United States Army Air Forces in Okinawa

See also: Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

The Battle of Okinawa was the last major ground battle between the armed forces of the Empire of Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

and the United States of the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

.

United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

and United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

ground forces landed on the island on 1 April 1945 at 08:30 am. The Battle of Okinawa lasted 83 days until 22 June, when the island was declared secured. The defense of the island was divided into three strong Japanese lines where hidden guns, machine guns and bunkers covered approaches and fields. Soldiers on the ground fought a grueling battle to occupy the island. The United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

and its support ships were larger in numbers than those at Normandy in June 1944

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

, and were attacked repeatedly by Japanese Kamikaze

Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

aircraft, sinking and damaging a significant number of vessels. It was a battle in which more than 12,000 American and 100,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives.

Airfield development

With the conquest of Okinawa, the United States obtained a key location to launch an invasion

Operation Downfall

Operation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...

of the Japanese Home Islands

Japanese Archipelago

The , which forms the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean...

, planned for November 1945. Base development plans were drawn up to provide for 18 runways on Okinawa and three on Ie Shima

Ie Shima Airfield

is a gunnery and training facility, managed by the United States Marine Corps and a former World War II airfield complex on Ie Shima, an island located off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island in the East China Sea...

, instead of the eight and two originally planned respectively for the two islands. Construction of airfields on Okinawa was to center on the provision of facilities for B-29 Superfortress

B-29 Superfortress

The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...

operations, while Ie Shima was to be developed primarily as a base for Very Long Range (VLR) P-47N Thunderbolt

P-47 Thunderbolt

Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

and P-51H Mustang

P-51 Mustang

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...

fighter escorts.

Work on fighter airfields was initially given the highest priority in order to provide land-based air cover during the assault. By 10 April Kadena

Kadena Air Base

, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...

and Yontan

Yontan Airfield

Yontan Airfield is a former military airfield on Okinawa, located near the village of Sobe on the Okinawa western coast. It was closed and turned over to the Japanese government in 1972...

airfields had been reconditioned for successful operations. By the end of May construction was in progress on ten different bomber and fighter runways on Okinawa and Ie Shima. Of these only the fields at Yontan and Kadena and one of the fighter runways on Ie Shima were near completion. The first American runway built on Okinawa was the 7,000-foot medium bomber runway at Yontan, completed on 17 June. By the end of June a 7,500-foot VLR strip at Kadena was 25 percent complete, two 5,000-foot fighter runways at Awase and Chimu for Navy use were ready for operation, an 8,500-foot VLR runway at Bolo Point

Bolo Airfield

Bolo Airfield is a former World War II airfield in Okinawa, at Bolo Point on the East China Sea coast. The airfield was inactivated after 1946 and returned to Japanese control in 1972. Today it has been redeveloped into a golf course and recreation area.-History:This airfield was originally...

was 15 percent complete, and construction was under way for VLR and a medium-bomber runway at Futema

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma

Marine Corps Air Station Futenma or MCAS Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 4,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and has been a U.S. military airbase since the island was occupied...

.

By the end of the Okinawa campaign the full realization of the plans for the development of major air bases in the Ryukyus lay in the future. Most of the airfields would not be completed for two or three months, although fighters were flying from some to attack Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

USAAF combat units assigned to Okinawa

Fifth

Fifth Air Force

The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....

and Seventh Air Force

Seventh Air Force

The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....

tactical fighter-bomber aircraft were based on Okinawa, along with B-24 Liberator

B-24 Liberator

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

s and B-25 Mitchell

B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...

bombers to be employed in tactical bombing missions. In addition, the Eighth Air Force

Eighth Air Force

The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

was reassigned from England to establish a second strategic air force to complement the Twentieth Air Force

Twentieth Air Force

The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...

based in the Mariana Islands

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

with B-29s. The Eighth also controlled long-range P-47N and P-51H Fighter groups to provide escort to the very heavy bombers.
Fifth Air Force

Headquarters, Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....

, 4 August – 25 September 1945
Headquarters, V Bomber Command
V Bomber Command
The V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946....

, August–October 1945
Headquarters, V Fighter Command
V Fighter Command
The V Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Fukuoka AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946....

, August–October 1945
308th Bombardment Wing
308th Bombardment Wing (World War II)
The 308th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Far East Air Forces, based at Nagoya, Japan. It was inactivated on 30 June 1948....

, 16 June – 22 September 1945

3d Bombardment Group
3d Wing
The 3d Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska....

, A-20 Havoc, 6 August – 8 September 1945
417th Bombardment Group
417th Bombardment Group
The 417th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with V Bomber Command, being stationed at Itami Airfield, Japan, where it was inactivated on 5 November 1945....

A-20 Havoc, 17 August – 1 November 1945
22d Bombardment Group
22d Air Refueling Wing
The 22d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas and also functions as the host wing for McConnell AFB....

B-24 Liberator, 15 August – 23 November 1945
43d Bombardment Group
43d Airlift Wing
The 43rd Airlift Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Pope Army Airfield, part of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.The 43 AG performs en route operations support at Pope AAF to include mission command & control, aircrew management, aircraft maintenance, aircraft loading, aircraft fueling...

B-24 Liberator, 26 July – 10 December 1945
90th Bombardment Group B-24 Liberator, 10 August–December 1945
312th Bombardment Group
312th Aeronautical Systems Wing
The 312th Aeronautical Systems Group is a component of the United States Air Force 312th Aeronautical Systems Wing. It is stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and is assigned to Air Force Material Command ....

