The 4th Air Division 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. Its last assignment was with

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Forc ...

, stationed at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It was inactivated on 23 August 1988. As the 4th Bombardment Wing, the unit was one of the primary

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

heavy strategic bombardment wings of

VIII Bomber Command 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

(later

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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the 4th Air Division' was an intermediate command echelon of

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 ...

, controlling strategic bombardment and intercontinental strategic missile wings until inactivated in 1988.

History

The 4th Bombardment Wing moved to England in June 1943 and as a part of

began bombing operations against German occupied Europe. Targets included shipyards, synthetic rubber plants, chemical plants, marshalling yards, and oil facilities. In July the wing grew to seven combat groups, which resulted in a reorganization of its groups on 13 September 1943 into the

3d Bombardment Division 3D, 3-D, 3d, or Three D may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics * A three-dimensional space in mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geome ...

as a new higher echelon over the 4th and two wings which had groups assigned for the first time: the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

and 45th Combat Bomb Wings. The 4th CBW administratively controlled only two groups until December 1943, when the newly arrived 447th BG was assigned to it. In 1944, some subordinate units attacked coastline defenses and marshalling yards in preparation for the Allied invasion of France. Some units supported ground troops during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945) and the assault across the Rhine (March 1945 – April 1945). In the postwar years, the command was part of

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 ...

assigned as a reserve wing assigned to

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission i ...

from 1946 to 1949. Rectivated in 1951 as an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command, the 4th Air Division was part of

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 ...

, controlling

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), 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 ...

Boeing B-50 Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is a retired American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin ...

and

B-47 The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long- range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...

wings. In 1962, units controlled by the 4th Air Division supported 2d Air Force's post attack command and control system, and became responsible for the Advanced Airborne Command Post. It participated in the 1962

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

and trained in electronic countermeasures and conducted combat operations in Southeast Asia in the late 1960s. Reassigned to SAC's

in 1970, the 4th assured that assigned units were capable of conducting strategic aerospace warfare using intercontinental ballistic missiles, long-range bombardment, and air refueling resources, according to the Emergency War Order. In addition, the division assumed airborne command and control responsibilities that consisted of supporting auxiliary airborne command post aircraft. Inactivated in 1988 as a result of budget reductions and a consolidation of SAC's command and control echelons.

Lineage

* Established as the 4th Bombardment Wing on 19 October 1940 : Activated on 18 December 1940 : Inactivated on 1 October 1941 * Activated on 7 June 1942 : Redesignated 4th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 30 August 1943 : Redesignated 4th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 24 August 1944 : Disestablished on 18 June 1945 * Reestablished and redesignated 4th Bombardment Wing, Light on 31 December 1946 : Activated in the Reserve on 20 December 1946 : Redesignated 4th Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948 : Inactivated on 27 June 1949 * Redesignated 4th Air Division on 1 February 1951 : Organized on 10 February 1951 : Discontinued on 16 June 1952 * Activated on 16 June 1952 : Redesignated 4th Strategic Aerospace Division on 1 September 1964 : Redesignated 4th Strategic Missile Division on 30 June 1971 : Redesignated 4th Air Division on 1 March 1973 : Inactivated on 23 August 1988

Assignments

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 ...

, 18 December 1940 – 1 October 1941 : Apparently further assigned to

Northeast Air District The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission i ...

(later, First Air Force) c. 16 January 1941 *

, 7 June 1942 *

, 13 September 1943 – 18 June 1945 *

, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949 *

, 16 June 1952 *

, 31 March 1970 – 23 August 1988

Components

Wings * 2d Bombardment Wing: 1 April 1963 – 1 September 1964 *

28th Bombardment Wing The 28th Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Eighth Air Force (8 AF) of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) and is stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The wing is also the "host unit" at Ellswort ...

: 15 January 1973 – 1 May 1982 * 44th Strategic Missile Wing: 30 June 1971 – 1 May 1982; 23 January 1987 – 15 July 1988 *

55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing The 55th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. The wing is primarily stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, but maintains one of its groups and associated squadrons at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ari ...

