13 Strategic Missile Division
Encyclopedia
The 13 Strategic Missile Division is an inactive United States Air Force
unit. Its last assignment was with Fifteenth Air Force
, based at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
, Wyoming
. It was inactivated on 2 July 1966.
Squadron
Groups
Following second activation, it moved in May 1943 to England for duty with the Eighth Air Force. Groups assigned in September 1943 began strategic bombing of enemy aircraft, petroleum, and ball bearing industries as well as German airfields. Later, organizational units took part in the famous raid against the ball bearing industry at Schweinfurt in October 1943 and followed with missions against shipyards and shipbuilding installations at Wilhelmshaven and Bremen.
During the 1960s, the division organized, manned, trained, and equipped several strategic missile wings in Wyoming.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit. Its last assignment was with Fifteenth Air Force
Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....
, based at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is one of three strategic missile bases in the United States. It is named in honor of Francis E. Warren....
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. It was inactivated on 2 July 1966.
Heraldry
Light blue, issuant from base a sphere light green with land areas vert, grid lined azure, the sinister quarter of the last with grid lines of the field, above the sphere in chief an olive branch arched fesswise or, overall an aircraft and a missile bendwise each trailing speedlines of the like and all within a diminished border of the last. (Approved 4 January 1961.)Lineage
- Established as 13 Composite Wing on 2 October 1940
- Activated on 10 October 1940
- Inactivated on 25 October 1941
- Redesignated: 13 Bombardment Wing on 23 August 1942
- Activated on 1 October 1942
- Redesignated: 13 Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 1 February 1943
- Redesignated: 13 Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) on 30 August 1943
- Redesignated: 13 Combat Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 24 August 1944
- Redesignated: 13 Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 18 June 1945
- Redesignated: 13 Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy on 17 August 1945
- Inactivated on 17 October 1945
- Redesignated: 13 Air Division on 20 May 1959
- Activated on 1 July 1959
- Redesignated: 13 Strategic Missile Division on 1 January 1963
- Discontinued, and inactivated, on 2 July 1966.
Assignments
- Unknown, 10 October 1940
- Panama Canal (later, Caribbean) Air Force, c. 1 November 1940 – 25 October 1941
- Third Air ForceThird Air ForceThe Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
, 1 October 1942 - Eighth Air ForceEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, c. 1 June 1943 - VIII Bomber CommandEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, 4 June 1943 - VIII Fighter CommandVIII Fighter CommandThe VIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, England. It was inactivated on 20 March 1946....
, Unknown
- 3d Air Division, 16 July 1945
- Second Air ForceSecond Air ForceThe Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
, c. 15 August 1945 – 17 October 1945 - Fifteenth Air ForceFifteenth Air ForceThe Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....
, 1 July 1959 - Eighth Air ForceEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, 1 July 1963 - Fifteenth Air ForceFifteenth Air ForceThe Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....
, 1 July 1965 – 2 July 1966.
Components
Wings- 90 Strategic Missile: 1 July 1963 – 2 July 1966
- 389 Strategic Missile389th Strategic Missile WingThe 389th Strategic Missile Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with the 13th Strategic Missile Division, being stationed at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It was inactivated on 25 March 1965...
: 1 July 1961 – 25 March 1965 - 451 Strategic Missile451st Air Expeditionary GroupThe 451st Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force Air Combat Command unit. It is one of two AEWs in Afghanistan, presently assigned to Kandahar Airfield and is also the host unit at Kandahar....
: 1 July 1961 – 25 June 1965 - 703 Strategic Missile703d Strategic Missile WingThe 703d Strategic Missile Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Strategic Air Command 13th Air Division, being stationed at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. It was inactivated on 1 July 1961....
: 1 July 1959 – 1 July 1961 - 706 Strategic Missile: 1 July 1959 – 1 July 1961
Squadron
- 34 Air Refueling: 1 July 1965 – 25 June 1966.
Groups
- 25th Bombardment Group: 1 November 1940-c. 6 January 1941
- 36th Pursuit Group: January-3 June 1941
- 40th Bombardment Group: 1 May – 25 October 1941
- 95th Bombardment Group: September 1943-c. 19 June 1945
- 100th Bombardment Group: c. September 1943-c. December 1945
- 390th Bombardment Group: 13 September 1943-c. 4 August 1945
- 490th Bombardment Group490th Bombardment GroupThe 490th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the III Bomber Command, being stationed at Drew Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 7 November 1945....
: c. March–August 1945 - 493d Bombardment Group493d Bombardment GroupThe 493d Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the Army Service Forces, being stationed at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota. It was inactivated on 28 August 1945....
: c. March–August 1945.
Stations
- Langley Field, VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, 10–26 October 1940 - Borinquen Field, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, 1 November 1940 - San JuanSan Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, c. 6 January 1941 - Borinquen Field, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, c. 1 May – 25 October 1941 - MacDill Field, Florida, 1 October 1942-c. 10 May 1943
- Marks Hall, England, c. 2 June 1943
- Camp Blainey, England, c. 13 June 1943
- RAF HorhamRAF HorhamRAF Horham is a World War II era airfield in England. The field is located next to the village of Horham, England, and 4 miles SE of Eye in Suffolk. The large site straddled the parishes of Denham, Horham and Hoxne.-USAAF use:...
, England, 13 September 1943-c. 6 August 1945 - Sioux Falls AAF, South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, c. 15 August 1945 - Peterson FieldPeterson FieldPeterson Field is a public-use airport located three nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Plains, a city in Sumter County, Georgia, United States. It is privately owned by G. Thomas Peterson.- Facilities and aircraft :...
, ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, 17 August – 17 October 1945 - Francis E. Warren AFB, WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, 1 July 1959 – 2 July 1966.
Aircraft and Missiles
- B-18 BoloB-18 BoloThe Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....
, 1940–1941 - B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941, 1943–1945
- B-26 MarauderB-26 MarauderThe Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
, 1941 - P-39 Aircobra, 1941
- P-40 Warhawk, 1941
- SM-65 Atlas, 1960–1965
- Titan ITitan IThe Martin Marietta SM-68A/HGM-25A Titan I was the United States' first multistage ICBM . Incorporating the latest design technology when designed and manufactured, the Titan I provided an additional nuclear deterrent to complement the U.S. Air Force's SM-65 Atlas missile...
, 1962–1965 - LGM-30 MinutemanLGM-30 MinutemanThe LGM-30 Minuteman is a U.S. nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2010, the version LGM-30G Minuteman-III is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
I, 1964–1966 - EC-135Boeing EC-135The Boeing EC-135 was a command & control version of the C-135 Stratolifter. Modified for the "Looking Glass" program, during the Cold War EC-135 were airborne 24 hours a day to serve as flying command platforms for the military in the event of nuclear war...
, 1965–1966 - KC-135, 1965–1966.
Operations
Activated in the United States in October 1940, the wing moved to Puerto Rico where it remained until inactivated in October 1941.Following second activation, it moved in May 1943 to England for duty with the Eighth Air Force. Groups assigned in September 1943 began strategic bombing of enemy aircraft, petroleum, and ball bearing industries as well as German airfields. Later, organizational units took part in the famous raid against the ball bearing industry at Schweinfurt in October 1943 and followed with missions against shipyards and shipbuilding installations at Wilhelmshaven and Bremen.
During the 1960s, the division organized, manned, trained, and equipped several strategic missile wings in Wyoming.