315th Air Division The 315th Air Division ( 315th AD ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces , based at Tachikawa Air Base , Japan . It was inactivated in April 1969 . History . World War II . The 315th Bombardment Wing was activated in July 1944 at Peterson Field , Colorado as a command and control organization for four very heavy B - 29 Superfortress bombardment groups . Organization trained in Colorado while subordinate groups were trained in Kansas by Second Air Force . When training was completed moved to Guam in the Mariana Islands of the Central Pacific Area in late March 1945 The 315th was the fifth and last B - 29 Wing assigned to XXI Bomber Command . The Groups and Squadrons of the 315th Bomb Wing for the most part , flew the B - 29B aircraft . The limited - production B - 29B was designed to was to save weight by removing all of the guns and sighting equipment used on other B - 29s , except the tail gun . The weight savings allowed the B - 29B to fly a little higher and a little further . The B - 29B aircraft also had two new radar units installed . One was the AN / APQ - 7 Eagle Radar for bombing and navigation and the other was the AN / APG - 15 used for aiming the tail gun . These two radar units gave the B - 29B a distinctive shape as the APQ - 7 antenna appeared as a small wing under the fuselage , between the two bomb bay doors and the APG - 15 added a ball shaped antenna to the tail of the aircraft below the tail guns . In the Marianas , the Wing provided command and control to the 16th , 331st , 501st 502d Bombardment Groups . The 16th and the 501st were the first to arrive in Mid April ; the 331st and 502d arrived in mid - May 1945 . Its groups flew " shakedown " missions against Japanese targets on Moen Island , Truk , and other points in the Carolines and Marianas . The 16th and 501st began combat missions over Japan on 26 June with attacks on the Utsube Oil Refinery in Yokkaichi . The 315th and 502d did not engage in combat until 1 August with attacks on the Mitsubishi Havana Oil Refinery in Kawasaki . For all four groups , oil industry targets in Japan were its primary targets . The wing flew its last combat missions on 14 August when hostilities ended . Afterwards , the wing ' s B 29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and Manchuria . Due to their late arrival in the theater , the groups demobilized slowly , not returning to the United States until April / May 1946 . The Wing then moved to Ashiya Army Airbase , Japan at the end of May 1946 to become part of the Fifth Air Force Occupation forces . It was re - designated as the 315th Composite Wing in January 1946 and controlled a mixture of fighter and bomber units performing occupation duty and providing air defense over Japan during the occupation era ( 1945 – 1950 ) . Korean War . With the outbreak of the Korean War , the division was relieved of occupation duty in January 1951 and reassigned to Far East Air Forces . It was re - designated as the 315th Air Division ( Combat Cargo ) on 10 January 1951 , and took over the resources of the Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command ( Provisional ) , which was set up in June 1950 in the immediate aftermath of the North Korean invasion of the south . It assumed command and control of the following units : During the Korean War , its components evacuated wounded from Korea , airdropped supplies and personnel , hauled emergency supplies , materiel , replacement troops , mail , rations and ammunition , participated in joint training exercises in Japan , took part in numerous combat missions , and operated regular transport schedules within the Far East area . Cold War . Before combat operations ceased in Korea , the division began supporting French forces engaged in a war in Indochina . From May 1953 – July 1954 , it provided C - 119s to the French , trained French air crews and maintenance personnel , performed additional airlift missions in support of the French , and finally evacuated wounded French troops from Indochina during operation Wounded Warrior . In July 1954 , the 315th resumed normal airlift operations in the Western Pacific Area and participated in training exercises in Japan . It continued peacetime readiness operations throughout the 1950s and early 1960s from its base at Ashiya . In 1962 , it established airlift support for the expanding conflict in Southeast Asia . Meantime , the division continued its routine airlift in the Far East , flew humanitarian missions , and participated in training exercises when possible . The crisis prompted by the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo in January 1968 , found the 315th supporting an emergency airlift to the Republic of Korea . The 315th AD was inactivated in April 1969 due to budget reductions . Its operational units ( 314th , 374th and 463d TAW ) were reassigned . Components . United States Air Force . Wings Groups Squadrons