499th Bombardment Group

499th Air Refueling Wing
499th Bomb Group B-29 Superfortress over Mount Fuji in 1945.
Active	1943-1946; 1962-1966
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Bombardment Air Refueling
Motto(s)	Auxilium ab Alto (Help from Above)
Engagements	Pacific Theater of Operations
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
499th Air Refueling Wing emblem
Group tail identification (World War II)	Square V

The 499th Air Refueling Wing is an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) unit that was last active at Westover AFB, Massachusetts in June 1966.

The wing was first activated as the 499th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces, which flew combat in the Pacific Theater of Operations as part of Twentieth Air Force during World War II. The 499th BG engaged in very heavy (B-29 Superfortress) bombardment operations against Japan for which it earned two Distinguished Unit Citations. Its aircraft were identified by a "V" and a square painted on the tail.

The 499th Air Refueling Wing was an air refueling and airborne command and control unit active from 1963 to 1966. In 1984 USAF consolidated the group and wing into a single unit sharing a common history.

The 499th Bombardment Group was established in late 1943 at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group. The unit's original operational squadrons were the 877th,878th,879th, and 880th Bombardment Squadrons. It was also assigned four bombardment maintenance squadrons (one paired with each of its operational squadrons) and a photographic laboratory,

The group moved to Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas in December 1943 to begin training. Due to a shortage of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, the group was equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses already at Smoky Hill that had been previously used for training heavy bomber replacements. In the spring of 1944, the 499th finally received newly manufactured B-29s. In May the United States Army Air Forces reorganized its very heavy bombardment units. The 880th Bombardment Squadron and the bombardment maintenance squadrons were inactivated and their personnel absorbed into the remaining three squadrons.