I am continuing to trace the history of my old AF unit and thought I might share some of what I have found so far. As yet I have not been able to uncover anything for sure, but it is starting to look as though we might be able to trace our history back to a unit of the 22nd Bombardment group, 381st Bombardment Wing Heavy and the B-17
This group went through several incarnations during the late 40's and 50's and eventually ended up as the 381st Strategic Missile Wing at McConnell AFB. I will include a portion of the units history here for you to read.
"On August 8, 1986, the 381st Strategic Missile Wing became the second Titan II wing to be deactivated. The 381st was deactivated after providing twenty-plus years of strategic deterrence and winning numerous awards, including the SAC missile combat competition Blanchard Trophy in 1972, 1975, 1980, and 1983.
The 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated at Gowen Field, Idaho, on 3 November 1942. The group moved to Ephrata AAB, Washington, where it was partially manned and then Pyote AAB, Texas, where 381st crews began their training in B-17s. In May 1943, the group began its overseas operations with the Eighth Air Force. The 381st operated chiefly against strategic objectives on the European Continent from June 1943 to April 1945. Bomb crews from the 381st saw action against Villacoublay, Amiens, St. Nazaire, Le Mans, Offenberg, Kassel, Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen, nitrate works in Norway, aircraft plants in Brussels, U-boat yards at Kiel, and ball-bearing works in Schweinfurt. The group's accurate performance against the shipyards at Bremen despite persistent enemy fighter attacks and heavy flak earned the unit its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) on 8 October 1943. A second DUC was awarded for similar action on 11 January 1944 during a mission against aircraft factories in central Germany. The 381st Bombardment Group participated in Big Week (20-25 February 1944), the Normandy invasion, the airborne assault on Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, the Allied crossing of the Rhine, and the final Allied push into Germany. After hostilities ended, the group transported repatriated prisoners of war from Germany to France.
The 381st Bombardment Group was inactivated on 28 August 1945 at Sioux Falls AAFld, South Dakota. The group was re-designated the 381st Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) and was activated in the Reserve at Offutt Field, Nebraska, from 24 July 1947 to 27 June 1949. The group was re designated by Strategic Air Command (SAC) as the 381st Strategic Missile Wing and was organized at McConnell AFB, Kansas on 1 March 1962.
On 1 April 1994, the 381st was re-designated by Air Education and Training Command (AETC) as the 381st Training Group Provisional under Second Air Force and located at Vandenberg AFB, CA. The group, which was activated on 30 September 1994, is responsible for the consolidation of all space and missile training for Air Force Space Command. "
I mention and list all of this for this reason. The 381st SPS was part of the 381st CSG which basically provided all the support and logistics for the SMW. All of which were hosted by the 22nd Bomb Wing. Anyway, I continue to ask and search for the unit patch, that is what is really driving the search in the first place. I can really kick myself here, I have every other patch from my uniforms, but for some reason I didn't keep the unit patch. I imagine I was probably high at the time.
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