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73d Air Division
73d Air Division Convair F-106A Delta Dart
Active	1943–1943; 1943–1946; 1947–1949; 1957–1966
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Air Defense
Equipment	see "Aerospace vehicles" section below
Engagements	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944–1945)
Insignia
73d Air Division emblem

The 73d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1966.

History

World War II

The 73d Bombardment Wing was activated as part of Second Air Force on 17 February 1943. Its original mission was to process personnel assigned to Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator Replacement Training Units (RTU) based in the midwest. It was inactivated on 15 October 1943 with the drawdown of heavy bomber training.

The wing was reactivated and redesignated as the 73d Bombardment Wing (Very Heavy) on 20 November 1943 at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas. The new Boeing B-29 Superfortress wing was assigned four newly organized groups (the 497th, 498th, 499th and 500th Bombardment Groups), which were training in New Mexico and Arizona with B-17s 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 Army Air Field, Smoky Hill Army Air Field and Walker Army Air Field) where they were equipped with new B-29s manufactured by Boeing at their Wichita, Kansas plant.

By August the wing's groups had 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. The 73d Bomb Wing was the first B-29 wing to be assigned to the Marianas, and the first B-29 of the 497th Bomb Group arrived at Isely Field, Saipan on 12 October 1944. The 498th arrived shortly after, with the 499th and 500th Bomb Groups arriving in early November. By 22 November, over 100 B-29s were on Saipan. The XXI Bomber Command was assigned the task of destroying the aircraft industry of Japan in a series of high-altitude, daylight precision attacks

In late October and early November 1944, a series of tactical raids were carried out as training exercises for the crews. From Saipan, the groups of the 73d Bomb Wing flew several bombing missions against Truk to gain combat experience. Aware that there was now a new threat, Japanese aircraft based on Iwo Jima staged a low-level raid on Isely Field on 2 November, damaging several B-29s on the ground. Retaliatory strikes were ordered on Iwo Jima on 5 and 11 November.

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. The initial raids against Japan had taken place at high altitudes in order to stay above anti-aircraft fire and the effective altitude of defending fighters. Tactics were changed and high-altitude, daylight attacks be phased out and replaced by low-altitude, high-intensity incendiary raids at nighttime. The aircraft would attack individually, which meant that no assembly over the base at the start of the mission or along the way would be needed.

Consequently, it turned to devastating low altitude incendiary attacks. 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 73d and its subordinate units demobilized rapidly after V-J Day, and the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Field for scrapping, or to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona. The 73d Bomb Wing was reassigned to the United States in December 1945, where it was assigned first to Continental Air Force's Fourth Air Force, then to Strategic Air Command (SAC) on 21 March 1946. However demobilization was in full swing and few SAC units were actually equipped and crewed. The 73d wing was inactivated on 31 March.

Air Force Reserve

In 1947, the 73d Bomb Wing was reactivated with the 338th and 351st Bombardment Groups being assigned to it, both reserve B-29 Superfortress organizations. A third group, the 381st Bombardment Group was added in 1948. However SAC was having enough difficulties keeping its front-line active duty B-29 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.

Air Defense Command

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.

The 73d Air Division was inactivated on 1 April 1966.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 5th Heavy Bombardment Processing Headquarters on 9 February 1943.

Activated on 17 February 1943

Redesignated 73d Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Heavy) on 12 August 1943.

Inactivated on 15 October 1943

• Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 19 November 1943

Activated on 20 November 1943

Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, Special on 13 January 1944

Redesignated 73d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 24 June 1944

