Heavy bomber training unit The
group was first activated at
Salt Lake City Army Air Base in November 1942, with the
536th,
537th, 538th and 539th Bombardment Squadrons assigned. The group moved to
Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona in January 1943 and began to operate as an
Operational Training Unit (OTU) for
Consolidated B-24 Liberator units. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide
cadres to "satellite groups". In April 1943, the group moved to
Pocatello Army Air Field, Idaho, where its mission changed to acting as a
Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for Liberator
aircrews. RTUs were also oversized units, but their mission was to train individual
pilots or
aircrews. As a result of this reorganization, the 382d was inactivated, and along with other units at
Muroc Army Air Field, California, replaced by the 421st AAF Base Unit (Bombardment Replacement Training Unit-Heavy).
B-29 operations The group was again activated in late August 1944 at
Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas as a
Boeing B-29 Superfortress, unit, although until 19 September it had no squadrons assigned and was commanded by a
second lieutenant. On that date, a new set of squadrons, the
420th,
464th, and
872d Bombardment Squadrons, were assigned to the group as its combat elements. These squadrons had each been active as training units earlier, but had been assigned to other groups. The group trained with Superfortresses until the summer of 1945. Its ground echelon deployed to
Guam and
Tinian by ship in early August 1945 while the air echelon remained at
Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas after
V-J Day. The ground echelon remained in the Marianas supporting other units' aircraft. The air echelon inactivated in Kansas in August 1945. The ground echelon returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated after transit through the
Los Angeles Port of Embarkation in January 1946. ==Lineage==