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462d Air Expeditionary Group
The 462d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed to meet operational requirements. Its last assignment was at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.
The unit began during World War II when the United States Army Air Forces activated the 462d Bombardment Group as one of the first Boeing B-29 Superfortress units in 1943. It served in the Pacific Ocean Theater and China Burma India Theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The group bombed Japan as part of the strategic bombing campaign. It earned three Distinguished Unit Citations. It returned to the United States in November 1945 and was inactivated in March 1946.
In 1962 the 462d Strategic Aerospace Wing was activated by Strategic Air Command (SAC) to perpetuate the lineage of inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records. It conducted strategic bombardment training operations flying Boeing B-52D Stratofortresses and maintained intercontinental ballistic missile readiness with LGM-25 Titan I missiles to meet SAC commitments. The wing served as a deterrent force and also supported SAC's global mission until inactivated in 1966 due to the closing of Larson Air Force Base.
The group and wing were consolidated into a single unit in 1984, remaining in inactive status. In 2002, the consolidated unit was converted to provisional status as the 462d Air Expeditionary Group and assigned to Air Mobility Command, which activated the group at Diego Garcia. Its inactivation date has not been determined.
The 462d Bombardment Group was constituted on 15 May 1943 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress group and activated on 1 July at Smoky Hill Army Air Field near Salinas, Kansas. It was originally assigned the 768th, 769th, 770th, and 771st Bombardment Squadrons. On 28 July it moved to Walker Army Air Field in Kansas where the group engaged in training on the new aircraft and its new mission. The 462d was assigned to the first Superfortress wing, the 58th Bombardment Wing.
In March 1944, the group left the United States and deployed via Africa to Piardoba Airfield, a former Consolidated B-24 Liberator airfield in India, arriving on 7 April. In India, the group was assigned to the XX Bomber Command of the new Twentieth Air Force. During the week of 15–22 April, no fewer than five 58th Bombardment Wing B-29s crashed near Karachi all from overheated engines. The entire wing had to be grounded en route until the cause was found. The cause was traced to the fact that the B-29's R-3350 engine had not been designed to operate at ground temperatures higher than 115 °F (46 °C), which were typically exceeded in India. Modifications had also to be made to the aircraft and after these modifications, B-29 flights to India were resumed.[citation needed]
From India, the 462d Bomb Group planned to fly missions against Japan from airfields in China. However, all the supplies of fuel, bombs, and spares needed to support the forward bases in China had to be flown in from India over The Hump (the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains), since Japanese control of the seas around the Chinese coast made seaborne supply of China impossible. Many of the supplies had to be delivered to China by the B-29s themselves. For this role, they were stripped of nearly all combat equipment and used as flying tankers and each carried seven tons of fuel. The Hump route was so dangerous and difficult that each time a B-29 flew from India to China it was counted as a combat mission.[citation needed]
The first combat mission by the group took place on 5 June 1944 when squadrons of the 462d took off from India to attack the Makasan railroad yards at Bangkok, Thailand. This involved a 2261-mile round trip, the longest bombing mission yet attempted during the war.[citation needed]
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462d Air Expeditionary Group
The 462d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed to meet operational requirements. Its last assignment was at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.
The unit began during World War II when the United States Army Air Forces activated the 462d Bombardment Group as one of the first Boeing B-29 Superfortress units in 1943. It served in the Pacific Ocean Theater and China Burma India Theater of World War II as part of Twentieth Air Force. The group bombed Japan as part of the strategic bombing campaign. It earned three Distinguished Unit Citations. It returned to the United States in November 1945 and was inactivated in March 1946.
In 1962 the 462d Strategic Aerospace Wing was activated by Strategic Air Command (SAC) to perpetuate the lineage of inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records. It conducted strategic bombardment training operations flying Boeing B-52D Stratofortresses and maintained intercontinental ballistic missile readiness with LGM-25 Titan I missiles to meet SAC commitments. The wing served as a deterrent force and also supported SAC's global mission until inactivated in 1966 due to the closing of Larson Air Force Base.
The group and wing were consolidated into a single unit in 1984, remaining in inactive status. In 2002, the consolidated unit was converted to provisional status as the 462d Air Expeditionary Group and assigned to Air Mobility Command, which activated the group at Diego Garcia. Its inactivation date has not been determined.
The 462d Bombardment Group was constituted on 15 May 1943 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress group and activated on 1 July at Smoky Hill Army Air Field near Salinas, Kansas. It was originally assigned the 768th, 769th, 770th, and 771st Bombardment Squadrons. On 28 July it moved to Walker Army Air Field in Kansas where the group engaged in training on the new aircraft and its new mission. The 462d was assigned to the first Superfortress wing, the 58th Bombardment Wing.
In March 1944, the group left the United States and deployed via Africa to Piardoba Airfield, a former Consolidated B-24 Liberator airfield in India, arriving on 7 April. In India, the group was assigned to the XX Bomber Command of the new Twentieth Air Force. During the week of 15–22 April, no fewer than five 58th Bombardment Wing B-29s crashed near Karachi all from overheated engines. The entire wing had to be grounded en route until the cause was found. The cause was traced to the fact that the B-29's R-3350 engine had not been designed to operate at ground temperatures higher than 115 °F (46 °C), which were typically exceeded in India. Modifications had also to be made to the aircraft and after these modifications, B-29 flights to India were resumed.[citation needed]
From India, the 462d Bomb Group planned to fly missions against Japan from airfields in China. However, all the supplies of fuel, bombs, and spares needed to support the forward bases in China had to be flown in from India over The Hump (the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains), since Japanese control of the seas around the Chinese coast made seaborne supply of China impossible. Many of the supplies had to be delivered to China by the B-29s themselves. For this role, they were stripped of nearly all combat equipment and used as flying tankers and each carried seven tons of fuel. The Hump route was so dangerous and difficult that each time a B-29 flew from India to China it was counted as a combat mission.[citation needed]
The first combat mission by the group took place on 5 June 1944 when squadrons of the 462d took off from India to attack the Makasan railroad yards at Bangkok, Thailand. This involved a 2261-mile round trip, the longest bombing mission yet attempted during the war.[citation needed]