:
For additional history and lineage information, see 7th Operations Group Cold War B-36 era On 17 November 1947, the
7th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy was organized at
Fort Worth Army Air Field, Texas The first B-36 was designated the "City of Fort Worth" (AF Serial No. 44-92015), and was assigned to the
492d Bombardment Squadron. When the wing base organization was made permanent in 1948, the wing was redesignated as the
7th Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 1 August. The wing's last
B-29 was transferred on 6 December to the
97th Bombardment Group at
Biggs Air Force Base. For 10 years, the "Peacemaker" served as the United States' major deterrent weapons system. The
11th Bombardment Group was activated on 1 December 1948 with the
26th,
42d, and
98th Bombardment Squadrons, Heavy assigned. The 11th Bomb Group was assigned to
Eighth Air Force, but attached to the 7th wing and was also equipped with B-36As for training. A five ship B-36 formation was flown on 15 January 1949, in an air review over Washington, D.C., commemorating the inauguration of the President of the United States,
Harry S. Truman. By December 1950 the wing and its attached groups had 38 B-36s on hand, including several B-36Ds with four
General Electric J47 jet engines augmenting its six
reciprocating engines and its B-36Bs began to be upgraded to B-36D standard. In January 1951, the 7th took part in a special training mission to the United Kingdom. This was the first flight of B-36s outside the continental United States since the simulated mission to Hawaii. The purpose of the mission was to evaluate the B-36D under simulated war plan conditions. Also, further evaluate the equivalent airspeed and compression tactics for heavy bombardment aircraft. The aircraft, staging through
Limestone AFB, Maine, would land at
RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, following a night radar bombing attack on
Helgoland, West Germany. From there the bombers would conduct a simulated bomb run on the
Heston Bomb Plot, London, finally landing at[RAF Lakenheath. This was the first deployment of wing and SAC B-36 aircraft to England and Europe. For the next four days the flight flew sorties out of England. The aircraft redeployed to the states on 20 January arriving at Carswell on 21 January. By September 1952, the B-36s assigned to the 7th Wing and its companion
11th Wing comprised two thirds of SAC's intercontinental bomber force. On 1 September 1952, what was then thought to be a tornado rolled across the Carswell flight line, with winds over 90 miles per hour recorded at the control tower. By the time it had passed "the flight line was a tangle of airplanes, equipment and pieces of buildings."
B-52 era On 10 December 1957, the 98th Bomb Squadron was detached from the wing and assigned to the newly activated
4123d Strategic Wing at Carswell. This would become the first
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress unit at Carswell. During January 1958, the wing began transferring its B-36 bombers to various SAC wings. On 20 January, the wing transferred all B-52 equipment and property on hand to the 4123d Strategic Wing in order to facilitate that organization's conversion, which was scheduled several months ahead of the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell. The 7th Bomb Wing officially became a B-52 organization with the adoption of manning documents and equipping authorizations on 1 February 1958. On 30 May, Memorial Day, the last of the B-36s in the wing were retired with appropriate ceremonies and an "Open House" event on the base. Air Force and civilian personnel of the base, their families, and civilians from surrounding communities were on hand to bid the "Peacemaker" a fond farewell. This last flight of a B-36 completely phased out B-36 operations in the wing. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the primary mission of the wing was training in global strategic bombardment and air refueling operations. On 13 April 1965, the 7 BW deployed its forces to
Andersen Air Force Base,
Guam to support SAC combat operations in
Southeast Asia. Most of the wing's bombers and tankers, along with aircrews and some support personnel, were deployed. At Andersen AFB, the wing flew more than 1,300 missions over
Vietnam, and returned to Carswell in December 1965. In 1964 and 1965, the wing's B-52Fs were selected for modification under programs South Bay and Sun Bath. These modifications enabled the wing's bombers to double their bomb load from 24 to 48 750 lb bombs by the installation of external bomb racks. With these modifications, the wing's planes, along with those of the
320th Bombardment Wing at
Mather AFB, were the first to deploy to
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and the first to fly
Arc Light bombing missions. The modified B-52Fs were the only SAC bombers to deploy for Arc Light missions until 1966, when the B-52Fs were replaced by B-52Ds with the Big Belly modification than enabled them to carry a larger and more varied bomb load. Later B-52 crews were sent through an intensive two-week course on the B-52D, making them eligible for duty in Southeast Asia. B-52Ds assigned to combat duty in Vietnam were painted in a modified camouflage scheme on the upper surfaces with the undersides, lower fuselage, and both sides of the vertical fin being painted in a glossy black. The USAF serial number was painted in red on the fin over a horizontal red stripe across the length of the fin. The B-52 effort was concentrated primarily against suspected
Viet Cong targets in
South Vietnam, but the
Ho Chi Minh trail and targets in
Laos were also hit. During the
relief of
Khe Sanh, unbroken waves of six aircraft, attacking every three hours, dropped bombs as close as 900 feet from friendly lines.
Cambodia was increasingly bombed by B-52s from March 1969 onward. By mid-1973 most wing KC-135 resources had redeployed, and most B-52 resources returned by January 1974. The wing resumed nuclear alert status on 3 January 1974. From 4 December 1973 to May 1975, the wing conducted B-52D replacement training, and from January 1974 also conducted B-52D combat crew training, i.e., providing B-52 flight training to novice crews. Beginning in June 1974 the wing also conducted B-52 and KC-135 Central Flight Instructors' courses. Participated in numerous USAF and
NATO exercises worldwide. Used B-52s for ocean surveillance and ship identification in joint naval operations. Wing KC-135 aerial refuelers supported tanker task forces worldwide. In October – November 1983, the wing supported the invasion of
Grenada with aerial refueling. In the 1980s the base received several new weapons systems, including modified B-52H aircraft as the B-52D aircraft were retired. In 1983, B-52 crews began training with a new weapon system, the SRAM (Short Range Attack Missile) and later, in 1985, the ALCM (Air Launched
Cruise Missile). Also, the wing flew numerous atmospheric sampling missions during 1986 and 1987 in response to the
Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. Deployed air refueling personnel and equipment to provisional wings in
Southwest Asia, August 1990 – February 1992. The wing hosted the first
Soviet START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) exhibition inspection team in September 1991.
From the 1990s as part of
Air Defender 23 As "host unit" for Carswell AFB, the 7th Bomb Wing began preparations for
Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC)-directed base realignment of Carswell AFB in January 1992 and transfer of most of the installation to the
U.S. Navy as
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth / Carswell Field to replace nearby
Naval Air Station Dallas, which was also being closed due to BRAC. Concurrent transfer of Carswell's remaining USAF-specific aspects to the
Air Force Reserve Command's tenant activities at Carswell, Headquarters,
10th Air Force (10AF) and the
301st Fighter Wing, was also accomplished. 7th Bomb Wing was released of all operational capabilities at Carswell AFB on 1 January 1993. The 7th Bomb Wing closed Carswell AFB on 30 September 1993, transferring the installation to the U.S. Navy as NAS JRB Fort Worth and to
Air Force Reserve Command as Carswell Air Reserve Station and moved to
Dyess AFB, Texas without personnel or equipment on 1 October 1993. At Dyess, they became the 7th Wing, a composite wing equipped with B-1B and C-130 aircraft. In 1997, the wing assumed responsibility for all B-1B initial qualification and instructor upgrade training for Air Combat Command. On 1 April 1997, the wing again became the 7th Bomb Wing when the C-130 airlift mission transferred to
Air Mobility Command. Since 2000, the 7th Bomb Wing has provided bombing, training and combat support to combatant commanders. In the spring of 2015, the
Department of the Air Force announced effective 1 October 2015, the 7th Bomb Wing, along with the
28th Bomb Wing at
Ellsworth Air Force Base, would be reassigned to the new
Air Force Global Strike Command, reuniting all the Air Force's bomber and strategic missiles under a single command for the first time since Strategic Air Command was disestablished 23 years earlier. ==Lineage==