334th Bombardment Group
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=334th Bombardment Group
(later 334th Air Refueling Wing, 334th Air Expeditionary Group)
|image=B-25 (5230249372).jpg
|image_size=300
|caption=B-25 Mitchell of a Replacement Training Unit
|dates=1942–1944
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|role=medium bomber training
|size=
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|motto=
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|battles=American Theater of World War II
|notable_commanders=
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|identification_symbol=165px
|identification_symbol_label=Patch with the 334th Bombardment Group emblemMaurer, Combat Units, p. 214
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The 334th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. From 1942 to 1944, it served as a Replacement Training Unit at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was disbanded on 1 May 1944 in a reorganization of Army Air Forces training units. The group was reconstituted in 1985 as the 334th Air Refueling Wing. It was converted to provisional status in 2005 as the 334th Air Expeditionary Group and has been activated for exercises.
History
The 334th Bombardment Group was activated on 16 July 1942 at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. Its original components were the 470th, 471st, 472nd and 473d Bombardment Squadrons, and the group was equipped with North American B-25 Mitchells. It became part of Third Air Force, which was responsible for the majority of medium bomber training for the Army Air Forces (AAF).Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 575Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 575-576Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 576Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
The 354th acted as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for the B-25. The RTU was an oversized unit which trained individual pilots and aircrews, after which they would be assigned to operational units. However, the AAF found that standard military units, whose manning was based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, manned according to the base's specific needs.Goss, p. 75 As this reorganization was implemented in the spring of 1944, the 334th Group, its components and supporting units at Greenville, were disbanded on 1 May and replaced by the 330th AAF Base Unit (Medium, Bombardment).
The emblems of the group's four squadrons were variations of "Bomby the Bear", and were featured in a National Geographic article about military insignia.Hubbard, p. 714
The group was reconstituted in July 1985 as the 334th Air Refueling Wing, but remained in inactive status.Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations It was converted to provisional status as the 334th Air Expeditionary Group and assigned to Air Combat Command (ACC) to activate or inactivate as needed. ACC activated the group in 2007 for Exercise Ardent SentryResearch Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, May 2007, Maxwell AFB, AL It was again active to control exercise units in July 2010Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, July 2010, Maxwell AFB, AL
Lineage
=Assignments=
- Third Air Force, 16 July 1942 – 1 May 1944
- Air Combat Command, to activate or inactivate as needed after 21 October 2005
:: 1st Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force, 9 May–23 May 2007
:: 1st Air And Space Expeditionary Task Force, 5 July 2010–c. July 2010
=Components=
=Stations=
- Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, 16 July 1942 – 1 May 1944
- Camp Atterbury, Indiana, 9 May–23 May 2007
- Camp A. P. Hill, Virginia, 5 July 2010–c. July 2010
=Aircraft=
References
=Notes=
{{Reflist|40em}}
=Bibliography=
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
- {{cite book|editor=Craven, Wesley F |editor2=Cate, James L|url=http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329891/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-019.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220184358/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329891/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-019.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=December 17, 2016 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=VI, Men & Planes|year=1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158| lccn=48003657}}
- {{cite journal|url= http://archive.nationalgeographic.com/dynamic/National%20Geographic%20Society/National%20Geographic/Landing.aspx |url-access=subscription |last1=Hubbard|first1=Gerard|title= Aircraft Insignia, Spirit of Youth |year=1943|volume=LXXXIII |issue=6|pages=718–722|journal=The National Geographic Magazine|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=September 1, 2017}}
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 20 December 2016|access-date= December 17, 2016|edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher= Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|access-date= December 17, 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
{{USAF Air Combat Command}}
{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II}}
Category:Bombardment groups of the United States Army Air Forces
Category:Military units and formations established in 1942
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944