The 98th Bombardment Wing is an inactive

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 ...

unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Force Reserve, based at Bedford Field,

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. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949.

History

As the 3d Wing, the unit was one of the original wings of the

GHQ Air Force The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

on 1 March 1935. It was formed in Texas, reassigned to

Barksdale Field Barksdale may refer to: Places * Barksdale, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Barksdale, Texas, an unincorporated community * Barksdale, Wisconsin, a town ** Barksdale (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community *Barksdale Air Forc ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

. Performed peacetime training operations. Assigned to MacDill Field,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, 1940 and assigned to USAAC

Southeast Air District The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

, becoming part of

III Bomber Command The III Bomber Command is a disbanded United States Air Force headquarters. It was established in September 1941, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor to command bomber units assigned to 3rd Air Force. Following the entry of the United St ...

just prior to World War II. It was deployed to England and was reassigned to

VIII Bomber Command 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 ...

in June 1942 as a medium Bomber command and control organization component units being equipped with

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 was redesignated as the 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) in November 1943. The wing was reassigned to

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 ...

when 9th was reformed in England as tactical air force to support ground forces in upcoming invasion of France. Performed combat operations supporting allied ground forces 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, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...

It served postwar as an Air Force reserve unit, 1947–1949.

Lineage

* Authorized on the inactive list as 3d Wing on 24 March 1923 : Redesignated as: 3d Attack Wing in 1929 : Activated on 15 June 1932 : Redesignated as 3d Wing in 1935 : Redesignated 3d Bombardment Wing in 1940 : Inactivated on 5 September 1941 * Activated on 7 June 1942 : Redesignated as: 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) in November 1943 : Redesignated as: 98th Bombardment Wing (Medium) in June 1945 : Inactivated on 27 November 1945. * Redesignated 3d Bombardment Wing (Light) and allotted to the reserve : Activated on 20 December 1946 : Redesignated 3d Air Division (Bombardment) in April 1948 : Inactivated on 27 June 1949

Assignments

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

, 15 June 1932 *

General Headquarters Air Force The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, 1 March 1935 *

, 2 October 1940 *

, 5 September 1941 *

, 7 June 1942 *

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. ...

, 1943Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 445-446 * IX Bomber Command, 16 October 1943 – 27 November 1945 * United States Air Force Reserve, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949

Stations

Fort Crockett Fort Crockett is a government reservation on Galveston Island overlooking the Gulf of Mexico originally built as a defense installation to protect the city and harbor of Galveston and to secure the entrance to Galveston Bay, thus protecting the c ...

, Texas, 15 June 1932 *

, 27 February 1935 * MacDill Field, Florida, 2 October 1940 – 5 September 1941 *

Detrick Field Fort Detrick () is a United States Army Futures Command installation located in Frederick, Maryland. Historically, Fort Detrick was the center of the U.S. biological weapons program from 1943 to 1969. Since the discontinuation of that program, i ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, 7 June–August 1942 * Elvedon Hall (AAF-116), England, c. 12 September 1942 * Marks Hall (AAF-160), England, 12 June 1943 *

RAF Earls Colne Earls Colne Airfield is a general aviation aerodrome located south-east of the village of Earls Colne, Essex, England. The site was previously RAF Earls Colne, a Royal Air Force station which was primilarly used by the United States Army Air For ...

(AAF-358), England, November 1943 *

RAF Beaulieu Royal Air Force Beaulieu or more simply RAF Beaulieu is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408. It is located next to the vi ...

(AAF-408), England, 18 July – 19 August 1944 *

Lessay Airfield Lessay Airport is a regional airport in Lessay, Normandy, France. It supports general aviation with no scheduled commercial airline services. History The airport was built in August 1944 as a United States Army Air Force Ninth Air Force Adva ...

(A-20), France, 23 August 1944 *

Chartres Airfield Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as def ...

(A-40), France, 24 September 1944 *

Laon/Athies Airfield Laon-Athies Air Base is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the city of Laon in the Aisne department of France. Its history begins before World War II, when it was originally a grass civil airdrome. During the German occu ...

(A-69), France, 3 October 1944 *

Havrincourt Havrincourt () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in Hauts-de-France in France. The inhabitants are called ''Havrincourtois''. Situation The village lies about 14 kilometres south-west of Cambrai near the Havrincourt service area on ...

, France, 1 February 1945 *

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 ...

(Y-55),

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, c. 3 May 1945 *

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) 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 ...

, Belgium, c. July 1945 * AAF Station Kitzingen, Germany, August 1945 * Namur Airfield, Belgium, c. October–November 1945 * Bedford Field,

, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949

Components

* GHQ Air Force (Air Force Combat Command, 1941) :

3d Bombardment Group 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

: 1932–1940 :

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 ...

: 1941 : 10th Pursuit Group: 1932–1939 :

29th Bombardment Group 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

: 1940–1941 : 44th Bombardment Group: 1941 * VIII Bomber Command :

322d Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

: 1 December 1942 – 16 October 1943 :

323d Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many soci ...

: 1 May – 16 October 1943 :

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 Refuelin ...

: 3 June – 16 October 1943 :

387th Bombardment Group 387th may refer to: * 387th Air Expeditionary Group (387 AEG) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait * 387th EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Company, part of the ...

: 25 June – 16 October 1943 * Ninth Air Force :

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

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

394th Bombardment Group The 106th Rescue Wing (106th RQW) is a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air ...

: 11 March 1944 – September 1945 (B-26 Marauder) : 397th Bombardment Group: 15 April 1944 – November 1945 (B-26 Marauder) : 305th Bombardment Group: 1945 (B-17 Flying Fortress) :

306th Bombardment Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

: 1945 (B-17 Flying Fortress) * Air Force Reserve :

310th Bombardment Group 31 may refer to: * 31 (number) Years * 31 BC * AD 31 * 1931 CE ('31) * 2031 CE ('31) Music * ''Thirty One'' (Jana Kramer album), 2015 * ''Thirty One'' (Jarryd James album), 2015 * "Thirty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album '' ...

: 1947–1949 : 341st Bombardment Group: 1947–1949

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. {{DEFAULTSORT:98th Bombardment Wing (World War Ii) Military units and formations established in 1923 098