In November 1945, jurisdiction of Fort Worth AAF was transferred to
Second Air Force, which established its 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing at the base, equipped with B-29A Superfortresses. With its activation, the 7th became part of the
Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF), headquartered at
Colorado Springs, Colorado. On 12 September, the group deployed 30 B-29s to
Giebelstadt Army Airfield, near
Würzburg, West Germany. This flight was the largest bomber formation flown from Fort Worth AAF overseas to date, landing in Germany on 13 September. During their ten-day stay, the group bombers participated in training operations over Europe, as well as a show-of-force display by the United States in the early part of the
Cold War with the
Soviet Union. The flight redeployed from Germany on 23 September. As part of the new organization both the 7th and 11th Bombardment Groups became its operational components. Upon becoming its own service, the USAF renamed many former Army Air Fields as memorials to deceased airmen. On 1 January 1948, Fort Worth Airfield was renamed
Griffiss Air Force Base as a memorial to
Lt. Col. Townsend Griffiss (1900–1942), a
Buffalo native and 1922
West Point graduate who, in 1942, became the first U.S. airman to be killed in the line of duty in the
European Theatre of World War II when his
Consolidated B-24 Liberator was shot down by friendly fire over the English Channel. On 27 February, the base's name was changed again to memorialize native son and
Medal of Honor winner,
Major Horace S. Carswell, Jr., who gave his life while attempting to crash land his crippled B-24 over China. Since 1942, the
XB-36 Peacemaker long range bomber had been under development by Consolidated, and work on it was shifted from Consolidated's San Diego, California plant to its government-leased plant in Fort Worth. By 1947 the initial production version B-36A was ready, and, in June 1948 the first Convair B-36A Peacemaker was delivered to the Air Force. The first B-36A was designated the "City of Fort Worth" (AF Serial No. 44-92015) and was assigned to the 492d Bomb Squadron. B-36s continued to roll out from the production plant throughout 1948 while being assigned to the
7th Bomb Group. The group's last B-29 was transferred out on 6 December to the
97th Bombardment Group at
Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas. For 10 years, Carswell's "Peacemaker" fleet cast a large shadow on the Soviet
Iron Curtain and served as the United States' major deterrent weapons system. In January 1951, the 7th Bombardment Group took part in a special training mission to the United Kingdom. The purpose of the mission was to evaluate the updated B-36D under simulated war-plan conditions and 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
Heligoland, West Germany. From there the bombers would conduct a simulated bomb run on the
Heston Bomb Plot, London, finally landing at
RAF Lakenheath.
B-36 Peacemaker Era The wing's mission was to prepare for global strategic bombardment in the event of hostilities. Under various designations, the 7th Bombardment Wing flew a wide variety of aircraft at the base until its inactivation in 1993. 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." In 1954, Carswell was prominently featured and used as a filming location in the
James Stewart and
June Allyson film
Strategic Air Command. 11th Bomb Group B-36s appeared with James Stewart who was also attached to the unit in the 1950s as a unit commander in his then-rank of Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. On 13 April 1965, the 7th Bomb Wing deployed its forces to
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam to bomb the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Most of the wing's bombers and tankers, along with aircrews and some support personnel, were deployed. At Andersen, the wing flew more than 1,300 missions over Vietnam, and returned to Carswell in December 1965. B-52 crews were sent through an intensive two-week course on the B-52D, making them eligible for duty in Southeast Asia. B-52s assigned to combat duty in Vietnam were painted in a modified camouflage scheme 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 black on the fin over a horizontal red stripe across the length of the fin. From then until the close of 1969, the wing served as one of two SAC B-58 wings with a strategic-bombardment mission. One of the last things the wing did while at Carswell AFB took place on 28 March 1964, the day after a
major earthquake devastated Alaska. Headquarters USAF tasked the 43rd to provide it with photographs of the region hit by the quake. Members of the 43rd flew two B-58s the to Alaska and back, processed the film, and then delivered the pictures to Washington DC 14.5 hours after the wing received the request. Six months later the 43rd Bomb Wing moved to
Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. Beginning in 1972, the
301st Fighter Wing (under various designations) has trained at Carswell as an
Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit, training for tactical air missions, including counter-air, interdiction, and close air support. Originally gained by the former
Tactical Air Command (TAC), the unit is now operationally gained by
Air Combat Command (ACC). The 301st replaced the Air Force Reserve's 916th Military Airlift Group (916 MAG), which was inactivated. ==Inactivation==