page_title: 53rd Electronic Warfare Group
section_title: Heavy Bombardment era
hierarchical_section_title: 53rd Electronic Warfare Group / History / Strategic bombardment / Heavy Bombardment era
caption_attribution_description: English: 4241st Strategic Wing emblem
context_page_description: The 53d Electronic Warfare Group is a component unit of the 53d Wing of the Air Force Warfare Center, Air Combat Command, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
  The group is a non-flying unit responsible for providing operational, technical and maintenance electronic warfare expertise for the Combat Air Force and for systems engineering, testing, evaluation, tactics development, employment, capability and technology assessment. This includes the wartime responsibility for emergency reprogramming and dissemination of Electronic Warfare system mission data software for CAF aircraft. The group manages the Combat Shield Electronic Warfare Assessment Program for CAF aircraft EW systems. Combat Shield provides operational units a system-specific capability assessment for their radar warning receivers, electronic attack pods, and integrated EW systems.
  Established in 1941, the unit traces its lineage and heritage the 68th Strategic Reconnaissance Group; the 68th Air Refueling Group; the 68th Bombardment Wing, Heavy, and the 68th Electronic Combat Group
context_section_description: 4241st Strategic Wing
  SAC had organized the 4241st Strategic Wing at Seymour Johnson on 1 October 1958 and assigned it to Second Air Force as part of SAC's plan to disperse its Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The wing remained a headquarters only until 1 December 1959 when the 911th Air Refueling Squadron, flying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, three maintenance squadrons, and a squadron to provide security for special weapons were activated and assigned to the wing.
  On 5 January 1959 the 73d Bombardment Squadron, consisting of 15 Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses moved to Seymour Johnson from Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 72d Bombardment Wing and the wing was transferred from Second Air Force to the 822d Air Division. The wing was fully organized at the start of May when the 53d Aviation Depot Squadron' moved from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana to oversee the wing's special weapons. Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.  This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962. The 4241st (and later the 68th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until the end of the Cold War.  In 1962, the wing's bombers began to be equipped with the GAM-77 Hound Dog and the GAM-72 Quail air-launched cruise missiles, The 4134th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles.
  68th Bombardment Wing, Heavy
  When the 68th replaced the 4341st the 53d Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 911th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 68th. The 4241st's maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 68th numerical designation. Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor.
  The wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and global refueling operations to meet SAC commitments. Wing aircraft, most aircrews and maintenance personnel, and other support personnel were loaned to other SAC units for combat operations in Southeast Asia, 27 May 1972 – 15 July 1973.
caption: 4241st Strategic Wing emblem
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