World War II On 1 June 1942, the
Army Air Forces activated the
100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and assigned it to
III Bomber Command. The group remained unmanned until 27 October 1942, when a cadre for the unit was transferred from the
29th Bombardment Group to
Gowen Field, Idaho. Within four days, on 1 November, the cadre moved to
Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington, where it received its first four aircrews and four
B-17Fs from the
Boeing factory in
Seattle. Following this, the 100th relocated to
Wendover Field, Utah, on 30 November where it added additional personnel, aircraft, and crews, and began bombing, gunnery, and navigation training.On New Year's Day, 1943, members of the fledgling group again transferred operations, this time to two bases. The aircraft and aircrews moved to
Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, while the ground echelon went to
Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska. In both instances, members of the 100th assisted in air and ground training for other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April, the aircrew joined the ground echelon at Kearney and received new B-17s. After additional training, the group's aircrews departed Kearney on 25 May 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England and into the war in Europe. Prior to the departure of aircraft and aircrews from Kearney, the 100th BG's ground echelon departed for the East Coast on 2 May 1943. On 27 May 1943, the ground personnel set sail aboard the bound for
Podington, England, from New York. At Podington the ground crews rendezvoused with the air echelon, and together moved to
RAF Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, where they remained throughout World War II, operating as a strategic bombardment organization.On 25 June 1943, the 100th BG flew its first
Eighth Air Force combat mission,
bombing the
U-boat yards at
Bremen – the beginning of the "Bloody Hundredth"'s legacy. The group focused its bombing attacks against German airfields, industrial plants, and naval facilities in France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and Soviet Union. The group inherited the "Bloody Hundredth" nickname from other bomb groups due to severe losses it took on several missions during summer and fall 1943. During one such raid on
Münster on 10 October 1943, eighteen 100th BG aircraft were sent, of which five aborted and turned back before reaching the target. Twelve of the 13 aircraft that reached Münster were shot down; the only surviving 100th BG B-17 to reach Münster and return was the
Royal Flush commanded for this mission by
Robert Rosenthal; it returned to base seriously damaged and with several crewmen wounded. Only four of the original thirty-eight co-pilots assigned to the group completed their assigned twenty-five mission tour. In August 1943, the group received its first
Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) after attacking the
German aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943, resulting in serious disruption to German fighter production. From January–May 1944, the 100th Goup regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, and
V-weapon sites in Western Europe. In February 1944, the group participated in Operation Argument ("
Big Week"), the Allied attempt to force a decisive battle with the Luftwaffe and gain air superiority over Western Europe before the invasion of France. In March 1944, the group completed a succession of attacks on Berlin and received its second DUC of the war. On March 6, 1944 became known as “Black Monday”, due to 15 aircraft were shot down, meaning 150 men were lost and hundreds were wounded. While bombing during the
Oil Campaign of World War II as the summer of 1944 approached, the group also conducted interdictory missions, such as the June bombing of bridges and gun positions in support of the
Invasion of Normandy. The next month saw aircrews bomb enemy positions at
Saint-Lô, followed by similar attacks at
Brest in August and September. In October 1944, the 100th BG attacked enemy defenses in the Allied drive on the
Siegfried Line, then bombed
marshaling yards, German occupied villages, and communication targets in the
Ardennes during the
Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. For its extraordinary efforts in attacking heavily defended German installations in Germany and dropping supplies to the
French Forces of the Interior from June through December 1944, the 100th received the French
Croix de Guerre with Palm. The group flew its last combat mission of World War II on 20 April 1945. The following month the unit's aircrews dropped food to the people in the west of the Netherlands, and in June transported French Allied former prisoners of war from Austria to France. In December 1945, the group returned to the U.S., where it inactivated at
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on 21 December 1945.
Cold War On 29 May 1947, Headquarters Army Air Forces reactivated the 100th at
Miami Army Air Field. From the time of its activation, the group trained and operated as a reserve unit assigned to the
49th Bombardment Wing (Later 49th Air Division). It is not clear whether or not the unit was fully manned or equipped. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949 due to budget reductions.
