall Royal Air Force Rivenhall or more simply RAF Rivenhall is a former Royal Air Force station located in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southeast of Braintree, Essex, England. Opened in 1942, it was used by both ...

. The group's identification marking was a yellow diagonal band across both sides of the vertical tailplane. Over the next few days, more than 60 'bare metal' B-26s were to be seen on the Rivenhall hardstands. Although fresh from the training grounds in south-eastern United States, and having only reached the UK early in April. the 347th undertook its first combat mission on 20 April: an attack on a

Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...

site. During its tenure of Rivenhall the 397th undertook 56 bombing missions, 32 of them attacks on bridges. Other targets were enemy airfields, rail junctions, fuel and ammunition stores, V-weapon sites and various military installations in France and the Low Countries. During these missions a total of 16 B-26s were missing in action and several others wrecked in crash-landings at the base. Early in August, officially on the 5th, the 397th transferred from Rivenhall to

RAF Hurn Royal Air Force Hurn or more simply RAF Hurn is a former Royal Air Force station located approximately north west of Christchurch, Dorset, England Opened in 1941, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. D ...

in Hampshire, to give the Marauders a better radius of action as the break-out of the Allied forces from the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

beachhead meant that potential targets were receding. Although moving from Rivenhall, the group arrived without ceasing operations and flew 72 missions from Hurn before moving to the Advanced Landing Ground at Gorges, France (A-26) on 19 August, with the last departures on the 30th and 31st. Three Marauders were lost during the month's stay. On the continent, the 397th struck enemy positions at

St Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

and

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

and bombed targets in the

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

area as Allied armies swept across the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

and advanced to 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 west ...

. The group began flying missions into Germany in September, attacking such targets as bridges, defended areas, and storage depots. The 397th struck the enemy's communications during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

(December 1944 – January 1945) and received a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...

for a mission on 23 December 1944 when the group withstood heavy flak and fighter attack to sever a railway bridge at Eller, a vital link in the enemy's supply line across the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

. The group continued to support the Allied drive into Germany until April 1945, being stationed at

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...

, the Netherlands (Y-55) on VE-Day. It returned to the United States during December 1945 – January 1946, being inactivated at Camp Kilmer,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

on 6 January 1946.

Strategic Air Command

On 1 August 1958,

(SAC) organized the 4038th Strategic Wing at

Dow AFB Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base. Created in 1927 as the commercial Godfrey Field, the airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army just before World War II and renamed Godfrey Army Airfield and later Dow Arm ...

, Maine and assigned it to the

820th Air Division 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 ...

on 1 January 1959 as part of SAC's plan to disperse its

Boeing 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 ...

heavy

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The wing remained a headquarters only until 1 February 1960 when the

4060th Air Refueling Wing 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

was discontinued and its support organizations transferred to the 4038th in addition to the 71st and

341st Air Refueling Squadron The 641st Bombardment Squadron was an inactive United States Air Force unit. After training with Douglas A-20 Havocs in the United States the squadron deployed to the European Theater of World War II, where it engaged in combat until the Surre ...

s, flying

Boeing KC-97 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 ...

s. Fifteen days later the

341st Bombardment Squadron The 341st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4038th Strategic Wing. It was last stationed at Dow Air Force Base, Maine, where it was inactivated on 1 February 1963. The squadron was f ...

(BS) moved to Dow from its previous station at

Blytheville AFB Blytheville Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base from 1942, until it closed in 1992. In 1988, the facility was renamed Eaker Air Force Base in honor of World War II General of the Eighth Air Force, Ira C. Eaker. It was located nort ...

, Arkansas where it had been one of the three squadrons assigned to the 97th Bombardment Wing and re-equipped with 15 B-52Gs. Starting in 1960, one third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the unit's aircraft in 1962. On 1 April 1961, 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 expres ...

was transferred to the control of the

6th Air Division The 6th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Thirteenth Air Force, based at Clark Air Base, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 December 1969. Heraldry On a shield per chevron argent and ...

. In 1962, the wing

s began to be equipped with the GAM-77 Hound Dog and the

GAM-72 Quail The McDonnell ADM-20 Quail was a Subsonic aircraft, subsonic, Jet engine, jet powered, Air-launched cruise missile, air-launched decoy cruise missile built by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. The Quail was designed to be launched by the Boeing B-5 ...

air-launched

cruise missiles A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead ...

