| 73d Air Division | |
|---|---|
73d Air Division emblem |
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| Active | 17 February 1943 – 15 October 1943; 20 November 1943 – 31 May 1946; 12 June 1947 – 27 June 1949; 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Equipment | see "Aerospace vehicles" section below |
| Engagements |
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The 73d Air Division (73d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, based at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966.
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The 73d Bombardment Wing was activated as part of Second Air Force on 17 February 1943. Its original mission was a control organization for Replacement Training Units (RTU), with command and control over B-17/B-24 training units based in the midwest. It was inactivated on 15 October 1943 with the phasedown of heavy bomber training.
The wing was reactivated and redesignated as the 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) on 20 November 1943 at Smokey Hill AAF, Kansas. The new B-29 Superfortress wing was assigned four newly organized groups, (497th, 498th, 499th and 500th Bombardment Groups) which were training in New Mexico and Arizona on B-17 and B-24s, due to a lack of B-29 aircraft. In April 1944, the groups were brought to several airfields in Kansas (Great Bend AAF, Smokey Hill AAF and Walker AAF) where they were equipped with new B-29s manufactured by Boeing at their Wichita, Kansas plant.
By August the wing's groups completed their training and their aircraft were readied for deployment. Originally assigned to Twentieth Air Force's XX Bomber Command in India, the wing was instead assigned to the new XXI Bomber Command in the Pacific Theater. The 73d Wing deployed to newly-constructed airfields on Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.
From Saipan, the groups of the 73d Bomb Wing flew several bombing missions against Truk to gain combat experience before bombing Iwo Jima. In November 1944, the groups of the 73rd began bombing Japan, with only moderate success. Poor weather, the lack of precision radar bombing equipment, and tremendous winds encountered at high altitudes over Japan made accuracy difficult. Consequently, it turned to devastating low altitude incendiary attacks. In addition to Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, the 73d fire bombed numerous Japanese cities until war's end.
With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona. The 73d Bomb Wing was reassigned to the United States in December 1945, being assigned first to Continental Air Force's Fourth Air Force, then to the new Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946. However demobilization was in full swing and few SAC units were actually equipped and manned. The 73d Bomb Wing was inactivated on 31 March and the unit was allocated on paper to the Air Force Reserve.
In 1947, the 73d Bomb Wing was reactivated with the 338th and 351st Bomb Groups being assigned to it, both reserve B-29 Superfortress organizations. A third group, the 381st was added in 1948. However SAC was having enough difficulties keeping its front-line active duty bomb units in the air to maintain even minimal pilot proficiency in the late 1940s. The wing and its bomb groups were all inactivated in 1949.
The organization was reactivated as part of Air Defense Command (ADC) in 1957 as the 73d Air Division. As part of ADC, it evaluated, upgraded, and determined the proficiency of the Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor and missile squadrons, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966. The division developed and tested Air Defense Command tactics, equipment, aircraft, guided missiles, and related equipment and armaments. It also maintained active contact with Army, Navy, and other Air Force commands to assure coordinated military effort in the use of rocket and missile ranges, defense plans, air sea land rescue, and airspace and airways directly concerned with the operations of the Air Defense Command Weapons Center.
With the diminishing need for an active-duty air defense mission in the United States, the 73d Air Division was inactivated on 1 April 1966.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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