The Delta traces its history to the United States Air Force381st Training Group, which provided training for the United States Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile forces and missile maintenance forces. This Air Education and Training Command (AETC) organization had been a tenant unit located on an 80-acre (32 ha) site at Vandenberg. The group was activated in the fall of 1994, when it replaced a provisional group as missile training activities at Vandenberg were transferred to AETC.
The group's second predecessor is the 381st Strategic Missile Wing. During the Cold War, the wing maintained and operated LGM-25C Titan II missiles for the Strategic Air Command at sites near McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. The wing and group were consolidated into a single unit in 1984. The consolidated unit was inactivated in 1986 as the Titan II was withdrawn from operational service.
381st Bombardment Group emblem[1]B-17s of the 381st Bomb Group en route to targets over Nazi-occupied territory.[note 1]A group B-17G Flying Fortress being christened by Edward G. Robinson, 5 July 1944[note 2]
Constituted as the 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 October 1942. Activated on 3 November 1942. Used B-17's in preparing for duty overseas. Moved to RAF Ridgewell England, May–June 1943, and assigned to Eighth Air Force. The 381st was assigned to the 1st Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bombardment Division.
The 381st Bomb Group operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the Continent. Specific targets included an aircraft assembly plant at Villacoublay, an airdrome at Amiens, locks at St Nazaire, an aircraft engine factory at Le Mans, nitrate works in Norway, aircraft plants in Brussels, industrial areas of Münster, U-boat yards at Kiel, marshalling yards at Offenberg, aircraft factories at Kassel, aircraft assembly plants at Leipzig, oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, and ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt.
The Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for performance on 8 October 1943 when shipyards at Bremen were bombed accurately in spite of persistent enemy fighter attacks and heavy flak, and received a second DUC for similar action on 11 January 1944 during a mission against aircraft factories in central Germany.
Aircraft from the 381st participated in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against enemy aircraft factories during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944, and the Group often supported ground troops and attacked targets of interdiction when not engaged in strategic bombardment.
The Group supported the Normandy invasion in June 1944 by bombing bridges and airfields near the beachhead. Attacked enemy positions in advance of ground forces at Saint-Lô in July 1944. It then assisted the airborne assault on Holland in September, before striking airfields and communications sites near the battle zone during the Battle of the Bulge, throughout December 1944 to January 1945. In the final stages of the war, the unit supported the Allied crossing of the Rhine in March 1945 and then attacked communications and transportation hubs in the final push through Germany.
After V-E Day, the 381st Bomb Group returned to Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in July 1945 and was inactivated on 28 August.
Air Force Reserve
On 24 July 1947, the group was reactivated at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska as a reserve unit. It was nominally a heavy bomber group, but does not appear to have been equipped with operational aircraft or fully manned before inactivating in July 1949.[8]
Patch with 381st Strategic Missile Wing emblem (approved 19 September 1962)[2]381st SMW Titan II Missile SitesAn LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile in silo, ready to launch
The wing was composed of two Strategic Missile Squadrons (the 532nd and the 533rd). These squadrons were each composed of nine ballistic launch complexes, each housing a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile. The Titan II being 105 feet long and 10 feet in diameter. The launch complex was about 150 feet deep and 50 feet in diameter including the 20-foot-diameter (6.1 m) launch tube which comprised its center.
The Titans were fully configured for immediate launch in a matter of two minutes. The launch sequence included a number of test and initiation functions as well as a 20-second door opening sequence. The silo closure door weighed 780 tons and was locked down with hydraulically operated locks, and raised on hydraulic jacks. The hydraulics also operated the radial motors that pulled the door open with 1.5-inch-diameter (38 mm) steel cables (four of them). Launch initiation was also accompanied with attenuation water which flowed 9000 gallons per minute for sound suppression and protection of the missile during the launch.
Launch crews were composed of four personnel. Two officers were responsible for launch initiation, while two enlisted crewmembers were responsible for equipment checkout, repair and readiness. All four crewmembers were together responsible for communications, and final responsibility for launch. With an average of eight alerts (duty shifts at the site) per month, a crewmember achieved 200 alerts in about two years.
On 24 August 1978, an accident involving an oxidizer leak at launch complex 533-7 killed two Air Force personnel, caused the temporary evacuation of local communities, and damaged the site.
