page_title: 306th Strategic Wing
section_title: B-47 Stratojet era
hierarchical_section_title: 306th Strategic Wing / History / B-47 Stratojet era
caption_attribution_description: Brand new U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-97E Stratofreighter tanker aircraft of the 306th Air Refueling Squadron, 306th Bomb Wing, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida (USA), in July 1951.
context_page_description: The 306th Strategic Wing, previously the 306th Bombardment Wing, is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Strategic Air Command at RAF Mildenhall, England and was inactivated on 1 February 1992. Its heritage as both the 306th Bombardment Wing and its predecessor organization, the 306th Bombardment Group of World War II, was assumed by the 306th Flying Training Group, an Air Education and Training Command organization at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado.
  The mission of the 306th SW was to coordinate all SAC air refueling and reconnaissance resources in the European Theater with the United States Air Forces in Europe. It assumed the mission of the 98th Strategic Wing when that unit was inactivated in 1976. The 306th SW was inactivated as part of the inactivation of SAC in 1992.
  The wing's World War II predecessor unit, the 306th Bombardment Group, was the first operational bombardment group in VIII Bomber Command. It was stationed at RAF Thurleigh, England from 6 September 1942 until 25 December 1945, the longest tenure at one station for any one Eighth Air Force group.
context_section_description: The wing activated as the 306th Bombardment Wing, Medium on 1 September 1950 at MacDill AFB, Florida. Upon activation, the 306th 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 was initially equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and acted as SAC's B-29 crew training organization. In 1951, the 306th received some B-50A Superfortresses from the 43d Bombardment Wing at Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona to supplement the B-29s but used them for non-operational training flights.
  The wing began upgrading to the jet age with the arrival of the new Boeing B-47A Stratojet swept-wing medium bomber.  The B-47As, however, were essentially identical to the XB-47 prototype tested by Air Materiel Command and were intended to act as training aircraft to prepare future B-47B crews. The B-47As were not considered combat ready, since most of them were unarmed and were initially without almost any of their vital electronic components.  Deliveries of the B-47A to the USAF began in December 1950, and the aircraft entered service in May 1951 with the wing at MacDill. On 19 November 1951, the 306 BMW received its first operational Boeing B-47B and christened it "The Real McCoy" in honor of Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy, the 306th's wing commander, who flew it from the Boeing Wichita plant to MacDill AFB.
  The first Boeing KC-97E Stratotanker air refueling aircraft assigned to Strategic Air Command was delivered to the wing's 306th Air Refueling Squadron at MacDill AFB on 14 July 1951 and inflight refueling operations started in May 1952, with KC-97s refueling B-47s on operational training missions leading toward combat ready status.  B-47Bs from the 306th Bomb Wing began a 90-day rotational training mission to RAF Fairford, England in June 1953, marking the first overseas deployment of the B-47. Further overseas deployments by the entire wing followed in January 1955, October 1956, and October 1957 to Ben Guerir AB, Morocco. For its role in advancing jet bombardment tactics, the wing was awarded its first Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.
  During this period, the 306th also figured prominently in the filming of the 1955 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-47 aircraft of both the 306th Bombardment Wing and the collocated 305th Bombardment Wing.  In the film's plot Stewart's character is assigned to fly B-47s as a vice wing commander at MacDill.
  In 1959 the wing added a fourth bombardment squadron, the 423d Bombardment Squadron as SAC's B-47 force reached its peak of twenty-seven wings.  However, the B-47 soon began to be phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal.  The wing began phasing down, with the 423d becoming non-operational in 1961 and the 369th in early 1963.  The wing began sending aircraft to Davis–Monthan inventory beginning in late 1962 in anticipation of the wing's planned inactivation. However, inactivation plans were cancelled and the wing moved to replace the 4047th Strategic Wing instead.
caption: KC-97Es of the 306th Air Refueling Squadron at MacDill AFB
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