: 1 October 1976 – 1 April 1980 *

90th Strategic Missile Wing 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

: 30 June 1971 – 23 August 1988 * 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (later 91st Strategic Missile Wing): 10 February – 11 September 1951; 30 June 1971 – 30 November 1972 *

92d Strategic Aerospace Wing 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

: 31 March 1970 – 30 June 1971 * 97th Bombardment Wing: 1 July 1959 – 1 July 1963 * 301st Bombardment Wing (later 301st Air Refueling Wing): 10 February 1951 – 15 April 1958 (detached 3 December 1951 – c. 4 March 1953; c. 10 February-c. 17 April 1954); 5 January – 23 August 1988 * 319th Bombardment Wing: 1 September 1964 – 30 June 1971; 15 January 1973 – 22 January 1975; 1 May 1982 – 23 January 1987 * 321st Strategic Missile Wing: 1 November 1964 – 22 January 1975; 1 May 1982 – 23 January 1987 * 340th Bombardment Wing: 1 September 1963 – 1 September 1964 (detached c. 1–31 August 1964). 321 Strategic Missile: 1 November 1964 – 22 January 1975; 1 May 1982 – 23 January 1987 * 341st Strategic Missile Wing: 30 June 1971 – 15 January 1973; 23 January 1987 – 23 August 1988 * 351st Strategic Missile Wing: 30 June 1971 – 1 July 1973 *

376th Bombardment Wing 376th may refer to: *376th Air Expeditionary Wing, inactive wing of the United States Air Force, last stationed at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyz Republic *376th Air Refueling Squadron, inactive United States Air Force un ...

: 1 June 1951 – 3 December 1957 (detached 1 June – 10 October 1951) * 401st Provisional Combat Bommbardment Wing: 6 June – 14 September 1943 *

410th Bombardment Wing The United States Air Force's 410th Air Expeditionary Wing (410 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command (ACC) It may be activated or inactivated at any time. The unit was known to be active during the 2 ...

: 1 September 1964 – 31 March 1970 *

454th Bombardment Wing The 454th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 42d Air Division of Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It was inactivated on 25 July 1969. The wing's predece ...

: 1 February – 1 July 1963 *

494th Bombardment Wing 494th may refer to: *494th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 494th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit * 494th Fighter Squadron (494 FS), part of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England See ...

: 1 July 1963 – 1 July 1964 * 4130th Strategic Wing: 1 July-l September 1963 * 4228th Strategic Wing: 1 July 1958 – 1 February 1963 * 4238th Strategic Wing: 1 March 1958 – 1 April 1963 Groups * 34th Bombardment Group: 18 August-c. 1 October 1941 *

43d Bombardment Group The Poor Relief Act 1601 ( 43 Eliz. 1. c. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England. The act, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, the "43rd Elizabeth", or the "Old Poor Law", was passed in 1601 and created a poor law system for Engl ...

: August-5 September 1941 * 94th Bombardment Group: 13 June 1943 – 6 January 1945 *

95th Bombardment Group 95 or 95th may refer to: * 95 (number) * one of the years 95 BC, AD 95, 1995, 2095, etc. * 95th Division (disambiguation) * 95th Regiment ** 95th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) * 95th Squadron (disambiguation) * Atomic number 95: americium * I ...

: July-13 September 1943 * 96th Bombardment Group: c. May-c. September 1943 * 100th Bombardment Group: 6 June 1943 – 1 January 1944 * 319th Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949 *

320th 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 and cultural significance in many societies ...

: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949 *

385th Bombardment Group 385th may refer to: *385th Air Expeditionary Group, constituted as the 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 25 November 1942 Activated on 1 December 1942 *385th Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *385th Infantry Division (Wehrmac ...

