The
19th Observation Group was constituted as part of the
United States Army Air Corps on 18 October 1927, without personnel or equipment. In 1929 its paper designation was changed to the
19th Bombardment Group, and it came into being with its activation at
Rockwell Field, California, in June 1932. Two of its four squadrons, the 23rd and 72nd Bomb Squadrons, were permanently detached for service in Hawaii with the 5th Composite Group. The two squadrons at Rockwell, the 30th and 32nd Bomb Squadrons, were equipped with
Keystone B-3A bombers. The unit flew training missions along the California coast for
coastal defense between 1932 and 1935. On 1 March 1935, all aviation combat units of the AAC in the United States were reorganized into General Headquarters Air Force, the first centralized control of the air striking arm of the United States. The 19th BG moved to
March Field, California, in October 1935, as part of the 1st Wing, commanded by Brig. Gen.
Henry H. Arnold. In 1940, the group was equipped with the new
B-17B Flying Fortress, the first production version of the B-17. The unit made aviation history on the night of 13–14 May 1941 when they ferried 21 B-17s from California to Hawaii to equip the new
11th Bomb Group, landing on schedule within 30 minutes of each other and in the order they took off. The crews returned to the United States by ship and relocated to
Albuquerque AAF to train navigators. The 19th BG redeployed two of its three squadrons (the 30th and 93d) to the Philippines between 16 October and 4 November 1941. The 26 bombers, traveling individually and at night on their longest leg, flew a trans-Pacific route from
Hamilton Field, California; to
Hickam Field, Hawaii;
Midway Island;
Wake Island;
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea;
Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; and
Clark Field,
Luzon, a distance of over 10,000 miles, nearly all of it over water. The route had been pioneered between 5 and 12 September 1941 by the
14th Bombardment Squadron, which was attached as the group's third squadron after its arrival. The
28th Bombardment Squadron, a squadron that had long been based in the Philippines with the 4th Composite Group (being broken up and disbanded), but now rostered by pilots fresh out of flight training, was also attached to the group as its fourth squadron and began transition training to the B-17. The 19th BG had an inventory of 6 B-17C and 29 B-17D, although one B-17D was out of commission during its entire overseas service when it broke off its tail in a collision with a parked aircraft while landing in a typhoon after its flight from the United States on 12 September.
World War II B-17 Flying Fortress era ,
New Guinea on 26–27 June 1942 The unit was based at
Clark Field as the bomber command of the
Far East Air Force when the Japanese attacked on 8 December 1941, inflicting numerous casualties and destroying two-thirds of the 19 B-17s at Clark in the attack. The 14th and 93d Squadrons, with 14 B-17D and two B-17C bombers, had been ordered to Del Monte Airfield on Mindanao just two days prior and escaped unharmed. When it was over, sixteen square miles of the center of Tokyo had gone up in flames and nearly 84,000 people had been killed. Fourteen B-29s were lost. The B-29 was finally beginning to have an effect. By 20 March, XXI Bomber Command had run out of incendiaries, forcing a momentary pause. While waiting for new incendiary stocks, LeMay devoted his B-29s to flying tactical missions over the island of Kyushu in support of the invasion of Okinawa. Airfields and support facilities were primary targets. These raids lasted until early May. By the end of the war in August 1945, the 19th Bombardment Group flew 65 raids on the Japanese home islands, bombing strategic targets in Japan, participating in
incendiary bomb attacks against Japanese cities, and attacked
kamikaze airfields during the invasion of
Okinawa in the spring of 1945.
