444th Air Expeditionary Wing The 444th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed . It was last activated in 2003 . During World War II , the 444th Bombardment Group was a United States Army Air Forces combat organization . The group was the first Boeing B - 29 Superfortress Group formed for the 58th Bombardment Wing , and served in the China Burma India Theater and Pacific Ocean Theater as part of the Twentieth Air Force . The group ' s aircraft engaged in very heavy bombardment operations against Japan . The group received the Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat operations on three occasions . After returning to the United States , the 444th Bombardment Group became one of the original ten bombardment group s assigned to Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) . The unit was inactivated on 1 October 1946 at Davis - Monthan Field , Arizona . Its B - 29 aircraft and personnel were reassigned to the 43d Bombardment Group . During Operation Iraqi Freedom the group was briefly activated as the 444th Air Expeditionary Group . The composition and stationing of the unit was never officially disclosed , and it was inactivated after the invasion of Iraq was completed . History . Training for combat . The 444th Bombardment Group was activated on 1 March 1943 at Davis - Monthan Field , Arizona . Its original squadrons were the 676th , 677th , 678th , and 679th Bombardment Squadron s . After a period of organization at Davis - Monthan the group moved to Great Bend AAF , Kansas . for training , initially flying Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress es , Consolidated B - 24 Liberator s and Martin B - 26 Marauder s . After receiving its B - 29s , the aircraft were ferried off to modification centers to correct design flaws . The 444th , under the command of Colonel Alva Harvey , was assigned to the first B - 29 Superfortress wing , the 58th Bombardment Wing . After the planes were returned , the group engaged in training on the new aircraft and its mission of long range precision bombing . In November 1943 the 444th reorganized as a " Very Heavy " group and added four Bombardment Maintenance Squadrons and a Photographic Laboratory . China Burma India Theater . In early April 1944 , the group left the United States and deployed to a former B - 24 Liberator airfield at Charra Airfield , India . The first airplane of the group landed at Charra on 11 April 1944 . Due to the lack of revetments at Charra the group ' s airplanes were parked wingtip to wingtip on the field ' s shorter runway . Charra served only as a maintenance and staging base . Its runways were too short for a B - 29 to take off fully loaded . While the group was stationed there , all missions were flown from the bases of the other groups in the 58th Bombardment Wing . During the week of 15 – 22 April , no fewer than five 58th wing B - 29s crashed near Karachi , all from overheated engines . The cause was traced to the design of the engine cowl flaps which controlled air flow over the cylinders . There were also problems with exhaust valves and valve guides on the engine . The B - 29 was an advanced aeronautical design years ahead of engine development and was underpowered as well . From India , the 444th Bomb Group planned to fly missions against Japan from advanced airfield s in China . However , all the supplies of fuel , bombs and spare parts needed to support operations from the forward bases in China had to be flown in from India over " The Hump " ( the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains ) , since Japanese control of eastern China and the Chinese coast made seaborne supply of China impossible . Also , the forward bases were located in Szechaun Province in south central China far from the coast with no roads or railroads into the area from allied controlled territory . Supplies had to be delivered to China by the B - 29s themselves or by the C - 47s and C - 46s of Air Transport Command . For this role , one aircraft from each squadron was stripped of combat equipment and used as a flying tanker . Each aircraft carried seven tons of fuel , but the amount that was delivered to China depended on weather , including headwinds and aircraft icing which increased the fuel consumption of the " tankers . " The Hump route was so dangerous and difficult that each time a B - 29 flew from India to China it was counted as a mission . The 677th squadron described a typical ‘ Hump ” mission , telling of the " thousands of Chinese coolies on the runway , their friendliness and curiosity , the rather exciting way they have of running across the runway in front of the landing planes ( thinking they are evil spirits which are right behind them ) , and the good living at the advanced base " . The group flew its first combat mission on 5 June 1944 against the Makasan railroad yards at Bangkok , Thailand . Ten days later the group participated in the first American air attack on the Japanese home islands since the 1942 Doolittle raid , staging through Chinese bases on a nighttime raid against the iron and steel works at Yawata , Japan . It returned to Yawata on 20 August on a daytime raid for which the group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation . Operating from bases in India and at times staging through fields in China , the group struck transportation centers , naval installations , aircraft plants and other targets in Burma , China , Thailand , Japan and Formosa . The 444th Bomb Group carried out the longest bombing mission of World War II . Staging out of their Indian bases they struck the Japanese naval base at Singapore blowing the door off the King George V floating drydock from 30 , 000 feet . This bombing accuracy contradicted reports of inaccuracy of B - 29 bombing . The mission was nearly 4 , 000 miles round trip . On 12 October 1944 the group reorganized . The 679th Bombardment Squadron and the four bombardment maintenance squadrons were inactivated and their personnel and equipment were transferred to the other squadronsof the group . As the new year started , Japanese advances forced withdrawal from the Chinese forward operating bases . Unable to continue attacks on Japan , the group continued attacking targets in Southeast Asia . Pacific Theater . In the spring of 1945 the 444th and the other groups of the 58th wing moved to Tinian in the Marianas in order to continue operations against Japan . It participated in the bombing of strategic objectives , strategic mining of the Inland Sea and in incendiary on urban areas for the duration of the war . It received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for attacking oil storage facilities at Oshima , bombing an aircraft plant near Kobe , and dropping incendiaries on Nagoya in May 1945 . The wing struck light metal industries at Osaka in July 1945 , receiving a third Distinguished Unit Citation for this action . The group ' s final mission was flown against Hikari , Japan on 14 August 1945 , the day before the Japanese surrender . Strategic Air Command . The 444th returned to the United States and Merced Army Air Field , California in November 1945 where it was assigned to Fourth Air Force of Continental Air Forces ( CAF ) . The 344th Bombardment Squadron moved to Merced and was assigned to the group . Shortly after arriving at Merced , the 678th Bombardment Squadron converted to the reconnaissance mission and became the 10th Reconnaissance Squadron , Very Long Range ( Photographic ) . March 1946 saw more changes as the 344th was inactivated and the 10th squadron was reassigned to the 311th Reconnaissance Wing , which inactivated it at the end of the month . CAF became Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) and the 444th was one of the ten original bombardment groups assigned to SAC . In May the group moved back to Davis - Monthan Field , where it was integrated with the host 248th AAF Base Unit . The 409th Bombardment Squadron , which was at Clovis Army Air Field , New Mexico converting to B - 29s was assigned to the group when the group moved . The following month the 409th joined the group and its other two squadrons at Davis - Monthan . The group was inactivated on 1 October 1946 and its personnel and aircraft were reassigned to the 43d Bombardment Group , which was activated at Davis - Monthan on 1 October 1946 as part of the re - established Eighth Air Force . Modern Era . In 2003 the group was converted to provisional status and redesignated the 444th Air Expeditionary Group . It was active during 2003 and received an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with combat " V " for its performance . References . Bibliography . Further Reading