351st Missile Wing
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| 351st Missile Wing | |
|---|---|
 351st Missile Wing Emblem |
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| Active | 25 Sep 1942 - 31 July 1995 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Missile Wing |
| Role | Strategic Deterrence |
| Part of | USAF Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Whiteman Air Force Base |
The 351st Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit, which was last based at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. Assigned to Strategic Air Command for most of its existence, the wing supported LGM-30F Minuteman ICBMs. It was inactivated in 1995.
Contents |
[edit] Units
- 508th Missile Squadron May 1, 1963 - 31 July 1995
- 509th Missile Squadron June 1, 1963 - 31 July 1995
- 510th Missile Squadron July 1, 1963 - 31 July 1995
[edit] History
[edit] Lineage
- 351st Bombardment Group
- 351st Strategic Missile Wing
- 351st Missile Wing
[edit] Bases assigned
- Salt Lake City AAB, UT 1 Oct 1942
- Geiger Field, WA Nov 1942
- Biggs Field, TX Dec 1942
- Pueblo AAB, CO c. 1 Mar-c. 12 Apr 1943
- RAF Polebrook, England c. 1 May 1943-Jun 1945 110
- Sioux Falls AAF, SD Jul-28 Aug 1945
- Whiteman AFB, Mo 1963 - 1995
[edit] Weapons systems
[edit] Operational history
[edit] World War II
Constituted as 351st Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 25 Sep 1942. Activated on 1 Oct 1942. Trained for duty overseas with B-17's. Moved to RAF Polebrook England, Apr-May 1943. Served in combat with Eighth Air Force. It was assigned to the 94th Combat Wing, also at Polebrook. The group tail code was a "Triangle J". It's operational squadrons were:
- 508th Bomb Squadron (YB)
- 509th Bomb Squadron (RQ)
- 510th Bomb Squadron (TU)
- 511th Bomb Squadron (DS)
The 351st's first completed combat mission took place on May 14, 1943, when 18 B-17's targeted a German Luftwaffe airfield at Kortrijk, Belgium. As the war progressed, the 351st operated primarily against strategic objectives in Germany, striking such targets as ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, communications at Mayen, marshalling yards at Koblenz, a locomotive and tank factory at Hannover, industries at Berlin, bridges at Cologne, an armaments factory at Mannheim, and oil refineries at Hamburg.
The group also struck harbor facilities, submarine installations, airfields, V-weapon sites, and power plants in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway.
The 351st Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for performance of 9 October 1943 when an aircraft factory in Germany was accurately bombed in spite of heavy flak and pressing enemy interceptors. It received another DUC for its part in the successful attack of 11 January 1944 on aircraft factories in central Germany. The group participated in the intensive air campaign against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20-25 Feb 1944.
In addition to its strategic missions, the group often operated in support of ground forces and attacked interdictory targets. Bombed in support of the Battle of Normandy in June 1944 and the St Lo breakthrough in July. The group hit enemy positions to cover the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944. Struck front-line positions, communications, and airfields to help stop the German counteroffensive in the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945. Flew missions in support of Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
The 351st conducted routine 8th Air Force missions from RAF Polebrook until the end of the war. The unit completed 311 combat missions from Polebrook. The 351st lost 175 B-17's and their crews. The gunners in the Group fired off 2,776,028 rounds of ammunition and were credited with destroying 303 enemy aircraft. The 509th Bomb Squadron completed 54 consecutive missions without losses between June 1943 to January 1944.
The unit returned to the US soon after V-E Day with the air element leaving May 21 and the ground echelon sailing June 25. Reassigned to Sioux Falls AAF, South Dakota during August 1945. the 391st Bomb Group was inactivated on 28 August 1945.
Medal of Honor
Two members of the 351st, Lt. Walter E. Truemper and S/Sgt. Archibald Mathies, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. On a mission to Leipzig, Germany, February 20, 1944 their B-17 Ten Horsepower was attacked by German fighters. The co-pilot was killed and pilot Lt. Clarence Nelson was badly wounded. Truemper and Mathies flew the badly damaged B-17 back to England where the remainder of the crew bailed out, then attempted to land the plane to save the life of the unconscious pilot. On their third attempt Ten Horsepower crashed on final approach and all three airmen were killed.
[edit] Cold War
During the Cold War, the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command 351st Strategic Missile Wing stood alert with Minuteman I and later, Minuteman II ICBMs starting in 1963 at Whiteman AFB Missouri. The wing was bestowed the lineage, honors and history of the World War II USAAF 351st Bomb Wing upon activation
The 351st supervised missile training operations and coordinated construction of SM-30B (later, LGM-30B) Minuteman I missile facilities from February 1, 1963 to June 29, 1964. The first missile arrived Jan 14, 1964 and was placed it's silo two days later. The 508th SMS became combat ready on June 5, and the 409th on June 10, 1964. The last flight of the fifteen missiles was accepted June 29, 1964, making the 410th operational. The wing then had 150 fully operational missiles.
Meanwhile the 340th Bombardment Wing phased down for inactivation and 351st Strategic Missile Wing gradually assumed host-wing responsibilities at Whiteman AFB, between July 1, and Sept 1, 1963.
Won the Colonel Lee R. Williams Memorial Missile Trophy for Calendar Years 1965, 1967 and 1973. Converted to LGM-30F Minuteman II missiles between May 7, 1966 and Oct 3, 1967. Won the SAC missile combat competition and Blanchard Trophy in 1967, 1971 and 1977. Named as SAC's "best Minuteman wing in 1972.
[edit] Post Cold War
On 1 September 1991, the wing was redesignated as the 351st Missile Wing and implemented the objective wing organization. It was relieved from SAC and reassigned to the new Air Combat Command on 1 June 1992. It was again reassigned on 1 July 1993 to Air Force Space Command.
The wing and it's three squadrons of Minuteman II ICBMs were deactivated on 31 July 1995 as a result of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II.
[edit] References
- Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle ISBN 0900913096
- Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35708-1
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
- Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
