The 44th Air Division, Bombardment was redesignated as a division on 16 April 1948, when it was at Brooks Field (later,

Brooks Air Force Base Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio. In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developm ...

), Texas, under the

14th Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...

, then transferred to the

12th Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

on 1 July 1948.

History

World War II

The unit started as the 44th Bombardment Wing, conducting medium bomber training in the United States. It deployed to the European Theater of Operations in the summer of 1943, but before it could being combat operations, was redesignated in November 1943 as the 99th Bombardment Wing and assigned to the new IX Bomber Command, the medium bombardment component of the revamped

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 D ...

. Its subordinate units attacked enemy airfields in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands between December 1943 and February 1944. Beginning in March 1944, they bombed rail road and highway bridges, oil tanks, and missile sites in preparation for the

invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

. Its subordinate units supported the Allied offensive at

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, France, and the breakthrough at

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

. On 16 December 1944, during a period of poor flying weather, the Germans launched a major offensive, known as the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

, in the Ardennes Forest. When the weather cleared, 99th BW units bombed supply points, communication centres, bridges, marshalling yards, roads, and oil storage tanks.

Air Force Reserve

The wing was reactivated as a reserve unit under

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

(ADC) on 26 June 1947 at Brooks Field, Texas (later

. In 1948, when the regular Air Force implemented the wing base organization system, the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, along with other multi-base reserve wings was redesignated as an air division. The same year

Continental Air Command Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary aug ...

assumed responsibility for managing reserve and

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

units from ADC. The 44th was inactivated when Continental Air Command reorganized in June 1949 in response to President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget that required reductions in the number of unit (groups – 48) in the Air Force.Knaack, p. 25 Performed bombing operations in Europe until

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

Lineage

* Established as the 44th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 15 February 1943 * Activated on 1 March 1943 * Redesignated 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) on 2 November 1943 * Redesignated 99th Combat Bombardment Wing, Medium on 13 August 1944 * Redesignated 99th Bombardment Wing, Medium on 16 June 1945 * Inactivated on 4 October 1945 * Redesignated 44th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 27 May 1947 and allotted to the reserve. * Activated on 26 June 1947 * Redesignated 44th Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948 * Inactivated on 27 June 1949

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 ...

, 1 March 1943 *

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

, c.28 July 1943 *

VIII Air Support Command The VIII Air Support Command is a disbanded United States Army Air Forces unit. It was assigned to Eighth Air Force throughout its existence, and it was last stationed at Sunninghill Park, England, where it was disbanded on 1 December 1943. VII ...

, c.28 September 1943 * IX Bomber Command (later, 9 Bombardment Division, 9th Air Division), c. November 1943–16 September 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 ...

, Port of Embarkation, 17 September 1945 – 4 October 1945 *

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 Carswel ...

, 26 June 1947 *

Fourteenth Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...

, 1 July 1948 *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

, 12 January 1949 – 27 June 1949

Components

* Ninth Air Force : 322d Bombardment Group: 16 October 1943 – 15 September 1945 (B-26 Marauder) : 344th Bombardment Group: c.28 February 1944–c.30 April 1945 :

386th Bombardment Group 386th may refer to: *386th Air Expeditionary Wing, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Central * 386th Fighter Squadron or 174th Air Refueling Squadron, unit of the Iowa Air National Guard 185th Air Refueli ...

: 16 October 1943 – 27 July 1945 (B-26 Marauder) :

391st Bombardment Group 391st may refer to: * 391st Bombardment Group, non-flying unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, stationed at Horsham Air National Guard Station * 391st Bombardment Squadron, part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florid ...

: 25 January 1944 – 27 July 1945 (B-26 Marauder) * 394th Bombardment Group: c.22 January 1945 – 30 November 1945 * United States Air Force Reserve : 312th Bombardment Group: 30 July 1947 – 27 June 1949 : 401st Bombardment Group: 1947–1949 : 447th Bombardment Group: 1947–1949

Stations

* Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah, 1 March 1943 *

Biggs Field Biggs Army Airfield (formerly Biggs Air Force Base) is a United States Army military airbase located on the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. History Biggs Field/Biggs Army Airfield (1916–47) On 15 June 1919, following an attack b ...

, Texas, 14 May 1943 – 4 July 1943 *

RAF Aldermaston Royal Air Force Aldermaston, or more simply RAF Aldermaston, is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located east of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury, Berkshire and southwest of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Ber ...

(AAF-467), United Kingdom, 28 July 1943 *

RAF Great Dunmow {{Infobox military installation , name = RAF Great DunmowRAF Little EastonUSAAF Station AAF-164 , ensign = , ensign_size = , native_name = , partof = , location = Bishops Stortford, Essex , nearest_town = , country = England , im ...

(AAF-164), United Kingdom, 12 November 1943 * Beaumont sur Oise Airfield (A-60), 25 September 1944 * Tirlemont (

Tienen Tienen (; ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Viss ...

), Belgium, 27 April 1945 * Namur Airfield, Belgium, 1 July 1945–c.8 August 1945 *

Camp Myles Standish Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts, during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their ...

, Massachusetts, 3 October 1945 – 4 October 1945 * Brooks Field (later

, Texas, 26 June 1947 – 27 June 1949

Aircraft

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 ...

, 1943–1945 *

Douglas A-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and attack aircraft, ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during ...

, 1944–1945 *

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired 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 Bo ...

, 1948–1949

Service streamers

This unit earned the following organizational service streamers: * World War II: European African Middle Eastern (EAME) Theater

Commanders

* Unknown, 1 March 1943 – 11 November 1943
Brigadier General Herbert B. Thatcher
12 November 1943 * Colonel Reginald F. C. Vance, 7 November 1944 * Major Charles F. Salter, 1 July 1945 * Lieutenant Colonel William W. Brier, 13 July 1945 * Brigadier General Richard C. Sanders, 12 August 1945– c.4 October 1945 * Unknown, 26 June 1947 – 27 June 1949

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{cite book, last=Knaack, first=Marcelle Size, title=Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems, volume=2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973, year= 1988 , publisher= Office of Air Force History, location= Washington, DC, isbn=0-912799-59-5 044