World War II The group was established in late 1943 as the
494th Bombardment Group, a
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group, and activated on 1 December at
Wendover Field, Utah. Its initial squadrons were the
864th,
865th,
866th, and
867th Bombardment Squadrons (BS). The 494th was the last of seven heavy bombardment Groups – 488th through 494th – activated in the autumn of 1943, as
B-29 Superfortress production was beginning in large numbers. The 494th was subsequently the last heavy bomb group formed and trained by the Army Air Forces. The group's origins begin when the
10th Antisubmarine Squadron moved to
Gowen Field, Idaho to retrain as a heavy bombardment unit with B-24s. At Gowen, the unit was renamed the 867th BS and moved to
Wendover Field, Utah From its new base, the group engaged primarily in very long range attacks against enemy airfields on
Kyūshū. The group also participated in incendiary raids, dropped propaganda leaflets over urban areas of Kyūshū and struck airfields in China, in southern
Korea, and around the Inland
Sea of Japan until the Japanese capitulation in August. and assigned it to the
816th Air Division (later 816th Strategic Aerospace Division) as part of SAC's plan to disperse its
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the
Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The wing remained a headquarters only until 1 August 1959, when the 61st Aviation Depot Squadron was activated to oversee the wing's special weapons. Two months later, three maintenance squadrons and a squadron to provide security for special weapons were activated and assigned to the wing. The wing became fully operational on 1 October 1962 when the
900th Air Refueling Squadron, flying
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, was organized and assigned to the wing. One third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute
alert, fully fueled, armed and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the wing's aircraft in 1962. The 4245th (and later the 494th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until it was inactivated.
494th Bombardment Wing In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious
World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic 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. As a result, the 4245th SW was replaced by the newly constituted
494th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (BW), In the same way the
864th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 717th BS. The 61st Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 900th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 494th. The 4245th's maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 494th numerical designation of the newly established wing. Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor. Under the Dual Deputate organization, all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group element was activated. The 494th Bomb Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC's operational commitments. By 1966,
Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States' strategic triad, and the need for B-52s had been reduced. In addition, funds were also needed to cover the costs of combat operations in
Indochina. The 494th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and its aircraft were reassigned to other SAC units. The group was converted to provisional status as the 494th Air Expeditionary Group in mid-2002, and active at
Moron Air Base in Spain for a period in 2003. ==Lineage==