Components World War II/Korean War •
14th Bombardment Squadron: attached 2 December 1941-c. 14 March 1942 •
23d Bombardment Squadron: 24 June 1932 – 12 October 1938 (detached entire period) •
28th Bombardment Squadron: 16 November 1941 – 1 April 1944; 1 April 1944 – 1 June 1953 •
30th Observation (later Bombardment) Squadron: 24 June 1932 – 1 April 1944; 1 April 1944 – 1 June 1953 •
32d Observation (later Bombardment) Squadron: 24 June 1932 – 16 December 1941 (detached 22 October-16 December 1941) •
38th Reconnaissance (later Bombardment) Squadron: 1 September 1936 – 13 March 1942 (detached 17 January-13 March 1942) •
40th Reconnaissance (later 435th Bombardment) Squadron: 14 March 1942 – 1 April 1944 (detached c. 17 July-c. 24 September 1942); 1 April-10 May 1944 •
93d Bombardment Squadron: 20 October 1939 – 1 April 1944; 1 April 1944 – 1 June 1953
Modern era •
7th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 June 1992 – 1 January 1993 •
30th Airlift Squadron: 1 October 2008 – c. September 2015 (?) •
41st Airlift Squadron: 1 October 2008 – present •
50th Airlift Squadron: 1 October 2008 – 1 Apr 2016 (reactivated Oct 2017 at
MacDill AFB as 50th Air Refueling Squadron) •
52nd Airlift Squadron: 1 October 2009 – present •
53rd Airlift Squadron: 1 October 2008 – present •
61st Airlift Squadron: 1 October 2008 – present •
99th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 September 1991 – 1 September 2008 •
345th Airlift Squadron: 6 August 2010 – c. June 2014 (?) •
384th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 June 1992 – 1 January 1994 •
712th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 April 1994 – 1 July 1996 •
912th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 September 1991 – 1 April 1994.
Stations •
Rockwell Field, California, 24 June 1932 •
March Field, California, 25 October 1935 •
Albuquerque Field,
New Mexico, 7 June-29 September 1941 •
Clark Field, Philippines, 26 October 1941 •
Batchelor Airfield, Australia, 24 December 1941 •
Singosari Field,
Java, 30 December 1941 •
Essendon Airport (Melbourne), Australia, 2 March 1942 •
RAAF Base Townsville, Australia, 18 April 1942 •
Longreach (Torrens Creek) Airport, Australia, 18 May 1942 •
Mareeba Airfield, Australia, 26 July 1942 •
RAAF Base Townsville, Australia, 30 November-2 December 1942 •
Pocatello AAB,
Idaho, 9 December 1942 •
Pyote AAB, Texas, 3 January 1943 – 1 April 1944 •
Great Bend AAFld,
Kansas, 1 April 1944 •
Dalhart AAFld, Texas, 26 May 1944 •
Great Bend AAFld, Kansas, 23 August 1944 •
Fort Lawton,
Washington, 11–19 December 1944 •
North Field (later, North Guam AFB; Andersen AFB), Guam, 16 January 1945 •
Kadena AB,
Okinawa, 5 July 1950 – 1 June 1953 •
Robins AFB,
Georgia, 1 September 1991 – 30 September 2008 •
Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, 1 October 2008–present
Aircraft •
Keystone B-3, 1932–1935 •
Douglas OA-4 Dolphin, 1932–1935 •
Grumman OA-9 Goose, 1932–1935 •
Martin B-10, 1935–1937 •
Martin B-12, 1935–1937 •
B-18 Bolo, 1937–1940 •
B-17 Flying Fortress, 1940–1944 •
B-24 Liberator, 1942 •
LB-30 Liberator, 1942 •
B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1953 •
KC-135 Stratotanker, 1991–2008 •
Boeing EC-135, 1991–1997 •
Boeing EC-137 Stratoliner, 1991–1994 • C-130J, C-130E, C-130H-3, 2008–present
Decorations • Distinguished Unit Citations: Philippine Islands, 7 Dec 1941-10 May 1942; Philippine Islands, 8-22 Dec 1941; Philippine Islands and Netherlands Indies, 1 Jan-1 Mar 1942; Philippine Islands, 6 Jan-8 Mar 1942; Papua, 23 Jul-[Oct 1942]; New Britain, 7-12 Aug 1942; Japan, 9-19 Mar 1945; Kobe, Japan, 5 Jun 1945; Korea, 28 Jun-15 Sep 1950. • Meritorious Unit Awards: 1 Jul 2006-30 June 2007; 1 Aug 2009-31 Jul 2011. Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: 1 Jul 1993-30 Jun 1994; 1 Jul 1994-30 Jun 1996; 1 Jul 1998-30 Jun 1999; 1 Jul 1999-30 Jun 2000; 1 Jul 2000-30 Jun 2001; 1 Jul 2001-30 Jun 2002; 1 Jul 2002-30 Jun 2003; 1 Jul 2003-30 Jun 2004; 1 Jul 2004-30 Jun 2005; 1 Jul 2005-30 Jun 2006. • Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (World War II). • Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation: 7 Jul 1950-1 Jun 1953. • Air Force Aviation Resource Management Annual Sergeant Dee Campbell Large Unit Award, 2016 ==See also==