335th Bombardment Group
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=335th Bombardment Group
(later 335th Air Refueling Wing)
|image=File:B263 martin.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=B-26 Marauder as flown by the group
|dates=1942-1944
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|role=medium bomber training
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|motto=Fidus et Fortis Latin Faithful and Strong
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|identification_symbol=165px
|identification_symbol_label=335th Bombardment Group emblemApproved 19 November 1942.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 214-215.
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The 335th Air Refueling Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The group was active at Barksdale Field, Louisiana from July 1942 as a training unit for medium bomber aircrews. It was disbanded in May 1944, when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States. The group was reconstituted in 1985 as the 335th Air Refueling Wing, but has not been active since then.
History
The 335th Bombardment Group was activated on 17 July 1942 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. Its original components were the 474th, 475th, 476th and 477th Bombardment Squadrons, and the group was equipped with Martin B-26 Marauders. 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, pp. 576-577Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 577Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 577-578Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi The group drew its cadre from the 17th Bombardment Group,{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/083/823.xml |last1=|first1=|title=Abstract, History 335 Bombardment Group [and 331 AAF Base Unit], July 1942-October 1944|date=December 2, 1961|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=January 3, 2021}} which was in the process of converting to the B-26 from the North American B-25 Mitchell.Maurer, Combat Units, p. 61
The 355th acted as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for the B-26. 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, he 335th Group, its components and supporting units at Barksdale, were disbanded on 1 May and replaced by the 331st AAF Base Unit (Medium, Bombardment). Group headquarters became Section N of the new base unit, while the four squadrons became Sections O, P, T and U. The reorganization also resulted in the addition of Section F, which trained Free French aviators on the Marauder.See Mueller, p. 19 (showing simultaneous activation and inactivation of units at Barksdale).
The group was reconstituted in inactive status on 31 July 1985 and designated the 335th Air Refueling Wing.Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations In addition, three of the group's four squadrons were consolidated with post-war fighter squadrons.Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 September 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
Lineage
- Constituted as the 335th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 9 July 1942
: Activated on 17 July 1942
: Disbanded on 1 May 1944Lineage through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 214-215.
: Reconstituted on 31 July 1985 and redesignated 335th Air Refueling Wing
=Assignments=
- Third Air Force, 17 July 1942
- III Bomber Command, 31 July 1942 – 1 May 1944
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! Service Streamer ! Campaign ! Dates ! Notes | |||
| 200px | American Theater without inscription | 17 July 1942 – 1 May 1944 | 335th Bombardment Group |
References
=Notes=
; Explanatory notes
{{reflist|group=note}}
; Citations
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=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 book|last=Goss|first=William A.|editor=Craven, Wesley F |editor2=Cate, James L. |url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf |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|chapter=The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF}}
- {{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://archive.today/20210115181723/https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 15 January 2021|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}}