42d Air Division The 42d Air Division was a unit of the United States Air Force . It was established as the 42 Bombardment Wing ( Dive ) on 8 February 1943 . The wing first saw combat in September 1943 . It was inactivated in 1991 . History . Activated in 1943 as the 42d Bombardment Wing and controlled B - 26 Marauder groups as part of Twelfth Air Force . The wing first saw combat in the invasion of Italy , where its units flew close support missions to stop the German counterattack on the beachhead at Salerno during September 1943 . As the Allied forces progressed , the 42d took a leading part in interdicting Axis road and rail transport , and later in 1944 , in the attacks against the monastery at Cassino . In August 1944 , it supported the Allied landings in southern France . As the war drew to a close the 42d attacked German positions along the Siegfried Line and , in support of the Allied forces in their sweep across southern Germany , bombed enemy strong points , and communications and supply facilities . Reactivated an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command in March 1951 , the 42d Air Division equipped and trained its assigned units to conduct strategic air warfare using nuclear or conventional weapons anywhere in the world . It also trained and maintained air refueling assets . Tankers from units assigned to the 42d supported the Eielson Tanker Task Force and , over the years , occasionally deployed to Spain for Spanish Area Support . The division conducted numerous staff assistance visits and simulated no notice inspections , and participated in exercises such as Buy None and Global Shield . Aircraft and personnel from units assigned to the division , at various times in the late 1960s and early 1970s , deployed to Southeast Asia and took part in Operation Arc Light and Operation Young Tiger missions . Subordinate units of the 42d deployed aircraft and personnel in support of the war in Southeast Asia . Inactivated in 1991 as part of the Cold War drawdown of USAF forces . Components . Wings Groups Squadrons Aircraft and missiles . P - 40 Warhawk , 1940 ; B - 26 Marauder , 1943 – 1945 ; P - 38 Lightning , 1943 . B - 36 Peacemaker , 1951 – 1952 ; F - 84 Thunderjet , 1951 – 1952 . B - 36 Peacemaker , 1952 – 1957 ; F - 84 Thunderjet , 1952 – 1958 ; KB - 29 Superfortress , 1953 – 1957 ; F - 101 Voodoo , 1957 – 1958 ; KC - 97 Stratotanker , 1957 – 1958 . B - 52 Stratofortress , 1963 – 1969 ; KC - 135 Stratotanker , 1963 – 1969 ; Titan II ( LGM - 25C ) , 1963 – 1969 ; EC - 135 , 1966 – 1969 . B - 52 Stratofortress , 1970 , 1973 – 1988 ; KC - 135 Stratotanker , 1972 – 1988 ; Titan II ( LGM - 25C ) , 1970 , 1973 – 1982 ; EC - 135 , 1970 – 1973 , 1982 – 1988 ; KC - 10 Extender , 1982 – 1988 ; B - 1 Lancer , 1988 – 1991 ; Minuteman - III ( LGM - 30G ) , 1988 – 1991 . Decorations . This unit earned the following unit decorations : Emblem . Per chevron inverted azure and light blue between in chief a fleur de lis or enarched with four mullets of four points above two of same argent , all between two lightning bolts gules fimbriated of the fourth and in base saltirewise a palm and an olive branch of the last , in fess point a cloud formation of the like and over all in pale a winged mace displayed or , all within a diminished border of the last . ( Approved 29 December 1965 )