19 Operations Group (AMC)

Lineage.    Authorized as 19 Observation Group on 18 Oct 1927.   Redesignated as 19 Bombardment Group on 8 May 1929.  Activated on 24 Jun 1932.  Redesignated as: 19 Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 17 Oct 1939; 19 Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 28 Mar 1944.  Inactivated on 1 Apr 1944.  Activated on 1 Apr 1944.  Redesignated as 19 Bombardment Group, Medium on 10 Aug 1948.  Inactivated on 1 Jun 1953.  Redesignated as: 19 Air Refueling Group, Heavy on 31 Jul 1985; 19 Operations Group on 29 Aug 1991.  Activated on 1 Sep 1991.  Redesignated as: 19 Air Refueling Group on 1 Jul 1996; 19 Operations Group on 1 October 2008.

Assignments.   IX Corps Area, 24 Jun 1932; 1 Wing (later, 1 Bombardment Wing), 2 Mar 1935; IV Bomber Command, 19 Sep 1941; United States Air Forces in the Far East, c. 23 Oct 1941; V Bomber Command, 16 Nov 1941; U. S. Army Forces in Australia, c. Mar 1942; Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific Area, 18 Apr 1942; V Bomber Command, Sep 1942; 15 Bombardment Wing, 9 Dec 1942; 16 Bombardment Wing, 3 Jan 1943; 46 Bombardment Operational Training Wing, 4 Sep 1943-1 Apr 1944.  Second Air Force, 1 Apr 1944; XXI Bomber Command, 14 Dec 1944; 314 Bombardment (later, 314 Composite) Wing, 27 Jan 1945; Twentieth Air Force, 15 May 1946; North Army Air Base Command (Provisional), 20 Dec 1947; 19 Bombardment Wing, 17 Aug 1948-1 Jun 1953 (attached to Far East Air Forces Bomber Command [Provisional] for operational control, 8 Jul 1950-1 Jun 1953).  19 Air Refueling Wing, 1 Sep 1991; Twenty-First Air Force, 1 Jul 1996; Eighteenth Air Force, 1 Oct 2003; 19 Airlift Wing, 1 Oct 2008-.

 

Operational Components.   Squadrons. 7 Air Refueling: 1 Jun 1992-1 Jan 1993.  14 Bombardment: attached 2 Dec 1941-c. 14 Mar 1942.  23 Observation:  24 Jun 1932-12 Oct 1938 (detached entire period).  28 Bombardment: 16 Nov 1941-1 Apr 1944; 1 Apr 1944-1 Jun 1953.  30 Airlift: 1 Oct 2008-.  30 Observation (later, Bombardment):  24 Jun 1932-1 Apr 1944; 1 Apr 1944-1 Jun 1953.  32 Observation (later, Bombardment):  24 Jun 1932-16 Dec 1941 (detached 22 Oct-16 Dec 1941).  40 Reconnaissance (later, 435 Bombardment): 14 Mar 1942-1 Apr 1944 (detached c. 17 Jul-c. 24 Sep 1942); 1 Apr-10 May 1944. 41 Airlift: 1 Oct 2008-.  50 Airlift: 1 Oct 2008-.  52 Airlift: 1 Oct 2009-.  53 Airlift: 1 Oct 2008-.  61 Airlift: 1 Oct 2008-.  93 Bombardment: 20 Oct 1939-1 Apr 1944; 1 Apr 1944-1 Jun 1953.  99 Air Refueling: 1 Sep 1991-1 Sep 2008.  345 Airlift: 6 Aug 2010-.  384 Air Refueling:  1 Jun 1992-1 Jan 1994.  712 Air Refueling: 1 Apr 1994-1 Jul 1996.  912 Air Refueling: 1 Sep 1991-1 Apr 1994.

 

Stations.   Rockwell Field, CA, 24 Jun 1932; March Field, CA, 25 Oct 1935; Albuquerque, NM, 7 Jun-29 Sep 1941; Clark Field, Philippines, 26 Oct 1941; Batchelor, Australia, 24 Dec 1941; Singosari, Java, 30 Dec 1941; Melbourne, Australia, 2 Mar 1942; Garbutt Field, Australia, 18 Apr 1942; Longreach, Australia, 18 May 1942; Mareeba, Australia, 26 Jul 1942; Townsville, Australia, 30 Nov-2 Dec 1942; Pocatello AAB, ID, 9 Dec 1942; Pyote AAB, TX, 3 Jan 1943-1 Apr 1944.  Great Bend AAFld, KS, 1 Apr 1944; Dalhart AAFld, TX, 26 May 1944; Great Bend AAFld, KS, 23 Aug 1944; Fort Lawton, WI, 11-19 Dec 1944; North Field (later, North Guam AFB; Andersen AFB), Guam, 16 Jan 1945; Kadena AB, Okinawa, 5 Jul 1950-1 Jun 1953.  Robins AFB, GA, 1 Sep 1991; Little Rock AFB AR, 1 Oct 2008-.

