A bombardment group or bomb group was a unit of organizational command and control

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

of the

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 ...

(USAAF) during

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 ...

. A bombardment group was normally commanded by a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. The table of allowances (TOA) for personnel, aircraft and equipment grew steadily over the course of the war doubling from 35 aircraft in 1941 to 72 in February, 1945. The aircrew end strength reached upwards to two crews per aircraft.

Tables of organization and equipment

Unit organization

The ''tables of organization and equipment'' (

TO&E A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is the specified organization, staffing, and equipment of military units. Also used in acronyms as 'T/O' and 'T/E'. It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of a unit as well ...

) for all bombardment groups were roughly the same. In 1942, existing bomb groups were expanded from three to four ''numbered bombardment squadrons''; and most bomb groups created during the war retained this structure - B-29 groups were the exception, having only three squadrons. In addition to the flying squadrons issued

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s, each group contained a ''group headquarters'', a ''service squadron'', and ''detachments'' for support of aircraft, equipment, and personnel from

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, aviation ordnance,

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, and maintenance companies, and from a weather squadron. These support personnel were then pooled and re-distributed among an unofficial service group and detailed for various duties as needed. The service group provided support and technical sections for the group requirements as a whole: ''Flying control'', ''Ordnance'', ''airfield security'', ''firefighting'', '' Post Exchange'' (PX), ''Special Services'', ''

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'', ''Transportation'' (" motor pool"), ''Communications'', ''

Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

'', ''

Gun A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

nery instruction'', ''Personal Equipment'', and ''Weather'' (

Meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

). The service group also had its own

mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

section. The service group had approximately 30 officers and 300 to 400 enlisted men. The group headquarters contained sections organized in the traditional U.S. Army structure: Personnel ( S-1), Intelligence ( S-2), Operations ( S-3), and Supply ( S-4). Including inspectors, headquarters organizations in practice totalled approximately 20 officers, some of whom were also pilots, and 60 to 80 enlisted men. Each bomb squadron, in addition to its assigned flight crews, had a ''squadron headquarters'' structured similarly to the group's, and six technical support and maintenance sections supporting its aircraft, equipment, and personnel: ''Mess'', ''Armament'', ''Ordnance'', ''Communications'', ''Medical'', and ''Engineering'' (aircraft maintenance). The ground support members of a bomb squadron numbered 15-20 officers and 250 to 300 enlisted men. Functionally, bomb groups were divided into an ''air echelon'' (the collective aircrews), and a ''ground echelon'' (all supporting ground personnel within the group, including those in attached Sub Depots). Groups commonly had two deputy commanders, termed the air

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and the ground executive officer, to coordinate these echelons.

Personnel strengths

In 1943, a heavy bomb group had a total complement of 294 officers and 1,487 enlisted men to fly and support 48 heavy bombers; and a medium bomb group had 294 officers and 1,297 enlisted men for 64 medium bombers. By February 1945, the size of the 125 standardized bomb group establishments had grown to:https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA542518.pdf The Army Air Forces also employed two composite groups with their own TO&Es: the 28th Bomb Group (15 B-24 and 30 B-25), and the 509th Composite Group (15 B-29 and 5 C-54). 19 heavy groups and one light bomb group were to be converted to very heavy groups for duty against

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, but the war ended before the plan was carried out.

Footnotes

References

* Bowman, Martin W., ''USAAF Handbook 1939–1945'', Stackpole Books (1997), * Freeman, Roger A., ''The Mighty Eighth War Manual'', MacDonald (1991) pp. 154–155. * Maurer, Maurer, ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II'', Office of Air Force history (1961).

Categories

Tables of organization and equipment

Unit organization

Personnel strengths

Footnotes

References

External links