40th Air Expeditionary Wing

40th Air Expeditionary Wing
40th Air Expeditionary Wing emblem
Active	22 November 1940 -Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Engagements	World War II American Campaign (1941-1944) Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944-1945) Global War On Terrorism Afghanistan Service (Dates TBA)
Commanders
Notable commanders	David A. Burchinal

The United States Air Force's 40th Air Expeditionary Wing (40 AEW) is an Air Expeditionary unit located at Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean.

Mission

The 40 AEW's current mission is to support combat forces in Afghanistan and other combat areas supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

It is known that the 40 AEW B-52 Stratofortresses dropped about 58 percent of the munitions used during Operation Anaconda and had flown more than 80 sorties; releasing more than 2,000 bombs supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The task of developing a comprehensive listing units present in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat areas is particularly difficult as the events of 11 September 2001 and the Global War on Terrorism has made such an effort significantly difficult. The USAF seeks to improve operational security (OPSEC) and to deceive potential enemies as to the extent of American operations.

Known Units

• 9th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron
• 40th Bomb Squadron
• 40th Expeditionary Logistics Group
• 60th Air Expeditionary Group
• 321st Air Expeditionary Group [Jacobabad]
• 462nd Air Expeditionary Group

History

It's predecessor unit, the United States Army Air Force 40th Bombardment Group (40th BG) was part of Twentieth Air Force during World War II. The unit served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater and China Burma India Theater of World War II. The 40th Bomb Group's aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan.

After the war, the 40th Bombardment Group was one of the original eleven units assigned to Strategic Air Command.

Lineage

• Constituted as 40th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 22 Nov 1940

Activated on 1 Apr 1941

Redesignated 40th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in May 1942.

Redesignated 40th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in Nov 1943.

Inactivated on 1 Oct 1946

• Established as 40th Bombardment Wing, Medium, on 9 May 1952

Activated on 28 May 1952.

Redesignated: 40th Strategic Aerospace Wing on 1 Feb 1964

Discontinued, and inactivated, on 1 Sep 1964.

• Redesignated 40th Air Expeditionary Wing, 2001 (date TBD) and reactivated

(Current status unknown)

Assignments

• Panama Canal Air Force

Redesignated: Caribbean Air Force. 5 Aug 1941

Redesignated: 6th Air Force, 18 Sep 1942

VI Interceptor Command, 1 Apr 1941-1 Jun 1943

• Second Air Force

II Bomber Command, 1 Jul 1943

• Second Air Force, 6 Oct 1943
• Twentieth Air Force

XX Bomber Command

58th Bombardment Wing, 19 Nov 1943

XX Bomber Command, 1 Oct-7 Nov 1945

• Continental Air Forces

Fourth Air Force, 27 Nov 1945-8 May 1946

• Strategic Air Command, 21 Mar-1 Oct 1946; 25 May 1952

Fifteenth Air Force

802d Air Division, 28 May 1952

Attached to: 310th Bombardment Wing, Medium, 6 Feb-1 May 1953

Attached to: 7th Air Division, 9 Jun-9 Sep 1955

Eighth Air Force

802d Air Division, 1 Jul 1955

Attached to: 7th Air Division, 1 Jul—1 Oct 1957

Fifteenth Air Force

802d Air Division, 1 Jan 1959

Second Air Force

21st Air Division, 120 Jun 1960-1 Sep 1964

• United States Central Command Air Forces, 2001-TBD

Bases stationed

• Borinquen Field, PR, 1 Apr 1941
• Howard Field, CZ, 16 Jun 1942
• Albrook Field, CZ, 16 Sep 1942
• Howard Field, CZ, 3-15 Jun 1943
• Pratt AAF1d, Kan, 1 Jul 1943-12 Mar 1944
• Chakulia, India, 2 Apr 1944-25 Feb 1945

• West Field, Tinian, 4 Apr-7 Nov 1945
• March Field, Calif, 27 Nov 1945
• Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz, 8 May-1 Oct 1946
• Smoky Hill (later, Schilling) AFB, Kans, 28 May 1952
• Forbes AFB, Kans, 20 Jun 1960-1 Sep 1964
• Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean (2001-Present)

Aircraft & Missiles Operated

United States Army Air Forces

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress
• Martin B-26 Marauder

United States Air Force

• Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
• Boeing B-47 Stratojet
• Convair SM-65 Atlas-E Missile
• Rockwell International B-1 Lancer
• Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

Operational History

World War II

42-6310 taking off from Chakulia, India, June 1944

42-74738 on an unfinished airfield in China, 1944

42-42795 landing on Tinian, 1945

The 40th Bombardment Group was constituted in Puerto Rico on 22 November 1940 and activated on 1 April 1941. The unit's operational squadrons (29th, 44th and 45th) were equipped with early B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-26 Marauder aircraft to train and patrol the Caribbean area, later to provide air defense of the Panama Canal after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

With the diminished need for a Caribbean defense, the 40th was reassigned back to the United States and redesignated the 40th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in November 1943, being assigned to Pratt Army Airfield, Kansas and to the first B-29 Superfortress wing, the 58th Bombardment Wing. At Pratt, the group's squadrons (25th 44th, 45th, and 395th) engaged in transition training on the new aircraft and its new mission.

