The 34th Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was first activated as the 34th Flying Training Wing and supervised training of bombardiers and pilots for multiengine aircraftuntil it was disbanded on 16 June 1946 at Midland Army Air Field, Texas. The wing was reactivated in 1978 as the 34th Tactical Airlift Training Group and conducted various courses for crews of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules until inactivating in December 1961. It was activated a third time in 1994 as the 34th Operations Group and conducted airmanship training at the United States Air Force Academy.
History
The wing supervised Training Command Flight Schools in Central and Northern Texas and Oklahoma. The assigned schools provided specialized training for bombardiers, and the wing was the home of the "West Texas Bombardier Quadrangle" schools (Childress, Midland, San Angelo, and Big Spring Army Airfields).[1]
The wing also provided specialized schools for training on the two-engine Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber (Dodge City, Laughlin Army Airfields), and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator four-engine heavy bomber (Fort Worth, Liberal Army Airfields). After graduation Air Cadets were commissioned as Second Lieutenants, received their "wings" and were reassigned to Operational or Replacement Training Units operated by one of the four numbered air fores in the zone of interior.[1]
As training requirements changed during the war, schools were activated, inactivated, or transferred to meet them.[1]
When the United States Air Force became a separate service in September 1947, former Air Corps units that had been disbanded, including this wing, were transferred to it.
The wing was reconstituted in 1978 as the 34th Tactical Airlift Training Group at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas and supervised training courses for the Lockheed C-130 Hercules until inactivating in 1991 with the implementation of the Objective Wing organization by its parent 314th Tactical Airlift Wing.
Also known as Tarrant Army Airfield; performed B-32 Dominator training in 1945; remained open after the war as Carswell AFB, closed 1993, now NAS Fort Worth (Navy), Carswell Field, (USAFR)
Opened January 1943, Closed: August 1945 (B-26)[9]
Provided B-26 Marauder training and transition training. Also trained Free French and WASP pilots on the B-26; Became A-26 Invader school, August 1945; remained open after the war as Laughlin Air Force Base.
Manning, Thomas A.; Aschcroft, Bruce A.; Emmons, Richard H.; Hussey, Ann K.; Mason, Joseph L. (2005). History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Randolph AFB, Texas: Office of History and Research, Headquarters, Air Education and Training Command. ISBN978-1376984057. Retrieved 27 June 2019.