| Unit Name: | 315th Air Division |
| Dates: | 1944–1950, 1951–1969 |
| Role: | Command of airlift forces |
| Battles: | Pacific Theater of Operations Korean War |
| Decorations: | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 315th Air Division emblem[1] |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | 315th Bombardment Wing emblem[2] |
The 315th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force formation. Originally designated the 315th Bombardment Wing, it was activated in July 1944 at Peterson Field, Colorado as a command organization for four very heavy Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment groups. It supervised the 16th, 331st, 501st and 502nd Bombardment Groups in the Mariana Islands during the last stages of the Second World War. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces, based at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, where the division was inactivated in April 1969.
The 315th Bombardment Wing was activated in July 1944 at Peterson Field, Colorado as a command organization for four very heavy Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment groups. The wing trained in Colorado while subordinate groups were trained in Kansas by the Second Air Force.[1]
When training was completed, the wing headquarters moved to Guam in the Mariana Islands of the Central Pacific Area in late March 1945. The 315th was the fifth and last B-29 wing assigned to XXI Bomber Command. Most of the Wing's groups and squadrons flew the B-29B aircraft. The limited-production B-29B was designed to save weight by removing all of the guns and sighting equipment used on other B-29s, except the tail gun. The weight savings allowed the B-29B to fly a little higher and a little further. The B-29B aircraft also had two new radar units installed. One was the AN/APQ-7 Eagle radar for bombing and navigation and the other was the AN/APG-15 used for aiming the tail gun. These two radar units gave the B-29B a distinctive shape as the APQ-7 antenna appeared as a small wing under the fuselage, between the two bomb bay doors and the APG-15 added a ball shaped antenna to the tail of the aircraft below the tail guns.[3]
In the Marianas, the Wing commanded the 16th, 331st, 501st and 502nd Bombardment Groups. The 16th and the 501st were the first to arrive in mid April; the 331st and 502d arrived in mid-May 1945.[4]
Its groups flew "shakedown" missions against Japanese targets on Moen Island, Truk, and other points in the Carolines and Marianas. The 16th and 501st began combat missions over Japan on 26 June with attacks on the Utsube Oil Refinery in Yokkaichi. The 315th and 502d did not engage in combat until 1 August with attacks on the Mitsubishi Havana Oil Refinery in Kawasaki. For all four groups, oil industry targets in Japan were its primary targets.[4]
The wing flew its last combat missions on 14 August when hostilities ended. Afterwards, the wing's B 29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and Manchuria. Due to their late arrival in the theater, the groups did not return to the United States until April/May 1946.[4]
The Wing then moved to Ashiya Army Air Base, Japan at the end of May 1946 to become part of the Fifth Air Force occupation forces. It was redesignated as the 315th Composite Wing in January 1946 and controlled a mixture of fighter and bomber units performing occupation duty and provided air defense over Japan during the occupation era. The division was relieved of occupation duty and inactivated in March 1950[1]
With the outbreak of the Korean War, the division was again activated in January 1951 and reassigned to Far East Air Forces. It was re-designated as the 315th Air Division (Combat Cargo) and took over the resources of the Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command (Provisional), which was set up in June 1950 in the immediate aftermath of the North Korean invasion of the south.[1]
It assumed command and control of the following units:[1]
During the Korean War, its components evacuated wounded from Korea, airdropped supplies and personnel, hauled emergency supplies, materiel, replacement troops, mail, rations and ammunition, participated in joint training exercises in Japan, took part in numerous combat missions, and operated regular transport schedules within the Far East area.[1]
Before combat operations ceased in Korea, the division began supporting French forces engaged in a war in Indochina. From May 1953 – July 1954, it provided Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars to the French, trained French air crews and maintenance personnel, performed additional airlift missions in support of the French,[1] and finally evacuated 509 wounded French troops from Indochina during Operation Wounded Warrior in June-July 1954.[5] "The 14,000-mile airlift carrying the French soldiers followed an eastern route due to political considerations."[6]
In July 1954, the 315th resumed normal airlift operations in the Western Pacific Area and participated in training exercises in Japan. It continued peacetime readiness operations throughout the 1950s and early 1960s from its base at Ashiya. In 1962, it established airlift support for the expanding conflict in Southeast Asia. Meantime, the division continued its routine airlift in the Far East, flew humanitarian missions, and participated in training exercises when possible.[1]
The crisis prompted by the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo in January 1968, found the 315th supporting an emergency airlift to the Republic of Korea.[1]
The 315th AD was inactivated in April 1969 due to budget reductions. Its operational units (the 314th, 374th and 463d Tactical Airlift Wings) were reassigned.[1]
315th Air Division
Activated on 17 July 1944
Redesignated 315th Composite Wing on 8 January 1946
Inactivated on 20 August 1948
Redesignated 315th Air Division (Combat Cargo) on 10 January 1951
Activated on 25 January 1951
Redesignated 315th Air Division on 1 August 1967
Inactivated on 15 April 1969
Table of Distribution 315th Air Division
Organized on 18 August 1948
Discontinued 1 March 1950
Inactivated 15 April 1969
Wings
Groups
Squadrons