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The 314th Bombardment Wing was activated in July 1944 at
Peterson Field, Colorado[1] as a command organization for four
Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment groups. The unit trained in Colorado while subordinate groups were trained in Kansas by the
Second Air Force.
When training was completed the 314th moved to Guam in the Mariana Islands of the Central Pacific Area in January 1945 The 314th was the fourth B-29 wing assigned to
XXI Bomber Command,
Twentieth Air Force. Its mission was the strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands and the destruction of its war-making capability. In the Marianas, the Wing commanded the
19th,
29th39th and
330th Bombardment Groups.[1] The 19th and 29th arrived in January; the 39th and 330th in February.
Its groups flew "shakedown" missions against Japanese targets on
Moen Island,
Truk, and other points in the
Carolines and
Marianas. The 19th began combat missions over Japan on 25 February 1945 with a firebombing mission over Northeast Tokyo; the 29th with a firebombing mission over central Tokyo on 9 March. The 39th's first mission was an attack of the Hodagaya Chemical Works in Koriyama on 15 April; the 330th hitting the same three days earlier on 12 April. The Division continued attacking urban areas until the end of the war in August 1945; its subordinate units conducted raids against strategic objectives, bombing aircraft factories; chemical plants; oil refineries; and other targets in Japan. The wing flew its last combat missions on 14 August when hostilities ended. Afterwards, the wing's B 29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and
Manchuria.
The 330th Bomb Group was relieved from assignment on 21 November, its personnel and equipment returning to the United States; the 39th in December. The other groups returned in May 1946. The Wing then moved to
Johnson Army Air Base, Japan in mid-May 1946 to become part of the
Fifth Air Force Occupation forces.
With the postwar consolidation of units, the organization was redesignated 314th Composite Wing in 1946, having both groups and squadrons of varying missions assigned to the wing. For approximately two years (1946–1948) the 314th served as one of Fifth Air Force's major components. "It maintained intensive training schedules, participated in training exercises and took part in the post-hostilities program of mapping Japan."[1]
Korean War
Activated at
Nagoya AB, Japan, on 1 December 1950 as the 314th Air Division, the organization immediately assumed the missions of the air defense of Japan, logistical support for Fifth Air Force during the
Korean War, and airfield construction in Japan. Units under the Division's direct jurisdiction during the Korean War were the following:
On 1 March 1952 the 314th Air Division stood down,[1] as part of a Far East Air Force reorganization. Its units were reassigned to other organizations.
Cold War
Reactivated in March 1955 at
Osan Air Base, South Korea, the 314th Air Division was the primary command organization in South Korea for the next 30 years. "The division maintained assigned and attached forces at a high degree of combat readiness during the
Cold War. In fulfilling its mission, the division supported numerous military exercises in the region, such as Commando Bearcat, Commando Jade, and Commando Night."[1]
The Division was inactivated in 1986[1] and was replaced by the reactivated
Seventh Air Force, which assumed all of its assigned assets.
Lineage
314th Air Division
Established as the 314th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 15 April 1944.
Activated on 23 April 1944
Redesignated 314th Composite Wing on 15 April 1946
Inactivated on 20 August 1948
Redesignated 314th Air Division on 21 November 1950
Activated on 1 December 1950
Inactivated on 1 March 1952
Activated on 15 March 1955
Consolidated with Table of Distribution 314th Air Division on 1 July 1978
71st Reconnaissance Group: 15 April 1947 – 18 August 1948 (not operational after 15 April 1947, detached after 31 October 1947)
6146th Air Force Advisory Group (Republic of Korea Air Force) (later 6146th Flying Training Group, 6146th Air Force Advisory Group): 15 March – 24 September 1955, 18 September 1956 – 1 April 1971[1]
8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (later 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron): Assigned 31 May 1946 – 28 February 1947 (not operational 31 May – 16 December 1946, detached 16 September – 16 December 1946), attached 28 February – c. 31 October 1947, attached 18 April 1949 – 1 March 1950
^Approved 9 May 1956. Description: On a shield
argent a
roundle [sic]
azure, charged with a sphere of the field['s color], land areas
sable edged
or; a demi wing superimposed over the
dexter area of the sphere of the first [color mentioned], highlighted or.
^Approved 20 January 1945. Description: on an ultramarine blue disc, in sinister
base, a globe,
proper, with silver water areas and brown land areas,
fimbriated gold winged at dexter by a stylized wing of the last [color mentioned], charged with four aerial bombs
gules,
palewise, points to base.