The unit was initially organized at
Langley Field, Virginia, as the
13th Composite Wing in October 1940. It was assigned to the new
Caribbean Air Force as a command organization for units in the Caribbean. Assigned to
Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, its mission was to provide an air strike force for the defense of
Puerto Rico and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. During the period 1940 to 1942, the wing controlled 21
Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers and 92 assorted fighters in about a dozen groups and squadrons. On 17 April 1942, the wing was inactivated, and its mission was taken over by the
VI Interceptor Command, Antilles Air Task Force. With the end of the war in Europe, it returned to the United States and was inactivated on 17 October 1945. However, these wings never became operational; instead the division became an
SM-65 Atlas organization, controlling the
389th and
451st Strategic Missile Wings. It was briefly assigned some KC-135A Tankers and EC-135 electronic intelligence aircraft after the
98th Bombardment Wing was inactivated at
Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska afterwards, however the
13th Strategic Missile Division was itself inactivated in July 1966, its mission being taken over by the
821st Strategic Aerospace Division in a SAC reorganization.
Lineage • Established as the
13th Composite Wing on 2 October 1940 : Activated on 10 October 1940 : Inactivated on 17 April 1942 • Redesignated:
13th Bombardment Wing on 23 August 1942 : Activated on 1 October 1942 : Redesignated
13th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 1 February 1943 : Redesignated
13th Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 30 August 1943 : Redesignated
13th Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 24 August 1944 : Redesignated
13th Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 18 June 1945 : Redesignated
13th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 17 August 1945 : Inactivated on 17 October 1945 • Redesignated
13th Air Division on 20 May 1959 : Activated on 1 July 1959 : Redesignated
13th Strategic Missile Division on 1 January 1963 : Discontinued and inactivated, on 2 July 1966
Assignments • Unknown, 10 October 1940 • Panama Canal Air Force (later Caribbean Air Force), c. 1 November 1940 – 25 October 1941 •
Third Air Force, 1 October 1942 • Eighth Air Force, c. 1 June 1943 •
VIII Bomber Command, 4 June 1943 • 3d Air Division, 16 July 1945 •
Second Air Force, c. 15 August 1945 – 17 October 1945 •
Fifteenth Air Force, 1 July 1959 • Eighth Air Force, 1 July 1963 •
Fifteenth Air Force, 1 July 1965 – 2 July 1966
Components Wings ;; HGM-25A Titan I ICBM • 703d Strategic Missile Wing: 1 July 1959 – 1 July 1961 • 706th Strategic Missile Wing: 1 July 1959 – 1 July 1961 ;; SM-65A Atlas ICBM • 389th Strategic Missile Wing: 1 July 1961 – 25 March 1965 • 451st Strategic Missile Wing: 1 July 1961 – 25 June 1965 ;; LGM-30A Minuteman I ICBM • 90th Strategic Missile Wing: 1 July 1963 – 2 July 1966
Squadron •
34th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 July 1965 – 25 June 1966.
Groups •
25th Bombardment Group: 1 November 1940 – c. 6 January 1941 •
36th Pursuit Group: January-3 June 1941 •
40th Bombardment Group: 1 May – 25 October 1941 • 95th Bombardment Group: September 1943 – c. 19 June 1945 • 100th Bombardment Group: c. September 1943 – c. December 1945 • 390th Bombardment Group: 13 September 1943 – c. 4 August 1945 •
490th Bombardment Group: c. March – August 1945 •
493d Bombardment Group: c. March – August 1945
Stations • Langley Field, Virginia, 10 – 26 October 1940 • Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, 1 November 1940 •
San Juan, Puerto Rico, c. 6 January 1941 • Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, c. 1 May – 25 October 1941 •
MacDill Field, Florida, 1 October 1942 – c. 10 May 1943 • Marks Hall, England, c. 2 June 1943 • Camp Blainey, England, c. 13 June 1943 •
RAF Horham, England, 13 September 1943 – c. 6 August 1945 •
Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 15 August 1945 •
Peterson Field, Colorado, 17 August – 17 October 1945 •
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, 1 July 1959 – 2 July 1966
Aircraft and missiles • Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1940–1941 • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941, 1943–1945 •
Martin B-26 Marauder, 1941 •
Bell P-39 Airacobra, 1941 •
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1941 • SM-65 Atlas, 1960–1965 • SM-68A Titan I, 1962–1965 • LGM-30 Minuteman I, 1964–1966 •
Boeing EC-135, 1965–1966 •
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, 1965–1966
Heraldry Light blue, issuant from base a sphere light green with land areas vert, grid lined azure, the sinister quarter of the last with grid lines of the field, above the sphere in chief an olive branch arched fesswise or, overall an aircraft and a missile bendwise each trailing speedlines of the like and all within a diminished border of the last. ==References==