333d Bombardment Group

333d Special Operations Wing Active as the 333d Bombardment Group
B-29 Superfortress as flown by the group
Active	1942–1944; 1944–1946
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Bombardment
Part of	Eighth Air Force
Engagements	Pacific Ocean Theater of World War II

The 333d Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 316th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. It was inactivated on 28 May 1946. In 1985 it was consolidated with the 633d Special Operations Wing as the 333d Special Operations Wing.

Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress Operational Training Unit (OTU) for replacement personnel under Second Air Force. Trained pilots and aircrews from July 1942 to April 1944.

Realigned as an operational B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomb group in July 1944. Trained under Second Air Force until June 1945, being deployed to Okinawa as part of the new Eighth Air Force in the Pacific Theater. Arrived in Okinawa but Japanese Capitulation led to drawdown of Eighth Air Force and the group never was engaged in combat. Flew show-of-force missions over Occupied Japan and aircraft helped evacuate prisoners of war from Japan and China to airfields in the Philippines. Personnel demobilized and aircraft flown to storage in the United States in May 1946 and the unit was inactivated as a paper unit in Okinawa on 28 May.

In July 1985, the group was consolidated with the 633d Special Operations Wing as the 333d Special Operations Wing.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.