100th Bombardment Wing The 100th Bombardment Wing, Medium was established on 23 March 1953, but the wing was not activated as part of
Strategic Air Command (SAC) until 1 January 1956. The delay was due to construction at the unit's programmed base,
Portsmouth Air Force Base (later renamed Pease Air Force Base), New Hampshire. Construction was completed in late 1955 and, when activated, the 100th BW was assigned to the
Eighth Air Force 817th Air Division. The 100th Bomb Wing was assigned the new
Boeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. The 100th Bomb Wing operated from Pease AFB for ten years. In official parlance, the establishment "...performed global strategic bombardment training and air refueling missions." One of the most significant overseas temporary duty assignments took place during the first four months of 1958, when the 100th participated in the last full wing B-47 deployment. During this time, the B-47s from New Hampshire operated from
RAF Brize Norton, in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, overseas deployments involved the simultaneous participation of several bomb wings engaging in global strategic bombardment training and global air refueling with the Stratojet. In the early 1960s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. In October 1965, the Air Force initiated Project Fast Fly to oversee the inactivation of the last five B-47 wings and supporting tanker squadrons. The 100th ARS retired its last tanker on 21 December 1965, when aircraft 53-0282 flew to the
Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The following day, the
100th Air Refueling Squadron inactivated. The wing retained its ground alert commitment at Pease until 31 December 1965 and inactivated on 25 June 1966.
100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCOM) wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time, which could carry a lineage and history. On 11 February 1966, the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing assumed the mission, equipment and personnel of the
4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. The
349th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron took over the
Lockheed U-2 aircraft of the
4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and the
350th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron took over the
Ryan BQM-34 Firebee reconnaissance drones and
Lockheed DC-130 launch aircraft of the
4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron. The 4080th was a SAC MAJCOM wing, and its lineage terminated when it was discontinued and could not be continued by reactivation at a later date. The 100th was now at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. After its reactivation, the 100th performed strategic reconnaissance with the Lockheed U-2 and drone aircraft. On 11 July 1970, the force was moved from Bien Hoa to
U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield (OL-RU) and then turned to (OL-UA in Nov. 1970) Thailand. Then after the move, in November 1972 they reactivated the
99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron. In January 1973, the U-2s of the 99th flew more than 500 combat hours. That was the first time any U-2 unit flew 500 hours in a single month. That was topped in December 1974 when they logged more than 600 hours. The 99th deployed to forward operating locations as needed, earning the P.T. Cullen Award as the reconnaissance unit that contributed most to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of SAC in 1972. The U-2s were one of the last units to be pulled out of Thailand in March 1976, With the end of United States combat operations in Southeast Asia in mid-1973, the Air Force formally transferred nuclear air sampling operations to the 100th, and the 349th converted its U-2s to the U-2R configuration for atmospheric sampling missions, replacing the WB-57s which it inherited from the 4028th SRS. The air sampling mission would be moved to
Osan Air Base, South Korea, although the deployment of U-2Rs to Osan could not take place until overflight and basing arrangements were concluded with the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea and hangar facilities made ready at Osan. Not until the
Communist Chinese had actually exploded their sixteenth nuclear device on 17 June 1974, could Headquarters USAF announce that all negotiations were concluded. At the same time, it directed Headquarters SAC to deploy the 349th "Olympic Race" assets to Osan and begin collecting from that location on 18 June 1974. The sampling mission continued at Osan, and the U-2s in South Korea became the 100th SRW OL-A. In addition to the drone and air sampling missions, the wing performed worldwide surveillance missions like the monitoring of the ceasefire between the Israelis and the Egyptians following the 1973
Yom Kippur War. This operation was operated from
RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus and was named operation Olive Harvest – Operating Location OL-OH. A detachment also operated from
McCoy Air Force Base, Florida until that installation's closure in 1975, followed by a move to nearby
Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, designated Operating Location LF. These U-2s engaged in Olympic Fire missions over Cuba, which were coordinated with the Joint Air Reconnaissance Control Center at
NAS Key West, Florida.