, The 4038th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles. In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious

records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic wings controlling combat squadron, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage, and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units to replace them, time which could carry a lineage and history. As a result, the 4038th SW was replaced by the 397th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (397th BW), which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 February 1963. In the same way the 596th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 341st BS. The 860th Medical Group, 57th Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the two

air refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

squadrons were reassigned to the 397th. Component support units were replaced by units with numerical designation of the newly established wing. Under the Dual Deputate organization, all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group element was activated. Therefore, the history, lineage and honors of the 397th Bombardment Group were temporarily bestowed upon the newly established wing upon activation. The 397th Bomb Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet operational commitments of

, including deployments to Southeast Asia during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The wing's refueling elements changed when the 341st Air Refueling Squadron inactivated in the fall of 1963, while the 71st traded in its KC-97s for

Boeing 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 transpor ...

s the following spring. By 1968,

Intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

s (ICBM) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States' strategic triad, and the need for B-52s had been reduced. In addition, funds were also needed to cover the costs of combat operations in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

. The 397th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 25 April 1968 and its aircraft were reassigned to other SAC units. As part of the inactivation, Dow was closed.

Lineage

397th Bombardment Group * Constituted as the 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 20 March 1943 : Activated on 20 April 1943 : Resesignated 397th Bombardment Group, Medium c. April 1944 : Inactivated on 6 January 1946Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 283–284 * Consolidated on 31 January 1984 with the 397th Bombardment Wing as the 397th Bombardment WingDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 539q, 31 January 1984, Subject: Consolidation of Units 397th Bombardment Wing * Constituted as the 397th Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 15 November 1962 : Activated on 15 November 1962 (not organized) : Organized on 1 February 1963 : Inactivated on 25 April 1968 * Consolidated on 31 January 1984 with the 397th Bombardment Group

Assignments

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 ...

, 20 April 1943 * 98th Bombardment Wing, 5 April 1944 – December 1945 *

Army Service Forces The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large comman ...

(for inactivation), 5–6 January 1946 *

, 15 November 1962 (not organized) *

, 1 February 1963 *

, 2 July 1966 – 25 April 1968

Components

19th Air Refueling Squadron The 19th Air Refueling Squadron (19 ARS) is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. At the time of its inactivation, it was based at Otis Air Force Base. On 19 Sep 1985 the 19th Air Refueling Squadron,(Medium), was consolidated with the ...

, 1 February 1963 – 15 June 1963 (KC-97) :: At

Otis Air Force Base Otis may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Otis (Superman), in the films ''Superman'' and ''Superman II'' and related DC Comics media ** Otis Graves, in the TV series ''Supergirl'' * Otis (''The Walking Dead''), in the Image Comics ...

, Massachusetts *

71st Air Refueling Squadron The 71st Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 458th Operations Group at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana where it was inactivated on 1 April 1994. The squadron was first activated as the 471st ...

, 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968 (KC-135) *

, 1 February 1963 – 1 September 1963 (KC-97) * 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946; 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968 *

597th Bombardment Squadron The 597th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated at MacDill Field, Florida in April 1943. After training in the United States, it transferred to the European Theater of Operations, where it was a comp ...

(9F), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946 * 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946 * 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946

Stations

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, 20 April 1943 *

Avon Park Air Force Range Avon may refer to: *River Avon (disambiguation), several rivers Organisations * Avon Buses, a bus operating company in Wirral, England * Avon Coachworks, a car body builder established in 1919 at Warwick, England, relaunched in 1922, followin ...

, Florida, 12 October 1943 *

Hunter Field Hunter Army Airfield , located in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart located in Hinesville, Georgia. Hunter features a runway that is 11,375 feet (3,468 m) long and an Airpor ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, 1 November 1943 – 13 March 1944 *

(AAF-154),Station Designators in the UK from England, 5 April 1944 *

(AAF-168), England, 15 April 1944 *

(AAF-492), England, 5 August 1944 492 * Gorges Airfield (A-26),Station Designators on the European Continent from France, August 1944 * Dreux/Vernouillet Airfield (A-41), France, c. 11 September 1944 * Peronne Airfield (A-72), France, 6 October 1944 *

Venlo Airfield Royal Air Force Brüggen, more commonly known as RAF Brüggen, in Germany was a major station of the Royal Air Force until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village of Elmpt, approximately west of Düsseldorf on the Dutch-German bo ...

(Y-55), Netherlands, 25 April 1945 * Peronne Airfield (A-72), France, c. 24 May – c. December 1945 *

Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...

, 5–6 January 1946 * Dow Air Force Base, Maine, 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968

Aircraft

(1943–1946) *

(1963–1968) *

Boeing 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 developm ...

(1963–1964) *

(1964–1968)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * *