90th Operations Group

The 90th Operations Group operates 150 LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles on full alert 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its missiles are dispersed in hardened silos over a area in three states to protect against attack and are connected to underground missile alert facilities through a system of hardened cables. It is composed of three missile squadrons, an operations support squadron and a standardization and evaluation element. Each missile squadron is responsible for five missile alert facilities and 50 Minuteman III ICBMs. Its units include the 319th, 320th and 321st Missile Squadrons and the 90th Operations Support Squadron. ==History==

World War II The group was first organized as the 90th Bombardment Group at Key Field, Mississippi in April 1942 as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator unit. The group's original squadrons were the 10th Reconnaissance Squadron and the 319th, 320th and 321st Bombardment Squadrons, although within a week of activation the 10th was renamed the 400th Bombardment Squadron. The group trained with Liberators in the southeastern United States under III Bomber Command until August. The group moved to Willow Run Airport, Michigan for conversion training on newly manufactured Ford Liberators. Assigned to VII Bomber Command with B-24Ds, The unit moved to Hickam Field, Hawaii in September. The group arrived in northern Queensland, Australia in November 1942 and began bombardment missions under V Bomber Command almost immediately. The unit participated in the Battle of Bismarck Sea in March 1943, and earned another citation for strikes on enemy airfields at Wewak, New Guinea in September 1943 despite heavy flak and fighter opposition. The group was reactivated in July 1947 as a very heavy group at Andrews Field, Maryland, one of seven bombardment groups activated at Andrews by Strategic Air Command (SAC) that day. Most of these groups, including the 90th, were inactivated by September 1948 and it does not appear they were manned during this period. The group was again activated at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington in January 1951 and was assigned to the 90th Bombardment Wing under the wing/base organization system. At Fairchild, it began to equip with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, receiving five B-29s by the end of the month. However, as SAC mobilized for the Korean War it found that its wing commanders focused too much on running the base organization and were not spending enough time on overseeing combat preparations. To allow wing commanders the ability to focus on combat operations and the maintenance necessary to support combat aircraft, the combat and maintenance squadrons were attached directly to the wing on 16 February 1951 and the group became a paper organization. On 16 June 1952, this organization, referred to as the Dual Deputy organization, was made permanent and the group was inactivated and its squadrons were assigned directly to the wing. Missile operations The group was redesignated the 90th Operations Group and reactivated at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming in September 1991 as the operational component of the 90th Missile Wing when the wing converted to the Objective Wing Organization. The group was assigned operational control of the wing's four missile squadrons, three of which operated 150 LGM-30G Minuteman III missiles and one of which operated 50 LGM-118A Peacekeeper missiles, plus an operational support squadron. The wing began retiring its Peacekeeper missiles in 2001 in accordance with the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty. The last Peacekeeper was removed from alert in 2005 and the 400th Missile Squadron, which operated them, was inactivated in September 2005. The group's Minuteman III squadrons continue to maintain nuclear alert. ==Lineage==

• Established as the 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 January 1942 : Activated on 15 April 1942 : Redesignated 90 Bombardment Group, Heavy on 20 August 1943 : Inactivated on 27 January 1946 • Redesignated 90 Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 11 June 1947 : Activated on 1 July 1947 : Inactivated on 6 September 1948 • Redesignated 90 Bombardment Group, Medium on 20 December 1950 : Activated on 2 January 1951 : Inactivated on 16 June 1952 • Redesignated 90 Operations Group on 29 August 1991 : Activated on 1 September 1991 • Far East Air Forces, 23 November 1945 – 27 January 1946 • Strategic Air Command, 1 July 1947 – 6 September 1948 • 90th Bombardment Wing, 2 January 1951 – 16 June 1952 • 90th Missile Wing (later 90th Space Wing 90th Missile Wing), 1 September 1991 – present Stations • Key Field, Mississippi, 15 April 1942 • Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 17 May 1942 • Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, 21 June 1942 • Willow Run Airport, Michigan, 9 August 1942 • Camp Stoneman, California, 29 August – 3 September 1942 (ground echelon) • Hickam Field, Hawaii, September 1942 • Iron Range Airfield, Australia, November 1942 • Port Moresby Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 10 February 1943 • Dobodura Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 22 December 1943 • Nadzab Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 23 February 1944 • Wakde Airfield, Netherlands East Indies, 22 June 1944 • Mokmer Airfield, Biak, Netherlands East Indies, 10 August 1944 • McGuire Field, Mindoro, Philippines, 26 January 1945 • Ie Shima, Okinawa, c. 10 August 1945 • Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippines, December 1945 – 26 January 1946 • Andrews Field (later Andrews Air Force Base), Maryland, 1 July 1947 – 6 September 1948 • Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, 2 January 1951 • Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, 14 March 1951 – 16 June 1952 • Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, 1 September 1991 – present Aircraft and missiles • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945 • Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1951 • LGM-30G Minuteman III, 1991–present • LGM-118A Peacekeeper, 1991–2005 • Bell UH-1 Huey, 1993–2015 Awards and campaigns . Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (WWII). ==See also==