310th Space Wing

B-25Js of the 310th Bombardment Group release 1,000 pound bombs over a cloud-obscured Po Valley in northern Italy, 1944.

The unit was constituted as the 310th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 28 January 1942 and activated on 15 March 1942. Used B-25s in preparing for duty overseas.

Moved to the Mediterranean theater by single aircraft between October 1942 and March 1943 and assigned to Twelfth Air Force. Sufficient aircraft were on hand by 2 December, when it conducted its first operation against antiaircraft concentrations at Gabes, Tunisia. Engaged primarily in support and interdictory operations in Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, and southern France. The 310th Bomb Group also flew some missions to Austria and Yugoslavia.

The unit attacked harbors and shipping to help defeat Axis forces in North Africa, December 1942 – May 1943. Bombed airdromes, landing grounds, and gun emplacements on Pantelleria, Lampedusa, and Sicily, May–July 1943. The unit supported the Allied landing at Salerno, September 1943. Assisted the drive toward Rome, January–June 1944.

Supported the invasion of Southern France, August 1944. Struck German communications— bridges, rail lines, marshalling yards, viaducts, tunnels, and road junctions in Italy, August 1943 – April 1945. Also dropped propaganda leaflets behind enemy lines.

The 310th Bomb Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission to Italy on 27 August 1943 when, in spite of persistent attacks by enemy interceptors and antiaircraft artillery, the group effectively bombed marshalling yards at Benevento and also destroyed a number of enemy planes. Received second DUC for another mission in Italy on 10 March 1945 when the group, maintaining a compact formation in the face of severe antiaircraft fire, bombed the railroad bridge at Ora, a vital link in the German supply line.

The 310th Bomb Group was inactivated in Italy on 12 September 1945.

The unit was redesignated the 310th Bombardment Group, Light and allotted to the reserve. Activated in the US on 27 December 1946. Inactivated on 27 June 1949.

The 310th Bombardment Wing was activated in 1952 as a Strategic Air Command unit, receiving Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment training from 90th Bombardment Wing, April–August 1952. From February through May 1953, the 310th Bomb Wing provided bombardment training to the 40th Bombardment Wing.

Replaced the propeller-driven B-29s with new Boeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. Participated in SAC REFLEX deployments, deploying to RAF Upper Heyford, England, 10 March – 8 June 1955, and at RAF Greenham Common, England, 3 October 1956 – 9 January 1957.

The wing gained a strategic missile squadron in April 1961. First CGM-16 Atlas missiles went on alert in September 1962. In the early 1960s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. B-47s began being sent to AMARC at Davis–Monthan in early 1965; was inactivated in late June.

Members of the 7th Space Operations Squadron check on the status of a satellite to ensure it is operating within normal parameters.

On 1 September 1991, the third wing to hold the "310" designation, the 310th Training and Test Wing (310 TTW), assumed the ICBM testing and training mission from the Strategic Missile Center at Vandenberg AFB, California under the Twentieth Air Force. After removal of ICBMs from alert status at the end of the Cold War, the 310 TTW continued to train Minuteman crews and to test accuracy and reliability of Minuteman and Peacekeeper missiles. The 310 TTW also assisted in testing the Global Positioning System (GPS) April 1992 – May 1992. It was reassigned to Air Combat Command on 31 May 1992. It was inactivated on 1 July 1993.

The 310th designator was again activated with the stand up of the 310th Space Group 4 September 1997. The group was created around its original squadron, the 7th SOPS, and has grown rapidly with the realization of the critical role the Air Force Reserve can play in the future of space operations. The group has been tremendously successful in its initial missions and has been tasked with reviewing future active/Reserve partnerships in space to identify potential areas where the AF Reserve can add value in the space arena.

Air Force Reserve Command officials are expanding the role reservists play in space operations by establishing AFRC's first space wing at Schriever Air Force Base. Command officials activated the 310th Space Wing on 7 March 2008.[7]

Wings

• 40th Bombardment Wing: attached 6 February – 1 May 1953[1]

Groups

• 310th Operations Group: 1 September 1991 – 1 July 1993,[1] 7 March 2008 – present

Squadrons

• North American B-25 Mitchell, (1942–1945)
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1952–1954)
• Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker (1952–1963)
• Boeing B-47 Stratojet (1954–1965)
• CGM-16 Atlas (1962–1965)
• Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (1964–1965)
• Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (1997–present)
• Global Positioning System (1997–present)
• Space-Based Infrared System (2006–present)

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• 310th Space Wing Factsheet