3rd Air Division
| 3d Air Division | |
|---|---|
3d Air Division emblem
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| Active | 30 August 1943 – 21 November 1945 23 August 1948 – 1 May 1951 8 October 1953 – 1 March 1954 8 June 1954 – 1 April 1970 1 January 1975 – 1 April 1992 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Garrison/HQ | see "Stations" section below |
| Equipment | see "Aircraft" section below |
| Engagements |
  
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| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Major General Earle E. Partridge |
The 3d Air Division (3d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 April 1992.
The 3d Air Division was created in England during World War II as the 3d Bombardment Division, an upper command echelon of the Eighth Air Force. With five combat bomb wings and 14 heavy bomber groups assigned, it was one of the two largest U.S. air combat organizations during World War II.
The 3d Air Division was activated in September 1943 as an intermediate command and control organization between command and wing levels. It was assigned to VIII Bomber Command, Eighth Air Force. The Division commanded three combat bombardment wings (4th, 13th and 45th), consisting of seven B-17 Flying Fortress bomb groups. The addition of the 92nd and 93d Combat Bomb Wings in 1944 and additional bomb groups to the other wings increased the number of combat groups to fourteen. Between May 1944 and September 1944 the division operated both B-17 Flying Fortress (nine groups) and B-24 Liberator (five groups) aircraft, before converting to an all-B-17 organization for the remainder of the war. In September 1944 the 66th Fighter Wing was assigned directly to the division for fighter support.
The bomb groups were engaged in strategic bombardment combat operations against Axis targets in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). During the weeks immediately preceding D-Day (6 June 1944), division aircraft bombed tactical targets such as German communications centers and lines of support, and on D-Day hit targets on the Cherbourg Peninsula immediately behind the landing beaches.
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Wikipedia