: c. June 1943-c. August 1945 *

388th Bombardment Group 388th may refer to: * 388th Electronic Combat Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 388th Fighter Squadron or 132nd Fighter Wing (132d W), United States Air Force unit assigned to the Iowa Air National Guard, located at Des Moines Inter ...

: c. July 1943-c. August 1945 *

390th Bombardment Group 39 may refer to: * 39 (number) * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * '39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Almost Heathen'' ...

: c. July-13 September 1943 * 447th Bombardment Group: c. November 1943-c. June 1945 * 486th Bombardment Group: c. January-c. June 1945 * 487th Bombardment Group: c. January-c. August 1945 Squadron *

376th Air Refueling Squadron The 376th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4081st Strategic Wing at Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, where it was inactivated in June 1966. History World War II Estab ...

: 1 June 1951 – 20 May 1952; 1 December 1957 – 15 April 1958

Stations

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People and fictional characters *Mitchell (surname), including lists of both people and fictional characters *Mitchell (given name), lists of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Ca ...

, New York, 18 December 1940 *

Westover Field Westover may refer to: People *Al Westover (born 1954), American professional basketball player in Australia * Arthur Westover (1864–1935), Canadian sport shooter and 1908 Olympian *Charles Westover (1934–1990), better known as Del Shannon, Ame ...

, Massachusetts, 20 March – 1 October 1941; 7 June 1942 *

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English language, English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German ...

, District of Columbia, c. 28 July c. 28 August 1942 *

RAF High Wycombe Royal Air Force High Wycombe or more simply RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It houses Headquarters Air Command, and was originally designed ...

(Camp Lynn) (AAF-101), England, 12 September 1942 * Marks Hall (AAF-160), England, 18 January 1943 * Camp Blainey, England, June 1943 * RAF Bury St Edmunds (AAF-468), England, 13 September 1943 – 18 June 1945 * Mitchel Field, New York, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949 *

Barksdale Air Force Base Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, in northwest Louisiana. Much of the base is within the city limits of Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwest ...

, Louisiana, 10 February 1951 16 June 1952; 16 June 1952 – 1 September 1964 *

Grand Forks Air Force Base Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado, North Dakota, Emerado and west of Grand Forks, North Dakota, Grand Forks. The host unit is the 319th Air Base ...

, North Dakota, 1 September 1964 * Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, 30 June 1971 – 23 August 1988

Aircraft and missiles

A-29 Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and pri ...

1941 *

B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Airc ...

1941 * LB-30 1941 * B-17 Flying Fortress 1943–1945 * B/RB-45 Tornado 1951 * RB-50 Superfortress 1951 *

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), 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 ...

1951 – 1952, 1952–1954 * KB-29 Superfortress 1951 – 1952, 1952–1953 *

B-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long- range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...

1953 – 1958 *

KC-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Design and developm ...

1953 – 1958 * B/E/EB-47 Stratojet 1954 – 1957 *

RB-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. ...

1958 *

B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...

1959 – 1988 *

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

1959 – 1988 * LGM-30A Minuteman I 1963 – 1974 *

LGM-30F Minuteman II The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G (Version 3) is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and represents th ...

1965 – 1988 * LGM 30G Minuteman III 1971 – 1972 1973 – 1988 *

C-135 Stratolifter The Boeing C-135 Stratolifter is a transport aircraft derived from the prototype Boeing 367-80 jet airliner''Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1963–1964''. p. 183 (also the basis for the 707) in the early 1950s. It has a narrower fuselage and i ...

1977 – 1980 * E-4 Nightwatch 1977 – 1980 * EC-135 Looking Glass 1977 – 1982 *

RC-135 Rivet Joint The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies, including General Dynamics, Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed, Ling-Temco-Vought, LTV, E-Systems, L3Harris Technologies, and us ...

1977 – 1980 *

LGM-118A Peacekeeper The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1986 to 2005. The missile could carry up to eleven Mar ...

1986 – 1988

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{USAAF 8th Air Force UK

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * La ...

Division 0004 1940 establishments in New York (state) 1988 disestablishments in Wyoming