509th Composite Group

509th Composite Group

See the 509th Operations Group for group history and lineage as part of the United States Air Force

509th Composite Group

1946 emblem of the 509th Composite Group while part of the 58th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy
Active 17 December 1944 – 10 July 1946
Country USA
Branch United States Army Air Forces
Type Bombardment and aerial transport composite
Role Atomic warfare
Size 1767 personnel, 15 B-29 and 5 C-54 aircraft
Part of 313th Bomb Wing
Twentieth Air Force
Garrison/HQ North Field (Tinian), Mariana Islands
Engagements
  • World War II
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
(1945)
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Paul Tibbets

The 509th Composite Group (509th CG) was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II, and tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.

In the postwar era, the 509th Composite Group was one of the original ten USAAF bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946, the only one equipped with specially-configured B-29 Superfortress capable of delivering atomic bombs. It was standardized as a bombardment group and redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 10 July 1946.

Read more about 509th Composite Group:  Assignments, Depictions, Campaigns, Honors

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