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In January , KC tanker crews changed to seven-day alert tours while B bomber crews maintained a three-four-day cycle. One additional tanker alert line was added for a total of nine. At times these deployments depleted all wing resources remaining at McCoy. When not forward deployed for operations over Vietnam, the th continued to operate out of McCoy AFB for both training and nuclear alert role. Miller USAF , one of two who later died of burns, was able to keep the plane on the ground.

The burning and exploding 30, pounds of 24, lb bombs, 12 under each wing and 24, lb bombs in the belly bomb bays [10] created a blast was so powerful that it blew a crater under the aircraft some thirty feet deep and sixty feet across and blew out the windows in the dispensary at Naha AB , twenty-three miles away.

Despite heavy damage, Straw 2 attempted to divert to Thailand. The aircraft crossed into Laos, became uncontrollable, and all crewmembers except the radar navigator were rescued. The aircraft immediately attempted to return to the base, but crashed just short of Runway 18R in a civilian residential area of Orlando, Florida immediately north of the airfield, destroying or damaging eight homes.

The crew of 7 airmen and 1 civilian on the ground were killed. By the fall of all wing tactical squadrons were reassigned or became non operational in preparation for the shutdown of Air Force activity at McCoy.

Military Wiki Explore. Popular pages. Grant Richard Winters Harry Welsh. Project maintenance. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Edit source History Talk 0. ISBN LCCN Mike McCoy". Archived from the original on 23 May Retrieved 21 May It was also entitled to retain the honors but not the history or lineage of the th.

Vietnam Air Losses. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing. Categories All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November Articles incorporating text from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia in military history Military units and formations established in Strategic Air Command units Strategic wings of the United States Air Force Add category.

Cancel Save. Universal Conquest Wiki. United States. United States Air Force. Command and control of deployed strategic assets. As a result of post-Vietnam reductions in force, the wing was inactivated in late with the concurrent closure of McCoy AFB. For additional history and lineage, see th Flying Training Group.

Upon activation, the th Bombardment Group , already stationed at MacDill, was assigned as its operational component, but four months later the group's flying squadrons were attached directly to the wing after and it became a paper organization. The wing began upgrading to the jet age with the arrival of the new Boeing BA Stratojet swept-wing medium bomber.

The BAs, however, were essentially identical to the XB prototype tested by Air Materiel Command and were intended to act as training aircraft to prepare future BB crews. The BAs were not considered combat ready, since most of them were unarmed and were initially without almost any of their vital electronic components. For its role in advancing jet bombardment tactics, the wing was awarded its first Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. During this period, the th also figured prominently in the filming of the Paramount Pictures movie, Strategic Air Command starring James Stewart and June Allyson.

The film was made with the full cooperation of the Air Force, with significant filming occurring at MacDill utilizing B aircraft of both the th Bombardment Wing and the collocated th Bombardment Wing.

In the film's plot Stewart's character is assigned to fly Bs as a vice wing commander at MacDill. In the wing added a fourth bombardment squadron, the d Bombardment Squadron [1] as SAC's B force reached its peak of twenty-seven wings. However, the B soon began to be phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. The wing began phasing down, with the d becoming non-operational in and the th in early The wing began sending aircraft to Davis—Monthan inventory beginning in late in anticipation of the wing's planned inactivation.

However, inactivation plans were cancelled and the wing moved to replace the th Strategic Wing instead. This was increased to half the wing's aircraft in Later that same month, the th became the host for McCoy AFB when the st Bombardment Wing inactivated and transferred the th Medical Group to the wing, along with 39th Munitions Maintenance Squadron to oversee the wing's special weapons.

As a result, the th SW was replaced by the th Bombardment Wing , [1] which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 April Component support units were replaced by units with numerical designation of the th. Under the Dual Deputate organization, [16] all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group was activated, although the th Combat Support Group became the wing's administrative support unit.

Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor. Immediately after the move to McCoy, the th began transitioning to the BD version of the Stratofortress during the spring and summer of and assumed strategic nuclear alert duties under SAC's Operation Chrome Dome airborne alert program.

Under this program, each SAC bomb wing was periodically tasked, for a specified period of time, to maintain a portion of its bombers airborne and ready to strike. On 16 November , two of eight ground alert lines maintained by the wing's th BS were converted to airborne alert lines.

Each BD required two air refuelings inbound to Spain and two more outbound over the Mediterranean, with mission duration averaging 25 to 27 hours in length. The th Air Refueling Squadron ground alert was also degraded to support Chrome Dome refueling along the southern route.