1 February 1963 Inactivated on 25 April 1968 Consolidated on 31 January 1984 with the 397th Bombardment Group Assignments Third Air Force, 20 April 1943 98th Bombardment Wing, 5 April 1944 – December 1945 Army Service Forces (for inactivation), 5–6 January 1946 Strategic Air Command, 15 November 1962 (not organized) 6th Air Division, 1 February 1963 45th Air Division, 2 July 1966 – 25 April 1968 Components 19th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 February 1963 – 15 June 1963 (KC-97) At Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts 71st Air Refueling Squadron, 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968 (KC-135) 341st Air Refueling Squadron, 1 February 1963 – 1 September 1963 (KC-97) 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946; 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968 597th Bombardment Squadron (9F), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B), 20 April 1943 – 6 January 1946 Stations MacDill Field, Florida, 20 April 1943 Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida, 12 October 1943 Hunter Field, Georgia, 1 November 1943 – 13 March 1944 RAF Gosfield (AAF-154), England, 5 April 1944 RAF Rivenhall (AAF-168), England, 15 April 1944 RAF Hurn (AAF-492), England, 5 August 1944 492 Gorges Airfield (A-26), France, August 1944 Dreux/Vernouillet Airfield (A-41), France, c. 11 September 1944 Peronne Airfield (A-72), France, 6 October 1944 Venlo Airfield (Y-55), Netherlands, 25 April 1945 Peronne Airfield (A-72), France, c. 24 May – c. December 1945 Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 5–6 January 1946 Dow Air Force Base, Maine, 1 February 1963 – 25 April 1968 Aircraft Martin B-26 Marauder (1943–1946) Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (1963–1968) Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter (1963–1964) Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (1964–1968) See also List of B-52 Units of the United States Air Force List of MAJCOM wings of the United States Air Force List of Martin B-26 Marauder operators References Notes Bibliography Further reading Beck, Henry C. Jr. The 397th Bomb Group (M), a Pictorial History. Cleveland, Ohio: Crane Howard, 1946. Bendiner, Elmer. The Fall of the Fortresses. A Personal Account of the Most Daring, and Deadly, American Air Battles of World War II. New York: Putnam, 1980. Freeman, Roger A. UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle, 1994. . Freeman, Roger A. The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle, 1996. Stovall, James B. Jr.