100th Air Refueling Wing In 1976, due to budget reductions, SAC consolidated its strategic reconnaissance assets. The 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and its U-2s were returned from U-Tapao and assigned to the
9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing on 1 July 1976. The 9th Wing already controlled the
1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, which operated the
SR-71 Blackbird. This brought all the U-2 and SR-71 assets of SAC under one wing at
Beale Air Force Base, California, with the RC-135 assets assigned to the
6th Strategic Wing at
Eielson Air Force Base or the
55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at
Offut Air Force Base (which also operated the Looking Glass platforms and EC-130 aircraft). The
544th Intelligence Wing at
Bolling Air Force Base provided analysis support for intelligence collected by the flying wings. The Air Force continued to have non-SAC Strategic Reconnaissance assets in the form of satellite and radar systems operated by
Aerospace Defense Command, which were later transferred to SAC in 1979, the
National Reconnaissance Office, and the Space and Missiles Systems Organization|
Space Systems Command in
Air Force Systems Command. Cryptographic and communications intelligence operations were the domain of the Air Force Security Service|
Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency. The U-2Rs of the 349th and the
AQM-34 Firebee/
DC-130 Hercules drone operations of the 350th Squadron were discontinued, with the squadrons becoming KC-135 tanker squadrons of the
100th Air Refueling Wing in support of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing SR-71 Blackbird. The U-2Rs in South Korea became the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Detachment 2. The AQM-34s, associated DC-130 Hercules launch aircraft and
CH-3 Jolly Green Giant recovery helicopters were reassigned to the
Tactical Air Command's
22d Tactical Drone Squadron and remained at Davis-Monthan. With the redesignation, the 100th and its 349th and 350th Air Refueling Squadrons were moved administratively to Beale, taking over the assets of the
17th Bombardment Wing which was inactivated. The 349th and 350th assumed the KC-135s of the
903rd and
922d Air Refueling Squadrons. With the redesignation, the 100th assumed responsibility for providing worldwide air refueling support for the 9th Wing's SR-71s and U-2s on 30 September 1976 The 100th was inactivated on 15 March 1983 when its two KC-135 squadrons were reassigned to the host 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale, which became a composite wing under the one-base, one-wing concept.
Post-Cold War After an inactive status for over seven years, SAC again reactivated the 100th, but this time as the
100th Air Division at
Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri on 1 July 1990, an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command. It assumed host unit responsibilities at Whiteman. In addition, the division controlled the
509th Bombardment Wing, a former
FB-111 unit that had relocated from the former Pease Air Force Base due to
Base Realignment and Closure Commission action and which was not operational while waiting for production
B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to arrive and appropriate facilities for the B-2s to be constructed. It also controlled the
351st Missile Wing, an
LGM-30F Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at Whiteman. Air Force reorganization in 1991 put the 351st under the reactivated
Twentieth Air Force on 29 March 1991, and the 509th Bomb Wing took over host duties at Whiteman. As a result, SAC inactivated the 100th again on 1 August 1991.
Air Refueling in Europe Six months after its inactivation as an air division, and over 46 years after departing England at the end of World War II, the Air Force activated the
100th Air Refueling Wing, stationed at
RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, on 1 February 1992. It was assigned to SAC,
Fifteenth Air Force,
14th Air Division. It was then reassigned to
Third Air Force on 1 February 1992. Becoming the host wing at RAF Mildenhall, the 100th ARW took over the management of the
European Tanker Task Force (ETTF). On 31 March 1992, the 351st Air Refueling Squadron was activated and assigned to the 100th Operations Group. The 100th received its first aircraft when KC-135R, serial 58-0100 arrived from
Loring Air Force Base, Maine, in May 1992. The wing reached full strength by September 1992, when its ninth KC-135R was delivered. The ETTF was ended on 28 November 1998, seeing the number of KC-135R/Ts assigned to
the Bloody Hundredth increased to 15 tankers. Since its reactivation in 1992, the 100th has served as the lone air refueling wing of the United States Air Forces in Europe. The last surviving World War II pilot from the 100th Bombardment Group,
John "Lucky" Luckadoo, died on 1 September 2025 at age 103. ==Lineage==