9th Operations Group

The 9th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California.

The 9th OG's mission is to organize, train and equip Lockheed U-2R, RQ-4 Global Hawk and MC-12W Liberty combat elements for peacetime intelligence gathering, contingency operations, conventional war fighting and Emergency War Order support.

It is a descendant organization of the 9th Group (Observation), one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. It is the fourth oldest active group in the USAF, and the seventh created following the establishment of the U.S. Air Service. During World War II, the 9th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy was a B-29 Superfortress group assigned to Twentieth Air Force flying bombardment operations against Japan. Its aircraft were identified by a "X" inside a Circle painted on the tail.

History For related history and lineage, see 9th Reconnaissance Wing

Origins The 1st Squadron was the first squadron organized in the air force, formed on 5 March 1913, at Texas City, Texas, as the 1st Aero Squadron. In March 1916, the 1st Aero Squadron, with Captain Benjamin D. Foulois as commander, supported General "Black Jack" Pershing's punitive expeditions into Mexico. Pancho Villa had raided Columbus, New Mexico, and Pershing pursued and hoped to capture him. On 16 March 1916, Captain T.F. Dodd, with Captain Foulois as observer, flew the first American aerial reconnaissance mission in combat. The wavy line in the middle of the wing's emblem represents the Rio Grande and the 1st Aero Squadron's operations in 1916. The 5th Aero Squadron was organized in 1917 at Kelly Field, Texas, and served as a flying training unit.

World War I Between 12 and 15 September 1918, they joined the great air armada of 1,481 airplanes in a massive air offensive in the St. Mihiel sector of France. The squadrons also participated in the Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, and Meuse-Argonne combat operations. The four black crosses on the wing's emblem commemorate these air battles.

Between the wars

From June to September 1921 both squadrons served as part of the 1st Provisional Air Brigade, organized by Brig. Gen. William L. Mitchell to demonstrate aerial bombardment of battleships.

Originally created as the 9th Observation Group on 19 July 1922, as part of the U.S. Army Air Service, the group was organized on 1 August 1922, at Mitchel Field, New York. The squadrons assigned to the group were the 1st and 5th Aero Squadrons (Observation), both re-designated bomb squadrons in March 1935. From 1923 to 1929, both squadrons of the 9th were reassigned to higher echelons, but remained in actuality a part of the group. From 1922 to 1940, they also trained, took part in maneuvers, and participated in air shows. The 99th Observation Squadron, organized at Kelly Field in 1917 and earning four campaign streamers in France, was added to the 9th Group on 9 November 1928, and on 15 February 1929, all three squadrons were assigned permanently. The 9th Observation Group used the Airco DH.4 for its observation airplane between 1922 and 1928, and the Curtiss O-1B Falcon from 1928 to 1935.

The Air Service became the U.S. Army Air Corps on 2 July 1926.

The 9th was re designated the ‘’'9th Bombardment Group'’’ in 1935, and early that year, the Air Corps re-organized, with all combat groups within the continental United States being centrally controlled for the first time, under a new command organization called General Headquarters Air Force. The role of observation as the primary function of the air arm had been de-emphasized in the creation of eight new groups between 1927 and 1932. With the creation of GHQAF it was further de-emphasized and the 9th was converted into a bombardment group. Made a part of the 2nd Wing, the 9th BG was responsible for the air defense of the East Coast of the United States.

The group's designation was changed to the 9th Bombardment Group on 19 February 1935, the 9th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 6 December 1939, and the 9th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 20 November 1940. During the period 1935–1940 the 9th Bombardment Group trained aircrews, took part in maneuvers, and participated in air shows, equipped with Keystone B-6 (1935–36), Martin B-10 (1936–38), and the B-18 Bolo (1938–1942).

The 9th moved to Rio Hato Airport, Panama, on 12 November 1940, to serve as part of the defense force for the Panama Canal. The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron stationed at Albrook Field, Panama Canal Zone, was attached to the 9th on 20 November 1940. In addition to 5 additional B-18's it provided a single B-17B Flying Fortress to the group. The group later hunted German U-boats in the Caribbean.

The 9th Bombardment Group relocated in a series of moves to Caribbean bases to conduct antisubmarine patrols. The 1st Bomb Squadron moved to Piarco Airport, Trinidad, on 24 April 1941; followed by the 5th Bomb Squadron to Beane Field, Saint Lucia, on 28 September; the group headquarters squadron to Waller Field, Trinidad, on 30 October (where it was joined by the 1st Bomb Squadron); the 44th Reconnaissance Squadron to Atkinson Field, British Guiana, on 4 November; and the 99th Bomb Squadron to Zandrey Field, Surinam, on 3 December 1941.