Inactivated on 31 May 1946

• Activated in the reserve on 12 June 1947

Redesignated 73d Air Division, Bombardment on 16 April 1948

Inactivated on 27 June 1949

• Redesignated 73d Air Division (Weapons) on 1 April 1957

Activated on 1 July 1957

Redesignated 73d Air Division on 1 March 1963

Discontinued and inactivated on 1 April 1966

Assignments

• Second Air Force, 12 August 1945 – 15 October 1943
• XX Bomber Command, 20 November 1943
• Second Air Force, 2 June 1944 – 30 July 1944
• Twentieth Air Force, c. 6 August 1944
• XXI Bomber Command, 9 November 1944 – 16 July 1945
• Twentieth Air Force, 16 July 1945
• Fourth Air Force, 7 December 1945
• Third Air Force, 5 January 1946
• Strategic Air Command, 21 March 1946
• Fifteenth Air Force, 31 March 1946 – 31 May 1946
• Tenth Air Force, 1 July 1948 – 27 June 1949
• Air Defense Command, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966

Components

Sector

• Montgomery Air Defense Sector: 1 October 1964 – 1 April 1966

Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama

Wings

• 4750th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1957 – 25 June 1960

Vincent Air Force Base, Arizona

• 4751st Air Defense Wing: 15 January 1958 – 1 October 1959

Eglin Auxiliary Field #9, Florida

• 4756th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1957 – 1 July 1960
• 4756th Air Defense Wing: 1 September 1962 – 1 April 1966
• 4780th Air Defense Wing: 1 July 1962 – 1 April 1966

Perrin Air Force Base, Texas

Groups

Operational Groups

• 338th Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 351st Bombardment Group: 17 October 1947 – 4 June 1948

Scott Field (later Scott Air Force Base), Illinois

• 381st Bombardment Group: 4 June 1948 – 27 June 1949

Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska

• 497th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 31 March 1946
• 498th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 31 May 1946
• 499th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 16 February 1946
• 500th Bombardment Group: 20 November 1943 – 17 January 1946
• 4756th Air Defense Group: 1 July 1960 – 1 September 1962

Support Groups

• 65th Air Service Group
• 91st Air Service Group
• 303d Air Service Group
• 330th Air Service Group
• 4756th Air Base Group: 1 July 1960 – 1 September 1962

Stations

• Walker Army Air Field, 17 February 1943
• Smoky Hill Army Airfield, Kansas, 30 June – 15 October 1943; 20 November 1943
• Colorado Springs, Colorado, 29 February – 17 July 1944
• Isely Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, 24 August 1944 – 20 October 1945
• MacDill Field, Florida, 15 January – 31 May 1946.
• Orchard Place Airport, Illinois, 12 June 1947 – 29 June 1949.
• Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, 1 July 1957 – 1 April 1966

Aircraft

• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1943–1946
• Martin B-57E Canberra, c. 1957 – c. 1960
• North American F-86D Sabre, c. 1955 – c. 1957
• Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, c. 1957 – c. 1966
• Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, c. 1957 – c. 1960
• Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, c. 1957 – 1966
• McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, c. 1960 – c. 1966
• Convair F-106 Delta Dart, c. 1960 – c. 1966

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
• Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons
• List of United States Air Force air divisions

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. Approved 9 April 1958.
2. Despite having the identical name, this wing was a different unit than the one listed first.

Citations

1. ^ "Factsheet 73 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
2. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 230–231
3. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 268–269

Bibliography

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

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) . Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 978-0-912799-02-5.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) . Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6.
• Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
• Winkler, David F.; Webster, Julie L (1997). Searching the skies: The legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program. Champaign, IL: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. LCCN 97020912.

External links

• March Field Museum B-29 from the 500th Bomb Wing

v t e Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)
Bases	CONUS Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Gregg-Adams Fort Heath Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenberg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown Overseas Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule
Stations	CONUS Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata Overseas Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville
Air Defense units	Forces Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth Air Divisions 8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th Sectors Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington Wings Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th Groups Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th Squadrons Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons
Major weapon systems	Electronic TB-29 EB-57 EC-121 Fighters Propeller: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106 Missiles AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10 Ships Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil Texas Towers Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4
Miscellaneous	Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons) General Surveillance Radar Stations

