Established as a
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group in mid-1943 at
Mountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho, and activated on 8 September. Transferred to Kearns Center, Utah for personnel assignment and organization then sent to
Wendover Field, Utah for combat training on 1 November. In January the group received deployment orders for the
European Theater of Operations (ETO). On 12 February 1944 the ground unit went by train to
Camp Shanks, New York. They sailed on the on 28 February 1944 and arrived in Clyde on 10 March 1944. The aircraft left Wendover on 12 February 1944 and took the southern Atlantic ferry route. One B-24 was lost with all the crew over the Atlas mountains. Moved to
RAF Rackheath, Norfolk in England, February–March 1944, and was assigned to the
VIII Bomber Command. The group was assigned to the
96th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-P". The mission of the 467th was to engage in very long range strategic bombardment operations over
Occupied Europe and
Nazi Germany. The group began operations on 10 April 1944 with an attack by thirty aircraft on an airfield at
Bourges in central France. In combat, the unit served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization, attacking the harbor at
Kiel, chemical plants at
Bonn, textile factories at
Stuttgart, power plants at
Hamm, steel works at
Osnabrück, the aircraft industry at
Brunswick, and other objectives. In addition to strategic operations, engaged occasionally in support and interdictory missions. Bombed shore installations and bridges near
Cherbourg Naval Base on
D-Day, 6 June 1944. Struck enemy troop and supply concentrations near
Montreuil on 25 July 1944 to assist the
Allied drive across France. In September, over two weeks the bombers flew gasoline from Rackheath to
Clastres Airfield (A-71) France for use by the US mechanized forces. Attacked German communications and fortifications during the
Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945. Hit enemy transportation to assist the
Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945. After the German Capitulation in May 1945, the group was ordered back to the United States for B-29 transition and redeployment to the
Pacific Theater of Operations. Redeployed to the US June/July 1945. The air echelon departed Rackheath on 12 June 1945. The ground units sailed from Greenock on the on 6 July 1945. They arrived in New York on 11 July 1945. Upon arrival, most of the group was demobilized due to their combat service in Europe; a cadre of officers and men was formed at
Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota on 25 August. At Sioux Falls, the unit was redesignated as the
467th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy in August and was reformed with newly trained pilots, aircrews and ground personnel. The reformed group was sent to
Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska for initial
Second Air Force training then on to Phase II training at
Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico where the group trained on worn
II Bomber Command B-17s and some pre-production YB-29s used for aircrew training. The Japanese Capitulation in early August canceled the planned deployment to the Pacific, however the group continued to train Due to the advanced training state of the unit, it move to Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, where the group received new
Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and completed training. In December 1945 was assigned to a permanent base at
Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico as part of
Continental Air Forces. Engaged in strategic bombardment training operations on a reduced scale upon arrival at Clovis, as many personnel were being demobilized. On 21 March 1946, was assigned as one of the initial units of the new
Strategic Air Command. The unit, however was inactivated on 4 August due to personnel shortages and funding reductions in the immediate postwar Air Force. The equipment and remaining personnel were reassigned to other SAC units, primarily the
301st Bombardment Group at
Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas.
Expeditionary operations The group was redesignated the
467th Air Expeditionary Group and assigned to
Air Combat Command to activate and inactivate as needed. It was activated at
Balad Air Base, Iraq in November 2010. The group assumed the mission, equipment and personnel of the
732nd Air Expeditionary Group, which was simultaneously inactivated. The group provided administrative and operational control of "Joint Expeditionary Tasked Airmen" and to "Individual Augmentee Airmen." It was inactivated on an unknown date.
Lineage • Constituted as the
467th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943 : Activated on 1 August 1943 : Redesignated
467th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in August 1945 : Inactivated on 4 August 1946 : Converted to provisional status and redesignated
467th Air Expeditionary Group on 25 February 2010 : Activated c. 12 November 2010 : Inactivated unknown
Assignments •
II Bomber Command, 1 August 1943 •
Second Air Force, 6 October 1943 – 12 February 1944 •
96th Combat Bombardment Wing, 7 March 1944 – 12 June 1945 • Second Air Force, 15 July 1945 • Strategic Air Command, 21 March – 4 August 1946 • Air Combat Command, 25 February 2010 :: Air Component Coordination Element-Iraq, c. 12 November 2010 – unknown
Components •
788th Bombardment Squadron, 1 August 1943 – 4 August 1946 •
789th Bombardment Squadron, 1 August 1943 – 4 August 1946 •
790th Bombardment Squadron, 1 August 1943 – 4 August 1946 •
791st Bombardment Squadron, 1 August 1943 – 4 August 1946
Stations • Wendover Field, Utah, 1 August 1943 – 8 September 1943 • Mountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho, 8 September 1943 – 17 October 1943 •
Kearns Army Air Field, Utah 17 October 1943 – 1 November 1943 • Wendover Field, Utah, 1 November 1943 – 12 February 1944 • RAF Rackheath (AAF-145), England, 11 March 1944 – 12 June 1945 •
Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, 15 July 1945 •
Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, 25 July 1945 • Alamogordo Army Air Field : Elements trained at
Albuquerque Army Air Base, New Mexico, 22 August 1945 • Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, 8 September 1945 – December 1945 • Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico, December 1945 – 4 August 1946 •
Balad Air Base, Iraq, c. 12 November 2010 – unknown
Aircraft • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945 •
B-17 Flying Fortress, 1945–1946 • Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1946 ==References==