 

Commanders.   Capt Harold M. McClelland, 24 Jun 1932; Lt Col Howard C. Davidson, 26 Jul 1935; Lt Col Hubert R. Harmon, 17 Aug 1936; Lt Col Harvey S. Burwell, Jun 1937; Maj Eugene L. Eubank, 2 Apr 1940; Maj David R. Gibbs, 10 Dec 1941; Maj Emmett O’Donnell Jr., 12 Dec 1941; Lt Col Cecil E. Combs, Jan 1942; Lt Col Kenneth B. Hobson, 14 Mar 1942; Lt Col James T. Connally, 15 Apr 1942; Lt Col Richard N. Carmichael, 10 Jul 1942; Lt Col Felix M. Hardison, 1 Jan 1943; Lt Col Ebert Helton, 13 Feb 1943; Col Louie P. Turner, 5 May 1943; Lt Col Frank P. Sturdivant, 27 Jan 1944; Col Bernard T. Castor, 11 Feb-1 Apr 1944.  Maj Joseph H. Selliken, 28 Apr 1944; Col John G. Fowler, 20 May 1944; Lt Col John C. Wilson, 29 May 1944; Lt Col Philip L. Mathewson, 30 Jun 1944; Col John A. Roberts Jr., 16 Jul 1944; Lt Col George T. Chadwell, Sep 1945; Col Vincent M. Miles Jr., 1 Mar 1946; Col Elbert D. Reynolds, 13 Apr 1946; Col David Wade, 26 Apr 1947; Col Francis C. Shoemaker, 8 Nov 1947; Col Robert V. DeShazo, 2 Dec 1947; Lt Col Clarence G. Poff, Jul 1948; Lt Col Warren M. Miller Jr., 17 Aug 1948; Col Clarence G. Poff, 6 Oct 1948; Col Theodore Q. Graff, 17 Sep 1949; Col Payne Jennings Jr., 26 Sep 1950; Col Donald O. Tower, 29 Mar 1951; Col Adam K. Breckenridge, 26 Jul 1951; Col Julian M. Bleyer, 6 Feb 1952; Col Willard W. Smith, 8 Jul 1952; Col Harvey C. Dorney, 24 Dec 1952-1 Jun 1953.  Col James G. Dickensheets, 1 Sep 1991; Col Richard A. Mentemeyer, 27 Aug 1993; Col Karl B. Young, 3 Jun 1994; Col Kurt F. Bock, 16 Nov 1995; Col Norman R. Flemens, 1 Jul 1996; Col David R. Lefforge, 4 Jun 1998; Col Bruce E. Hurd, 9 Jun 1999; Col Barbara J. Faulkenberry, 6 Jul 2001; Col Raymond J. Rottman, 9 Jul 2003; Col Steven W. Bernard, 30 Dec 2004; Col Christopher J. Bence, 5 Jul 2006; Lt Col Franklin T. Robinson, 31 May 2008; Col Jeffrey A. Hoffer, 1 Oct 2008; Col David Kasberg, 19 Jun 2009; Col Andrew McIntyre, 2 Jun 2011; Col Johnnie Martinez, 31 Jul 2013-.

 

Aircraft.   B-3, 1932-1935; OA-4, 1932-1935; OA-9, 1932-1935; B-10, 1935-1937; B-12, 1935-1937; B-18, 1937-1940; B-17, 1940-1944; B-24, 1942; LB-30, 1942.  B-29, 1944-1953.  KC-135, 1991-2008; EC-135, 1991-1997; EC-137, 1991-1994; C-130, 2008-.