In September 1978, First Lieutenant Patricia E. Dougherty became the first female officer to perform SAC Titan II alert.
On 2 October 1981, Deputy Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci III ordered the inactivation of the Titan II weapon system. For McConnell, the end began on 2 July 1984, when Launch Complex 533-8 was removed from alert status. This silo would be placed in caretaker status on 31 August. The deactivation process received a setback on 2 November 1984, when fire broke out at Launch Complex 532-7 after liquid fuel had been unloaded from a deactivated Titan II. As a result of the ensuing investigation, Headquarters Strategic Air Command and the Ogden Air Logistics Center determined that the accident could have been prevented if different procedures were followed. With implementation of these procedures, Titan II deactivation continued.
On 8 August 1986, the 381st Strategic Missile Wing became the second Titan II wing to be inactivated. The 381st was inactivated after providing twenty-plus years of strategic deterrence and winning numerous awards, including the SAC missile combat competition Blanchard Trophy in 1972, 1975, 1980, and 1983.
The 381st provides initial qualification training for ICBM forces. It also provides initial and advanced maintenance training on ALM and ICBMs. It conducts training in joint space fundamentals and associated computer maintenance.
In July 1993, responsibility for missile training was transferred from Air Combat Command to AETC. In September 1994, responsibility for space training was transferred from AFSPC to AETC and consolidated with the missile training units into the 381st Training Group. In October 1996, the space training squadrons moved from Colorado Springs to Vandenberg to further complete the unit's consolidation.
The group consists of two squadrons. The 381st Training Support Squadron provides faculty training, interactive courseware, registrar services, facility management, and resource management and procurement. The two other squadrons are dedicated to student training. The 532 TRS provides courses for ICBM Initial Qualification Training and ICBM, ALCM, and spacelift maintenance. All in all, the group has graduated more than 6000 students from more than 100 different courses.
In 2020, the 533d Training Squadron became a part of the Space Force’s STAR Delta, resulting in the Group losing its space training mission.
Space Delta 1
The 381st Training Group was redesignated as Space Delta 1 and activated on 23 August 2021 following the establishment of the Space Training and Readiness Command.[5] A ceremony was held on 3 September 2021 to recognize the delta's activation and the activation of the 1st Delta Operations Squadron.[9][10]
532d Bombardment Squadron (Later 532d Strategic Missile Squadron, 532d Training Squadron), 3 November 1942 – 28 August 1945, 30 September 1947 – 27 June 1949, 1 March 1962 – 8 August 1986; 1 April 1994 – present[30][24]
533d Bombardment Squadron (Later 533d Strategic Missile Squadron, 533d Training Squadron), 3 November 1942 – 28 August 1945; 1 March 1962 –maintgust 1986; 1 April 1994 – 1 September 2020[31][24]
^The aircraft in the foreground is Boeing B-17G-70-BO Flying Fortress, serial 42-31443 "Friday the 13th" of the 532d Bomb Squadron. This aircraft was lost on 22 February 1944 on a mission to Oschersleben, Germany.
^Aircraft is Boeing B-17G-55-BO Flying Fortress, serial 42-102664, "Happy Bottom" of the 532d Bomb Squadron. This aircraft ditched in the English Channel on 16 July 1944.
^"PAUL C. NORRIS". Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM). Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^"PETER "CHARLIE" NORSKY". Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM). Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ abcdAssignments and stations from 1961 through 1977 in Ravenstein, pp. 206–207
^Haulman, Daniel L. (25 August 2017). "Factsheet Second Air Force (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II. Vol. II (VIII) Fighter Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-2535-9.
Further reading
Brown James G. The Mighty Men of the 381st, Heroes All: A Chaplain's Inside Story of the Men of the 381st Bomber Group. Salt Lake City, Utah: Publishers Press, 1994.
Comer, John. Combat Crew: The true story of one man's part in World War II's allied bomber offensive.. Time Warner Paperbacks, 2003. ISBN0-7515-0796-2
Freeman, Roger A. Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle, 1978. ISBN0-900913-09-6.
Freeman, Roger A. The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record. Cassell & Co., 1991. ISBN0-304-35708-1.
MacKay, Ron. Ridgewell's Flying Fortresses: The 381st Bombardment Group (H) in World War II. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, 2000. ISBN0-7643-1063-1.
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