In March 1944, the group left the United States and deployed to a former B-24 Liberator airfield at Chakulia, India. In India, the group was assigned to the XX Bombardment Command of the new Twentieth Air Force. During the week of April 15-22, no less than five 58th Bomb Wing B-29s crashed near Karachi all from overheated engines. The entire Wing had to be grounded en route until the cause was found. The cause was traced to the fact that the B-29's R-3350 engine had not been designed to operate at ground temperatures higher than 115 degrees F, which were typically exceeded in India. Modifications had also to be made to the aircraft and after these modifications, B-29 flights to India were resumed.

From India, the 40th Bomb Group planned to fly missions against Japan from airfields in China. However, all the supplies of fuel, bombs, and spares needed to support the forward bases in China had to be flown in from India over "The Hump" (the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains), since Japanese control of the seas around the Chinese coast made seaborne supply of China impossible. Many of the supplies had to be delivered to China by the B-29s themselves. For this role, they were stripped of nearly all combat equipment and used as flying tankers and each carried seven tons of fuel. The Hump route was so dangerous and difficult that each time a B-29 flew from India to China it was counted as a combat mission,

The first combat mission by the group took place on 5 June 1944 when squadrons of the 40th took off from India to attack the Makasan railroad yards at Bangkok, Thailand. This involved a 2261-mile round trip, the longest bombing mission yet attempted during the war.

On 15 June the group participated in the first American Air Force attack on the Japanese Home Islands since the Doolittle raid in 1942. Operating from bases in India, and at times staging through fields in China, the group struck such targets as transportation centers, naval installations, iron works, and aircraft plants in Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Formosa, receiving a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing iron and steel works at Yawata, Japan, on 20 August 1944. From a staging field in Ceylon, the 40th mined waters near the port of Palembang, Sumatra, in August 1944.

The group was reassigned to Tinian, in the Marianas Feb-Apr 1945, for further operations against Japan with the XXI Bomb Command. The 40th made daylight attacks from high altitude on strategic targets, participated in incendiary raids on urban areas, and dropped mines in Japanese shipping lanes. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for attacking naval aircraft factories at Kure, oil storage facilities at Oshima, and the industrial area of Nagoya, in May 1945. Raided light metal industries in Osaka in Jul 1945, being awarded another DUC for this mission.

After V-J Day, the group dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners in Japan, Korea, and Formosa, and took part in show-of-force missions.

Strategic Air Command

The group returned to the United States in November, 1945, being assigned to March Field, California. It was assigned to the Fourth Air Force of Continental Air Forces. Continental Air Forces would later evolve into the Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946

The 40th Bombardment Group was one of the ten existing bombardment groups assigned to SAC when it was first formed. The group was relocated to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona and had the 25th, 44th, 45th, 343d and 395th bomb squadrons, equipped with B-29s. Demobilization, however, was in full swing and the group turned in its aircraft and was inactivated on 1 Oct 1946. Many of the wing's personnel and aircraft were reassigned to the 43d Bombardment Wing, which was reactivated at Davis-Monthan on 1 October 1946 as part of the re-established Eighth Air Force.

The 40th was established as the 40th Bombardment Wing, Medium on May 9 1952 at Schilling Air Force Base, (then Smoky Hill) Kansas on May 28 1952. Although activated, it was not manned until early February 1953, when it gained personnel and equipment from a provisional squadron originally established at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona as a holding unit for people and equipment surplus to another SAC wing. Received control and guidance from the 310th Bombardment Wing at Smoky Hill until May 1 1953. Initially assigned to 802nd Air Division, Fifteenth Air Force. Attached to the 7th Air Division From 9 June to 9 September 1955).

By October 1953, all tactical squadrons were minimally operational. Flew B-29s in 1953-1954. In 1953, the wing gained KC-97s and took on a refueling mission.

Transitioned to the new all-jet B-47 in 1954 and became combat ready in April 1955. Reassigned to Eighth Air Force, 802nd Air Division on 1 July 1955. Performed bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC's global commitments from 1955 to 1964. Deployed at Lakenheath RAF Station, England June 9, to September 9 1955, and attached to 7th Air Division. Deployed to Greenland Common RAF Station, England July - October 1957. Reassigned to: Fifteenth Air Force, 802nd Air Division on 1 January 1959. Equipment expanded to include KC-97s in 1956. Transferred to Forbes AFB June 20 1960 and the Second Air Force, 21st Air Division.

At Forbes, the 40th Bomb Wing gained an Atlas missile squadron in January 1964, and was redesignated the 40th Strategic Aerospace Wing on 1 February 1964. Began phasing down for inactivation shortly thereafter and was non-operational from August 15, to Sept. 1, 1964.

Discontinued and inactivated September 1 1964.

Global War On Terrorism

Reactivated 2001 as Air Expeditionary Wing to perform combat activities as part of the Global War On Terrorism.

See also

• Sixth Air Force
• Twentieth Air Force
• Strategic Air Command
• Air Combat Command
• 58th Air Division

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
• 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.
• 40th Air Expeditionary Wing

External links

• 40th Bomb Wing Association