45th Air Division
Encyclopedia
The 45th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force
unit. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force
, stationed at Pease AFB, New Hampshire
. It was inactivated on 14 June 1989.
3d Bombardment Division in World War II. Groups from the wing began bombing operations against German occupied Europe on 14 September 1943. Its bombers attacked targets in such German cities as Bremen
, Emden
, Kiel
, Ludwigshafen, Munster
, Saarbrücken
, Schweinfurt
, and Wilhelmshaven
. In June 1944 the 45th supported the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, with tactical missions, against enemy airdromes, airfields, bridges, coastal defenses, field batteries, gun positions, and railway junctions.
On 21 June 1944, Colonel Archie J. Old Jr., commanding officer of the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, served as the task force commander of a shuttle bombing mission to the Soviet Union. The task force raided a synthetic oil plant just south of Berlin, and then proceeded to Poltava
in the Soviet Union, where a large number of the 45th's bombers were destroyed on the ground during a raid by German bomber and fighter aircraft. The surviving bombers bombed an oil plant at Drohobycz, Poland, while returning from Poltava to Foggia, Italy. Shortly before the German surrender, in late April 1945, the wing flew five "Chow Hound" mercy missions, dropping food and other supplies to the people in occupied Holland. After the German surrender on 8 May 1945, it helped transport displaced Europeans back to their respective native countries.
Reactivated an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command
in October 1954, the 45th Air Division assumed responsibility for the training and combat readiness of its assigned units. It achieved this goal through staff assistance visits and supervising or participating in exercises such as Golden Hour Tango, Rubber Ball, and Sky Shield.
Inactivated in June 1989 due to budget constraints and the reduction of forces after the end of the Cold War
.
Groups
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, stationed at Pease AFB, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. It was inactivated on 14 June 1989.
History
As the 45th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one of the primary B-17 Flying Fortress heavy strategic bombardment wings of the Eighth Air ForceEighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
3d Bombardment Division in World War II. Groups from the wing began bombing operations against German occupied Europe on 14 September 1943. Its bombers attacked targets in such German cities as Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Emden
Emden
Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
, Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, Ludwigshafen, Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
, Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
, Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...
, and Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
. In June 1944 the 45th supported the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, with tactical missions, against enemy airdromes, airfields, bridges, coastal defenses, field batteries, gun positions, and railway junctions.
On 21 June 1944, Colonel Archie J. Old Jr., commanding officer of the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, served as the task force commander of a shuttle bombing mission to the Soviet Union. The task force raided a synthetic oil plant just south of Berlin, and then proceeded to Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
in the Soviet Union, where a large number of the 45th's bombers were destroyed on the ground during a raid by German bomber and fighter aircraft. The surviving bombers bombed an oil plant at Drohobycz, Poland, while returning from Poltava to Foggia, Italy. Shortly before the German surrender, in late April 1945, the wing flew five "Chow Hound" mercy missions, dropping food and other supplies to the people in occupied Holland. After the German surrender on 8 May 1945, it helped transport displaced Europeans back to their respective native countries.
Reactivated an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
in October 1954, the 45th Air Division assumed responsibility for the training and combat readiness of its assigned units. It achieved this goal through staff assistance visits and supervising or participating in exercises such as Golden Hour Tango, Rubber Ball, and Sky Shield.
Inactivated in June 1989 due to budget constraints and the reduction of forces after the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
lineage
- Established as 45th Bombardment Wing (Medium) on 15 February 1943
- Activated on 1 April 1943
- Redesignated: 45th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 6 April 1943
- Redesignated: 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 30 August 1943
- Redesignated: 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 24 August 1944
- Disestablished on 18 June 1945
- Reestablished, and redesignated 45th Air Division, on 24 September 1954
- Activated on 8 October 1954
- Inactivated on 18 January 1958
- Activated on 20 November 1958
- Inactivated on 15 June 1989
Assignments
- Third Air ForceThird Air ForceThe Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
, 1 April 1943-c. 5 August 1943 - Eighth Air ForceEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, c. 25 August 1943 - 3d Bombardment Division, (by 18 August 1944)-18 June 1945
- Eighth Air ForceEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, 8 October 1954 – 18 January 1958; 20 November 1958 - Second Air ForceSecond Air ForceThe Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
, 31 March 1970 - Eighth Air ForceEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, 1 January 1975 – 15 June 1989.
Components
Wings- 17th Bombardment Wing: 2 July 1969 – 30 June 1971
- 42d Bombardment Wing: 8 October 1954 – 18 January 1958; l December 1958 – 29 March 1989
- 95th Strategic Wing: 2 October 1966 – 30 September 1976
- 99th Bombardment Wing: 30 June 1971 – 31 March 1974
- 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing (later, 380th Bombardment) Wing: 1 July 1968 – 2 July 1969; 30 June 1971 – 29 March 1989
- 702d Strategic Missile Wing: 1 January 1959 – 25 June 1961
- 416th Bombardment Wing416th Bombardment WingThe 416th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Air Combat Command, being stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 30 September 1995....
: 2 July 1969 – 30 June 1971; 1 July 1973 – 1 December 1982 - 509th Bombardment Wing: 30 June 1971 – 9 March 1989
- 4081st Strategic Wing4081st Strategic WingThe 4081st Strategic Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit, being inactivated on 25 June 1966.The 4081st SW was a non-flying ground service support element for the for the Strategic Air Command Eighth Air Force, 45th Air Division, based at Ernest Harmon AFB, Newfoundland and Labrador,...
: 1 January 1959 – 25 June 1966 - 4082d Strategic Wing: 1 January 1959 – 2 October 1966.
Groups
- 34th Bombardment Group, 24 May-18 June 1945
- 96th Bombardment Group, 13 September 1943 – 11 December 1945
- 388th Bombardment Group, 8 January 1944 – 5 August 1945
- 452d Bombardment Group, 8 January 1944 – 5 August 1945
Stations
- MacDill Field, Florida, 1 April – 4 August 1943
- Brampton Grange (AAF-102), England, c. 25 August 1943
- RAF Snetterton HeathRAF Snetterton HeathRAF Snetterton Heath is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located on the A11, 6 miles SW of Attleborough in Norfolk.-Overview:...
(AAF-138), England, 13 September 1943 – 18 June 1945 - Loring AFB, MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, 8 October 1954 – 18 January 1958; 20 November 1958 - Pease AFB, New HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, 30 June 1971 – 15 June 1989
Aircraft and Missiles
- B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943 – 1945.
- B-36 PeacemakerConvair B-36The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built , although there have...
, 1954 – 1956; - KC-97 StratotankerKC-97 StratotankerThe Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker was a United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.-Design and development:...
, 1955 – 1957; - B-52 StratofortressB-52 StratofortressThe Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...
, 1956 – 1958; - KC-135 StratotankerKC-135 StratotankerThe Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an aerial refueling military aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype. The KC-135 was the US Air Force's first jet-powered refueling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratotanker...
, 1957 – 1958.
- B-52 Stratofortress, 1958 – 1989;
- KC-135 Stratotanker, 1958 – 1989;
- Snark (SM-62)SM-62 Snark-External links:** Air Force Magazine article about a Snark that was test-fired and rumored to have been found in Brazil** detailed article on Snark and the USAF school to train personnel for it...
, 1959 – 1961; - FB-111 Aardvark, 1971 – 1989.