306th Bombardment Wing

306th Strategic Wing
B-52D Stratofortress on display at B-52 Memorial Park, Orlando International Airport, Florida (Ex-McCoy Air Force Base).
Active	1950–1974; 1976–1990
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Command and control of deployed strategic assets
Part of	Strategic Air Command
Motto(s)	Abundance of Strength
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
306th Strategic Wing Patch (approved 10 Nov 1977)

The 306th Strategic Wing (306th SW), previously the 306th Bombardment Wing, is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Strategic Air Command at RAF Mildenhall, England and was inactivated on 1 February 1992. Its heritage was assumed by the 306th Flying Training Group (306 FTG), an Air Education and Training Command organization at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado.

The mission of the 306th SW was to coordinate all SAC air refueling and reconnaissance resources in the European Theater with the United States Air Forces in Europe. It assumed the mission of the 98th Strategic Wing when that unit was inactivated in 1976. The 306th SW was inactivated as part of the inactivation of SAC in 1992.

The unit's World War II predecessor unit, the 306th Bombardment Group, was the first operational bombardment groupin VIII Bomber Command. It was stationed at RAF Thurleigh, England from 6 September 1942 until 25 December 1945, the longest tenure at one station for any one Eighth Air Force group. That unit's lineage and history is held by the present-day 306th Flying Training Group, which is an active unit of the Air Education and Training Command, stationed at the United States Air Force Academy. From 1954 until the wing was inactivated, it was temporarily bestowed with the honors and heritage of the 306th Bomb Group.

During the Cold War, Strategic Air Command (SAC) established the 306th Bombardment Wing initially as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress medium bombardment wing at MacDill AFB, Florida in 1950. It later flew Boeing B-50, Boeing KC-97 and Boeing B-47 Stratojet aircraft. It moved to McCoy AFB, Florida in 1963, where it was a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker heavy bombardment wing. The 306th forward deployed to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s The wing was inactivated in 1974 with the closure of McCoy AFB.