470th Bombardment Group

The 470th Bombardment Group was a United States Army Air Forces heavy-bomber training organization created during World War II. It was constituted on 22 April 1943 as the 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and activated on 1 May 1943 at Mountain Home Army Air Field in Idaho. Rather than serving primarily as an overseas combat formation, the group supported the Army Air Forces training system, which was expanding rapidly to supply qualified aircrews for the heavy-bomber war in Europe and the Pacific. The group initially operated under II Bomber Command and later Second Air Force. Its four operational squadrons were the 800th, 801st, 802d, and 803d Bombardment Squadrons. At Mountain Home, it functioned as an Operational Training Unit. The OTU system used an oversized parent organization to train personnel and provide experienced cadres for newly formed satellite groups. This made the 470th part of the institutional infrastructure behind the wartime expansion of American heavy-bomber forces, even though the group itself did not become a long-term combat unit. In January 1944, the organization moved in stages from Idaho to Tonopah Army Air Field in Nevada. The 802d Bombardment Squadron led the movement on 3 January, the 803d followed on 4 January, the 801st on 5 January, and group headquarters together with the 800th completed the transfer on 6 January. The relocation also brought a change in command alignment, with the group moving to Fourth Air Force, identified in lineage records as IV Bomber Command, and a change in training mission. At Tonopah, the group became a Replacement Training Unit. Replacement Training Units were intended to prepare individual pilots and aircrews to replace personnel lost or reassigned from operational formations. The experience of the Army Air Forces showed that conventional combat-unit structures, governed by relatively rigid tables of organization, were not especially efficient for this specialized training role. The service therefore shifted toward a more functional system in which installations were organized around separately numbered base units and training functions. As part of that reorganization, the 470th Bombardment Group and all four of its bombardment squadrons were disbanded at Tonopah on 31 March 1944. They were replaced, along with associated support organizations, by the 422d Army Air Forces Base Unit, designated as a heavy-bomber bombardment replacement training unit. The group therefore had a brief existence of less than a year, but its activities reflected the evolving administrative and training methods of the wartime Army Air Forces. On 31 July 1985, the lineage was reconstituted under the name 470th Electronic Warfare Group. This redesignation connected the historical designation with the Air Force's later electronic-warfare organizational framework, but the reconstituted group was never activated. The organization consequently remains inactive and has no current headquarters, operating business, commercial products, or active leadership structure. It is best understood as a historical United States military unit rather than a commercial brand.

The 470th Bombardment Group was constituted as a heavy-bomber group on 22 April 1943 and activated on 1 May at Mountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho. It was assigned initially to II Bomber Command and formed part of the Army Air Forces' wartime training architecture. Its subordinate organizations were the 800th, 801st, 802d, and 803d Bombardment Squadrons. At Mountain Home, the group operated as an Operational Training Unit. The OTU model relied on a relatively large parent organization to train personnel and furnish cadres for newly created satellite groups. This approach was intended to accelerate the expansion of American air power by transferring trained personnel and organizational experience to new formations. The group moved to Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada, in January 1944. The transfer occurred in separate movements: the 802d Squadron arrived first on 3 January, followed by the 803d on 4 January, the 801st on 5 January, and group headquarters and the 800th on 6 January. The relocation coincided with a reassignment from Second Air Force to Fourth Air Force, or IV Bomber Command in the cited lineage records. At Tonopah, the 470th changed from an operational training role to a Replacement Training Unit mission. Rather than preparing complete new formations, an RTU focused on training individual pilots and aircrews who could fill vacancies in existing operational units. The Army Air Forces subsequently concluded that standard combat-unit structures were poorly suited to this kind of functional training. It introduced a more flexible system based on separately numbered base units and specialized installation-level responsibilities. The 470th Bombardment Group and its four squadrons were consequently disbanded on 31 March 1944. The 422d Army Air Forces Base Unit, tasked with heavy-bomber replacement training, replaced the group and related support organizations at Tonopah. The group did not deploy as an overseas combat formation and did not develop a continuing postwar operational identity. The designation was reconstituted on 31 July 1985 as the 470th Electronic Warfare Group. This was a lineage redesignation rather than a documented period of active operation: the electronic-warfare group was never activated. The historical organization is therefore inactive, with its significance resting on its World War II training role and its later preservation within Air Force organizational lineage records.

• 1985

  Electronic-warfare redesignation

  [1]470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The lineage was reconstituted as the 470th Electronic Warfare Group on 31 July 1985, although the redesignated group was never activated.

• 1944

  Transfer to Tonopah

  [1]470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group completed its staged move from Mountain Home to Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada, on 6 January 1944 and shifted to a replacement-training role.

• 1944

  Disbandment

  [1]470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group and its four bombardment squadrons were disbanded on 31 March 1944 and replaced at Tonopah by the 422d Army Air Forces Base Unit.

• 1943

  Constitution as a heavy-bomber group

  [1]470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was constituted on 22 April 1943 as the 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy).

• 1943

  Activation at Mountain Home

  [1]470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group was activated on 1 May 1943 at Mountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho, with four bombardment squadrons.

• 1943

  Operational Training Unit assignment

  [1]470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org

  During its initial period, the group served as an Operational Training Unit under II Bomber Command and later Second Air Force.

A wartime United States Army Air Forces heavy-bomber training unit, later redesignated for electronic warfare lineage purposes but never activated in that form.

• 1985

  Reconstitution as an electronic-warfare groupOther

  Background

  The Air Force preserved the historical designation within a later electronic-warfare organizational lineage.

  Action taken

  The group was redesignated as the 470th Electronic Warfare Group on 31 July 1985.

  Aftermath

  The reconstituted unit was not activated and has remained inactive.

  Source

• 1944

  Conversion from operational to replacement trainingStrategy

  Background

  After moving to Tonopah, the Army Air Forces required the group to train individual replacement pilots and aircrews rather than cadres for new satellite groups.

  Action taken

  The 470th was transferred to Fourth Air Force and assigned a Replacement Training Unit mission.

  Aftermath

  The broader shift toward functional base-unit organization contributed to the group's disbandment and replacement by the 422d Army Air Forces Base Unit on 31 March 1944.

  Source

1. 1470th Bombardment Groupen.wikipedia.org