The 3918th Strategic Wing (3918th SW) is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

unit, discontinued on 31 March 1965. The 3918th SW was a ground service support element for the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was 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 compon ...

7th Air Division The 7th Air Division (7 AD) served the United States Air Force with distinction from early 1944 through early 1992, earning an outstanding unit decoration and a service streamer along the way. History Hawaii As the 7th Fighter Wing, the divis ...

(AD), stationed at

RAF Upper Heyford Royal Air Force Upper Heyford or more simply RAF Upper Heyford is a former Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. In the World War II, Second W ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, in the United Kingdom. It was upgraded to

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 ...

status on 1 February 1964 and discontinued on 31 March 1965. Throughout most of its existence it was controlled by

, under the

(AD) and stationed at RAF Upper Heyford. The wing provided host station support functions primarily for SAC B/RB-36 Peacemaker, B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortess, & KC-97 Tanker Wing and Support Elements deployed to Upper Heyford during Operation Reflex deployments from United States bases. In addition to its assigned units, the 1st Aviation Field Depot Squadron (later 1st Aviation Depot Squadron) and the 11th Aviation Depot Squadron (later 11th Munitions Maintenance Squadron), which were assigned to 7th AD and attached to the wing and were responsible for the control of nuclear weapons ("special weapons") at Upper Heyford. It was inactivated in 1965 and replaced by USAFE's 7514th Combat Support Group (CSG) as the host base operating unit when SAC turned control over Upper Heyford to the

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. Detachment 1, 98th Strategic Wing assumed the SAC mission.

Lineage

* Designated as the 7509th Air Base Squadron and organized on 7 July 1950 * Redesignated as 7509th Air Base Group on 25 May 1951 * Transferred from USAFE to SAC on 1 January 1952 and redesignated 3918th Air Base Group * Redesignated 3918th Combat Support Group on 1 May 1959 * Redesignated 3918th Strategic Wing on 1 May 1964 * Discontinued on 31 March 1965

Assignments

3d Air Division The 3rd Air Division (3d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 April 1992. Th ...

, 7 July 1950 *

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a Numbered Air Force, 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 ...

, 1 May 1951 *

Seventh Air Division The 7th Air Division (7 AD) served the United States Air Force with distinction from early 1944 through early 1992, earning an outstanding unit decoration and a service streamer along the way. History Hawaii As the 7th Fighter Wing, the divis ...

, 1 January 1952 – 31 March 1965

Station

* RAF Upper Heyford 7 July 1950 – 31 March 1965Until 18 December 1955, the station name was Upper Heyford RAF, Fletcher, p. 131

Components

* 3918th Air Base Squadron (later 3918th Support Squadron), 1 January 1959 – 31 March 1965 * 3918th Combat Defense Squadron, 1 July 1962 – 31 March 1965 * 3918th Field Maintenance Squadron (later 3918th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron), 15 October 1955 – 31 March 1965 * 7509th Air Police Squadron (later 3918th Air Police Squadron), 25 May 1951 – 1 January 1959 * 7509th Food Service Squadron (later 3918th Food Service Squadron), 25 May 1951 – 1 January 1959 * 7509th Installations Squadron (later 3918th Installations Squadron, 3918th Civil Engineering Squadron), 25 May 1951 – 31 March 1965 * 7509th Medical Squadron (later 3918th Medical Squadron, 3918th USAF Infirmary, 3918th USAF Dispensary), 25 May 1951 – 31 Mar 1965 * 7509th Motor Vehicle Squadron (later 3918th Motor Vehicle Squadron, 3918th Transportation Squadron), 25 May 1951 – 31 Mar 1965 * 7509th Operations Squadron (later 3918th Operations Squadron), 25 May 1951 – 31 Mar 1965 * 7509th Supply Squadron (later 3918th Supply Squadron), 25 May 1951 – 31 Mar 1965

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{Strategic Air Command Strategic wings of the United States Air Force Major command controlled wings of the United States Air Force Military units and formations disestablished in 1965