v t e USAAF Twentieth Air Force in World War II
Airfields	China Hsinching Airfield (A-1) Kwanghan Airfield (A-3) Kuinglai Airfield (A-5) Pengshan Airfield (A-7) India Chakulia Airfield Dudhkundi Airfield Piardoba Airfield Kalaikunda Airfield Ceylon RAF China Bay Marianas Harmon Airfield (Guam) Isely Airfield (Saipan) North Airfield (Guam) North Airfield (Tinian) Northwest Airfield (Guam) West Airfield (Tinian)
Units	Commands VII Fighter XX Bomber XXI Bomber Wings 58th Bombardment 73d Bombardment 313th Bombardment 314th Bombardment 315th Bombardment 301st Fighter Groups Bombardment 6th Bombardment 9th Bombardment 16th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 29th Bombardment 39th Bombardment 40th Bombardment 330th Bombardment 331st Bombardment 444th Bombardment 462d Bombardment 468th Bombardment 497th Bombardment 498th Bombardment 499th Bombardment 500th Bombardment 501st Bombardment 502d Bombardment 504th Bombardment 505th Bombardment 509th Composite Fighter 15th Fighter 21st Fighter 413th Fighter 414th Fighter 506th Fighter 507th Fighter
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

v t e USAAF Second Air Force in World War II
Airfields	Airfields
Units	Commands II Air Support Command II Bomber Command II Fighter Command IV Air Support Command XX Bomber Command XXI Bomber Command XXII Bomber Command Wings 5th Bombardment 15th Bombardment Training 16th Bombardment Operational Training 17th Bombardment Training 18th Replacement 21st Bombardment 46th Bombardment Operational Training 58th Bombardment 73rd Bombardment 315th Bombardment 316th Bombardment Groups Bombardment 2nd Bombardment 6th Bombardment 7th Bombardment 9th Bombardment 12th Bombardment 16th Bombardment 17th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 25th Bombardment 29th Bombardment 34th Bombardment 39th Bombardment 40th Bombardment 42nd Bombardment 46th Bombardment 47th Bombardment 48th Bombardment 85th Bombardment 86th Bombardment 86th Bombardment 88th Bombardment 94th Bombardment 95th Bombardment 96th Bombardment 99th Bombardment 100th Bombardment 301st Bombardment 302nd Bombardment 303rd Bombardment 304th Bombardment 305th Bombardment 306th Bombardment 307th Bombardment 308th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 330th Bombardment 331st Bombardment 333rd Bombardment 346th Bombardment 351st Bombardment 376th Bombardment 379th Bombardment 381st Bombardment 382nd Bombardment 383rd Bombardment 384th Bombardment 385th Bombardment 388th Bombardment 390th Bombardment 393rd Bombardment 395th Bombardment 396th Bombardment 398th Bombardment 399th Bombardment 400th Bombardment 401st Bombardment 407th Bombardment 415th Bombardment 418th Bombardment 444th Bombardment 445th Bombardment 446th Bombardment 447th Bombardment 448th Bombardment 449th Bombardment 450th Bombardment 451st Bombardment 452nd Bombardment 453rd Bombardment 454th Bombardment 455th Bombardment 456th Bombardment 457th Bombardment 458th Bombardment 459th Bombardment 460th Bombardment 461st Bombardment 462nd Bombardment 464th Bombardment 467th Bombardment 468th Bombardment 469th Bombardment 470th Bombardment 471st Bombardment 472nd Bombardment 484th Bombardment 485th Bombardment 486th Bombardment 487th Bombardment 488th Bombardment 489th Bombardment 490th Bombardment 491st Bombardment 493rd Bombardment 494th Bombardment 497th Bombardment 498th Bombardment 499th Bombardment 500th Bombardment 501st Bombardment 502nd Bombardment 504th Bombardment 505th Bombardment 509th Composite Fighter 20th Fighter 54th Fighter 84th Fighter 85th Fighter 507th Fighter 508th Fighter Reconnaissance 2nd Reconnaissance 3rd Reconnaissance 4th Reconnaissance 5th Reconnaissance 6th Reconnaissance 7th Reconnaissance 8th Reconnaissance 71st Reconnaissance 77th Reconnaissance Troop Carrier 443nd Troop Carrier
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

• Air divisions of the United States Air Force
• Aerospace Defense Command units