World War II Anti-Submarine Patrols The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron was assigned to the 9th Bombardment Group on 25 February 1942, and re designated the 430th Bombardment Squadron on 22 April. The group's Headquarters Squadron was disbanded on 22 July 1942. The 1st Bomb Squadron changed stations to Edinburg Field, Trinidad, on 23 August, and the group was assigned to the Antilles Air Task Force on 18 September, where it continued antisubmarine patrols and conducted reconnaissance of the Vichy French fleet at Martinique, using B-18 aircraft from a base in Trinidad. It then returned without personnel or equipment to the United States on 31 October 1942.

Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics The 9th Bombardment Group's assets were transferred to the 25th Bombardment Group and it was returned without personnel or equipment to the U.S. in October 1942, where it was reconstituted as part of the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. The group's squadrons were assigned as school squadrons, with the 1st located at Brooksville Army Air Field, the 5th at Pinecastle Army Air Field, and the 99th at Montbrook Army Air Field, Florida. These used Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and Martin B-26 Marauder aircraft to train cadres for 44 bomb groups in organization and operations, performed bombing pattern tests, experimented with 3-plane formations to attack moving ships, and performed over a hundred equipment tests.

B-29 Superfortress

On 3 March 1944, the ‘’'9th Bombardment Group'’’ was established on paper at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, as part of the 313th Bombardment Wing, to organize and train for Boeing B-29 Superfortress operations in the Western Pacific. The 9th helped to develop operational bombardment tactics and tested special devices and equipment during this time.

During April, the key personnel of the new group (including group commander Col. Donald Eisenhart and Deputy Group Commander Lt.Col. Henry Huglin) assembled at Dalhart, forming the command and operations cadres, and were transferred with the group to McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska. After a brief period establishing the units at McCook, the cadre of group and squadron operations staffs went by train to the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics in Orlando, Florida. This occurred during May for the 4-week training course in organizing and conducting combat operations with very heavy bomb group units.

While the cadre was training in Florida, an influx of new personnel continued at McCook.

After the return of the group and squadron cadres in June 1944, the squadrons organized new combat crews and the group conducted an intensive program of ground and flying training using B-17 aircraft to practice takeoffs, landings, instrument and night flying, cross-country navigation, high altitude formation flying, and bombing and gunnery practice.

The 9th Group had been forced to use B-17's in its training because the development of the B-29 as an operational weapon had been plagued since an early flight test on 28 December 1942, resulted in an engine fire. This culminated in a massive emergency modification program in the winter of 1943–44 ordered by Chief of the U.S. Army Air Forces, General Henry H. Arnold, and nicknamed the "Battle of Kansas". In particular the program sought to resolve a spate of problems with serious engine fires and faulty gunnery central fire control systems. All B-29s modified in this program were diverted to the 58th Bombardment Wing to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt's commitment to China to have B-29's deployed to the China Burma India Theater in the spring of 1944. This commitment inadvertently led to there being no available aircraft to equip the 12 new groups being formed in the 73rd, 313th, and 314th Bombardment Wings.

Pacific Theater

The 9th Group received its first training B-29 on 13 July 1944. After four further months of training, Col. Eisenhart declared the unit ready for movement overseas, and its ground echelon left McCook for the Seattle, Washington, port of embarkation on 18 November 1944, traveling by the troopship U.S.S. Cape Henlopen to the Mariana Islands on a voyage that required thirty days. The ground echelon of the group debarked at Tinian on 28 December and was assigned a camp on the west side of the island between the two airfields.

The air echelon of the 9th Bombardment Group began its overseas movement in January 1945 by sending the combat crews to Herington Field, Kansas, where over a three-week period they accepted 37 new B-29s. The first bombers left their staging field at Mather Army Airfield, California on 15 January 1945, and proceeded individually by way of Hickam Field, Hawaii, and Kwajalein to North Field, Tinian, with the first five arriving on 18 January 1945. The last of the original 37 airplanes to reach Tinian arrived on 12 February, by which time the group had already flown its first combat mission.

The 9th Bombardment Group was one of four groups of the 313th Bombardment Wing stationed at North Field as part of XXI Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force. It was assigned the Unit identification aircraft markings of the letter "X" above a small black triangle symbol, both placed above the aircraft's tail fin serial and victor number (a one- or two-digit number assigned an airplane to identify it individually both within the group and squadron). The group carried this marking until April, when the 313th Wing changed its marking to that of a circle in black to outline a group letter.

The 9th Bombardment Group conducted four training missions against the Japanese-held Maug Islands in the Northern Marianas on 27, 29, 31 January, and 6 February. Its first combat mission took place on 9 February 1945 with 30 aircraft bombing a Japanese naval airfield located on the island of Moen at Truk atoll (now known as the Chuuk Islands). Flown by day at an altitude of 25,000 feet, it was in actuality a further training mission, encountering no opposition.

The second group mission was a pre-invasion bombing of Iwo Jima on 12 February, one week prior to D-Day for Operation Detachment. The capture of Iwo Jima had as its objective an emergency landing field for Twentieth Air Force bombers attacking Japan and a base for P-51D Mustang and P-47N Thunderbolt fighters to fly escort and strafing missions.