A row of C-130 Hercules from the 485th Air Expeditionary Wing are parked at a forward-deployed location in Southwest Asia. Seven C-130 units combined to form the world's largest collection of the aircraft.
The wing was first activated as the 485th Bombardment Group, a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment group that served with Fifteenth Air Force during World War II. The group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its action in a mission to Vienna, Austria in 1944. The 485th returned to the United States in May 1945, where it converted to Boeing B-29 Superfortresss, training with Second Air Force. When the war ended in August 1945, the group remained at its training base and became one of the original ten bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC). The group was inactivated in 1946 and its aircraft, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 97th Bombardment Group.
The second forerunner of the wing was the 585th Tactical Missile Group, which was stationed at Bitburg Air Base, Germany from 1956 to 1962. The 585th operated forward deployed TM-61 Matadorcruise missiles from its home station. Later these missiles were replaced by TM-76 Mace (later MGM-13) missiles. It was inactivated in 1962 and its operational squadron transferred to the 38th Tactical Missile Wing.
In 1983, the two groups were consolidated as the 485th Tactical Missile Wing, a Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) wing stationed at Florennes Air Base, Belgium. The wing was inactivated as a result of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1989. In 2003 the wing was converted to provisional status as the 485th Air Expeditionary Wing and allotted to Air Combat Command.
By 3 May 2003, the C-130 portion of the wing had flown 1199 missions, 3354 sorties, 7451 hours, hauled 9382 tons of cargo and 8800 passengers, and boasted a mission capable rate greater than 90 percent. When the F-15s completed flight operations 17 April they had compiled 581 sorties, flown more than 4000 hours and maintained a mission capable rate greater than 83 percent.[citation needed]
The wing was inactivated in early May 2003 with the last members returning to the United States in September of that year.[citation needed]
Although the ground echelon had deployed to Southern Italy by April 1944, the air echelon was detained in Tunisia for further training. The group entered combat with Fifteenth Air Force in May 1944. The 485th engaged in very long range strategic bombing missions to enemy military, industrial and transportation targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia, bombing marshalling yards, oil refineries, airfields, heavy industry, and other strategic objectives.[6]
The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for combating intense fighter opposition and attacking an oil refinery at Vienna on 26 June 1944. The 485th also carried out some support and interdiction operations. It struck bridges, harbors, and troop concentrations in August 1944 to aid Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, It hit lines of communications and other targets during March and April 1945 to support the advance of British Eighth Army in northern Italy.[6] It flew its 187th and last combat mission against Linz, Austria before preparing to return to the United States and re-equip.[9]
The 485th returned to the United States in May 1945 and was programmed for deployment to the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group.[citation needed] Many combat veterans of MTO demobilized upon arrival in the United States, and a small cadre of personnel reformed at Sioux Falls Army Airfield, South Dakota at the end of May.[citation needed][10] The group was reassigned to Second Air Force for training in Iowa. Because B-29 groups had only three combat squadrons, the 831st Bombardment Squadron was inactivated in August.[7] The group then moved on paper[11] to Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas in September.[6]
Shortly after activation the group began upgrading its TM-61A missiles to TM-61Cs.[16] The TM-61C was equipped with the Shannicle guidance system which generated a grid the missile could use to navigate, replacing the ground to air steering systems of the TM-61A. The group participated in periodic test launches of Matadors at Wheelus AB, Libya.[17]
In 1958, USAFE replaced the 701st wing with the 38th Tactical Missile Wing in an administrative move to keep on active duty units whose roots could be traced to World War II.[18] Simultaneously, the 1st squadron was replaced by the 71st Tactical Missile Squadron, one of the historical elements of the WW II 38th Bombardment Group. The Matador was growing obsolescent and the last Matador was taken off Victor (nuclear) Alert on 30 June 1962.[19]
The group replaced its Matadors with TM-76 Mace (later MGM-13) missiles.[citation needed] These missiles did not rely on ground signals for guidance, but used an onboard radar to match the terrain with a map stored on board the missile. In 1962 the 585th and its companion groups in Germany were inactivated and the missile squadrons assigned directly to the 38th Wing.[18] On the same day, the last Matador at Bitburg was decommissioned.[19]
The wing and its base were the target of periodic peace movement protests near the main gate.[21] In August 1988 a ten-man Soviet Inspection Team visited Florennes to insure treaty compliance.[22] The wing was inactivated in 1989 with the withdrawal of American forces from Florennes.[1]
Lineage
485th Bombardment Group
Constituted as 485th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 14 September 1943
Activated on 20 September 1943
Redesignated 485th Bombardment Group, Heavy on 25 January 1944
Redesignated 485th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 5 August 1945
^The group used its parent 38th Tactical Missile Wing emblem with the group designation on the scroll.
^Maurer indicates that neither emblem used by the group during World War II was officially approved. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 357.
^An underground concrete launch facility that was closed in 1962. Presently it is abandoned and largely overgrown.[citation needed]
^An underground concrete launch facility. After closure the site was transferred to the Bundeswehr and converted into an MIM-104 Patriot missile site. The site closed in 2001 and is now abandoned and overgrown.[citation needed]
^See"Library: Biographies: Colonel George L. Bondar". Air Reserve Personnel Center. May 2009. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2016. (showing service with the 485th Air Expeditionary Wing from March to May 2003).
^ abLineage, tactical squadrons and aircraft of 485th Bombardment Group in Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 356–357
^ abcdefLineage, assignments, tactical squadrons and aircraft of 585th Tactical Missile Group and 485th Tactical Missile Wing and assignments of 485th Bombardment Group in Lineage and Honors History of 485th AEW
Watkins, Robert A. (2009). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II. Vol. IV, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-3401-6.
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