Random Article Summary #87

The Second Bombardment Wing, also known as the 2nd Bombardment Wing, was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces. It is now disbanded. Its final assignment was with the Continental Air Forces. The wing was based at McChord Field in Washington. It was last active in November 1945. The wing was formed in 1919 at Langley Field, Virginia, and took charge of Air Service units along the Atlantic Coast. After being inactivated in 1921, it was reactivated in 1922 to focus mainly on bombardment, later becoming one of the original GHQ Air Force wings in 1935 and supporting pursuit, bombardment, and observation missions in the eastern United States. Its 2nd Bombardment Group was the first Air Corps unit to receive the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and the wing helped train new tactical units and shaped airpower doctrine through 1940 maneuvers before being inactivated in 1941. The unit was reactivated in June 1942 as a command and control organization for heavy bombers. It moved to England in late 1942, joined the Eighth Air Force as a heavy bombardment wing, and helped train bombardment groups for the Twelfth Air Force. The wing fought in Europe from November 1942 to June 1943, paused combat in mid-1943 while groups moved to the Mediterranean, resumed in October 1943, and continued until April 1945, then returned to the US and was inactivated in November 1945. The unit was first authorized on 15 August 1919 and organized in September 1919, later changing names several times between 1921 and 1929. It was inactivated in 1941, reactivated in 1942, and then redesignated as the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) in 1943, before becoming the 2nd Bombardment Wing (Heavy) again in 1945 and inactivating in November 1945. It was ultimately disbanded on 15 June 1983. The 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing had a long series of assignments and reorganizations across different Army Air Force and later air force commands from 1919 to 1945, including several headquarters and bomber commands. It operated under different units such as the Northeast Air District and Bomber Commands during World War II, then moved into the 2nd Bombardment/2nd Air Division and Continental Air Forces after the war. The wing was eventually disbanded on 15 June 1983.