1st Bombardment Wing | |
---|---|
Active | 1918–1919; 1919–1924; 1931–1945 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Army Air Forces |
Role | Bomber Command and Control |
Part of | Eighth Air Force |
Garrison/HQ | RAF Bassingbourn, England |
Engagements | World War I
|
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation
|
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Thomas DeW. Milling Carl A. Spaatz Henry H. Arnold Laurence S. Kuter Haywood S. Hansell Frank A. Armstrong |
Insignia | |
1st Bombardment Wing emblem |
The 1st Bombardment Wing is a disbanded United States Army Air Force unit. It was initially formed in France in 1918 during World War I as a command and control organization for the Pursuit Groups of the First Army Air Service.
Demobilized after the Armistice in France, it was re-established in the United States as the first wing formed in the reorganized United States Army Air Service, created in August 1919 to control three groups patrolling the border with Mexico after revolution broke out there.
As the 1st Wing, the unit was one of the original wings of the GHQ Air Force on 1 March 1935. During World War II, it was one of the primary B-17 Flying Fortress heavy strategic bombardment wings of VIII Bomber Command and later, Eighth Air Force. Its last assignment was with the Continental Air Forces, based at McChord Field, Washington. It was inactivated on 7 November 1945.