303d Bombardment Group

303d Air Expeditionary Group
Boeing B-17G of the 303d Bombardment Group showing Triangle C tail markings
Active	1942–1945; 1947–1948; 1951–1952; 2004–2010
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Bombardment
Part of	United States Air Forces Europe
Nickname(s)	Hell's Angels
Motto(s)	Might in Flight
Engagements	European Theater of World War II
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
303d Air Expeditionary Group emblem
303d Bombardment Group emblem as usually displayed during World War II
303d Bombardment Group arms as approved 9 January 1943
Eighth Air Force Tail Marking	Triangle C

The 303d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit. In 2011, it was assigned to United States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed.

The unit was first activated as the 303d Bombardment Group in February 1942. During World War II, the 303d was one of the first VIII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortress units in England. The group's "Hell's Angels" was the first B-17 to complete 25 combat missions in June 1943, and the group went on to fly more than 300 combat missions, more than any other B-17 group in the theater. The B-17 "Knock-out Dropper" was the first aircraft in Eighth Air Force to complete 50, then 75 missions. The group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for completing an attack against a heavily defended target in January 1944.

The group was twice activated for brief periods by Strategic Air Command (SAC). During the first of these periods, from July 1947 to September 1948, the group was not equipped or manned. It was again activated at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona in September 1951. However, SAC reorganized its combat wings to assign operational squadrons directly to the wing headquarters in June 1952 and the group was again inactivated.

Air Force Materiel Command activated the Global Hawk Systems Group in January 2005 during a reorganization called the Air Force Materiel Command Transformation to manage the acquisition and development of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. This group was consolidated with the 303d as the 303d Aeronautical Systems Group in June 2006. The consolidated group was inactivated in June 2010 when AF Materiel Command returned to its traditional directorate systems management organization.

The 303d Bombardment Group was activated in February 1942 as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber group at Pendleton Field, Oregon and assigned the 358th, 359th and 360th Bombardment Squadrons and the 31st Reconnaissance Squadron. It moved to Gowen Field, Idaho, where its 31st Reconnaissance Squadron was replaced by the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, which had lost most of its B-17s in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The group deployed to Southern California to fly antisubmarine patrols over the Pacific. The group completed training in southwest by August 1942. The ground echelon departed Biggs Field, Texas in August 1942, arriving at Fort Dix on 24 August. It sailed aboard the RMS Queen Mary and arrived in Great Britain on 10 September. The air echelon flew through Kellogg Field, Michigan and Dow Field, Maine before ferrying its planes across the Atlantic.