 

Operations.   The group flew training missions along the California coast for coastal defense between 1932 and 1935.  Began bombardment training in 1935.  First to fly B-17s from California to Hawaii in May 1941.  Suffered numerous casualties and lost many aircraft when the Japanese attacked Clark Field in the Philippine Islands on 8 Dec 1941, but B-17s on maneuvers at Del Monte escaped.  During December 1941, the 19th began reconnaissance and bombardment operations against Japanese shipping and landing parties.  By the end of the year, ground personnel joined infantry units defending the Philippines, while the air echelon moved to Australia to transport supplies from there to the Philippines and to evacuate personnel.  The group flew B-17s, B-24s, and LB-30s from Java against enemy airfields, shipping, and ground installations during the Japanese offensive in the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies during early 1942.  It participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, 7-8 May 1942, and raided enemy transportation and communications targets as well as troop concentrations during the Japanese invasion of Papua, New Guinea.  The group bombed enemy airdromes, ground installations, and shipping near Rabaul, New Britain in Aug 1942. It served in the United States as a replacement training organization from Jan to Nov 1943.  The group was largely unmanned from Dec 1943 to Apr 1944.  Remanned at Great Bend AAB, Kansas, the group began training for B-29 combat missions.  From Guam, it conducted its first B-29 bombing raid on 25 Feb 1945, against Tokyo.  Bombed strategic targets in Japan, participated in incendiary bomb attacks against Japanese cities, and attacked kamikaze airfields during the American invasion of Okinawa in Apr and May 1945.  When the Japanese surrendered, the group had flown 65 raids on their home islands.  In the late 1940s, the 19th conducted sea-search, photographic mapping, and training missions in the western Pacific.  When the Korean War broke out in late Jun 1950, the group attacked North Korean invasion forces.  In Jul 1950, it detached from the 19 Bombardment Wing, moved to Okinawa, and continued bombardment operations against North Korean troops, supply dumps, airfields, steel mills, hydroelectric plants, bridges, and light metal industries until its inactivation in 1953.  The group conducted worldwide aerial refueling for U.S. and allied aircraft and supported worldwide tanker task forces, contingency operations, and humanitarian operations from Sep 1991-.  The group provided command control support for US Central Command and, until 1994, for US Special Operations Command.   In the fall of 1994, it added the mission of flying cargo-only missions.  The 19 Air Refueling Group in Jul 1996 took over the inactivating wing’s in-flight refueling mission.  One of only two special operations qualified tanker units, it provided critical support to the special operations task force that rescued a downed USAF F-117A pilot in Serbia, Mar 1999.  Provided air refueling support for special operations against the Taliban in Operation Enduring Freedom, 2002-2003; and Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003.  Trained personnel in C-130 airlift; included humanitarian airlift to victims of disasters; airdropped troops and supplies to contingency operations in hostile areas, 2008-.

 

Service Streamers.    World War II American Theater

 

Campaign Streamers.   World War IIPhilippine Islands; East Indies; Papua; Guadalcanal; Western Pacific; Air Offensive, Japan.  Korea: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; First UN Counteroffensive; CCF Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea, Summer-Fall 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korea, Summer 1953.

 

Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers.  None.

 

Decorations.    Distinguished Unit Citations: Philippine Islands, 7 Dec 1941-10 May 1942; Philippine Islands, 8-22 Dec 1941; Philippine Islands and Netherlands Indies, 1 Jan-1 Mar 1942; Philippine Islands, 6 Jan-8 Mar 1942; Papua, 23 Jul-[Oct 1942]; New Britain, 7-12 Aug 1942; Japan, 9-19 Mar 1945; Kobe, Japan, 5 Jun 1945; Korea, 28 Jun-15 Sep 1950.  Meritorious Unit Awards: 1 Jul 2006-30 June 2007; 1 Aug 2009-31 Jul 2011.  Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: 1 Jul 1993-30 Jun 1994; 1 Jul 1994-30 Jun 1996; 1 Jul 1998-30 Jun 1999; 1 Jul 1999-30 Jun 2000; 1 Jul 2000-30 Jun 2001; 1 Jul 2001-30 Jun 2002; 1 Jul 2002-30 Jun 2003; 1 Jul 2003-30 Jun 2004; 1 Jul 2004-30 Jun 2005; 1 Jul 2005-30 Jun 2006.  Philippine Presidential Unit Citation (World War II).  Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation: 7 Jul 1950-1 Jun 1953.

 

Lineage, Assignments, Components, Stations, and Honors through Feb 2014.

 

Commanders, Aircraft, and Operations through Jul 2013.

 

Supersedes statement prepared on 1 Oct 2008.

 

Emblem. Group will use the wing emblem with the group designation in the scroll.

 

Prepared by Patsy Robertson.

 

Reviewed by Daniel Haulman.