B-32 Dominator
B-32 Dominator
The Consolidated B-32 Dominator was a heavy bomber made for United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and has the distinction of being the last Allied aircraft to be engaged in combat during World War II. It was developed in parallel with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress as a fallback design...

, 13 August – 13 December 1945
380th Bombardment Group
380th Air Expeditionary Wing
The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . It is attached to the United States Air Forces Central component of ACC and is stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates....

B-24 Liberator, 9 August – 28 November 1945
38th Bombardment Group
38th Combat Support Wing
The 38th Combat Support Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force , being inactivated on 1 May 2007 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....

B-25 Mitchell, 25 July – 22 November 1945
345th Bombardment Group B-25 Mitchell, 25 July – 10 December 1945

8th Fighter Group
8th Fighter Wing
The United States Air Force 8th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea and is assigned to Seventh Air Force...

P-47 Thunderbolt, 6 August – 22 November 1945
35th Fighter Group
35th Fighter Wing
The 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The 35 FW is part of Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force.-Mission:...

P-51 Mustang, 28 June – October 1945
49th Fighter Group
49th Fighter Wing
The 49th Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 49 WG is part of the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force....

P-47 Thunderbolt, 16 August – 15 September 1945
58th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolt, 10 July – 26 October 1945
348th Fighter Group
108th Air Refueling Wing
The 108th Air Refueling Wing is a unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard tasked with aerial refueling and other air mobility missions. It is based at McGuire Air Force Base and operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command . The current Commander of the 108th is...

P-47 Thunderbolt, 9 July–October 1945
475th Fighter Group P-51 Mustang, 8 August – 23 September 1945

Seventh Air Force

Headquarters, Seventh Air Force
Seventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....

, 12 July 1945 – 1 January 1946
Headquarters VII Bomber Command
VII Bomber Command
The VII Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Seventh Air Force, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946.-Lineage:...

, July 1945 – March 1946

41st Bombardment Group
41st Bombardment Group
The 41st Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Seventh Air Force stationed at Manila, Philippines. It was inactivated on 27 January 1946....

B-25 Mitchell, 7 July–December 1945
494th Bombardment Group B-24 Liberator, 24 June – 8 December 1945

318th Fighter Group
318th Fighter Group
The 318th Fighter Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II.-History:...

P-47 Thunderbolt, 30 April–November 1945

Attached to Twentieth (later Eighth) Air Force, 16 July–November 1945

Eighth Air Force

Headquarters, Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

, 16 July 1945 – 7 June 1946
301st Fighter Wing
301st Fighter Wing
The 301st Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve fighter wing, based at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth Carswell Field, Texas. It is equipped with the F-16C+ Fighting Falcon...

, 25 July – 10 December 1945
316th Bombardment Wing
316th Air Division
The 316th Airlift Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, assigned to Seventeenth Air Force, being stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany...

, 5 September 1945 – 21 June 1948

333d Bombardment Group
333d Bombardment Group
The 333d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 316 Bombardment Wing, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. It was inactivated on 28 May 1946-History:...

B-29 Superfortress, 5 August 1945 – 28 May 1946
346th Bombardment Group
346th Bombardment Group
The 346th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 316th Bombardment Wing, being stationed at Kadena Airfield, Okinawa. It was inactivated on 30 June 1946....

B-29 Superfortress, 7 August 1945 – 30 June 1946

418th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolt, 10 November 1945 – 11 November 1954
507th Fighter Group
507th Air Refueling Wing
The 507th Air Refueling Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It is one of two Air Force Reserve flying units in the state of Oklahoma....

P-47 Thunderbolt, 24 June 1945 – 29 January 1945

Combat airfields

Awase Airfield (United States Navy)

26°18′47.64"N 127°49′00.48"E (Approximate)

Bolo Airfield
Bolo Airfield
Bolo Airfield is a former World War II airfield in Okinawa, at Bolo Point on the East China Sea coast. The airfield was inactivated after 1946 and returned to Japanese control in 1972. Today it has been redeveloped into a golf course and recreation area.-History:This airfield was originally...

26°26′19.64"N 127°43′06.73"E

Chimu Airfield (United States Navy)

26°27′33.95"N 127°55′04.00"E (Approximate)

Futenma Airfield (Now: MCAS Futenma)
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma or MCAS Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 4,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and has been a U.S. military airbase since the island was occupied...

(United States Marine Corps)

26°16′21.79"N 127°45′23.66"E

Ie Shima Airfield
Ie Shima Airfield
is a gunnery and training facility, managed by the United States Marine Corps and a former World War II airfield complex on Ie Shima, an island located off the northwest coast of Okinawa Island in the East China Sea...

26°43′23.20"N 127°46′40.78"E

Kadena Airfield (Now: Kadena Air Base)
Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...

26°21′26.00"N 127°46′00.08"E

Motobu Airfield
Motobu Airfield
Motobu Airfield is a World War II airfield on the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa, near the East China Sea coast. The airfield was deactivated after 1945.-History:...

26°41′009.15"N 127°53′23.90"E

Naha Airfield (Now: Naha Airport)
Naha Airport
-Incidents:* On December 1, 1994, Ramzi Yousef planted a bomb on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, with the intent of mass murder. The bomb exploded on the Boeing 747-283B en route from Cebu to Tokyo, killing one passenger...

26°11′43.88"N 127°38′44.79"E

Yonabaru Airfield (Later: NAS Yonabaru) (United States Navy)

26°12′26.33"N 127°45′46.41"E (Approximate)

Yontan Airfield
Yontan Airfield
Yontan Airfield is a former military airfield on Okinawa, located near the village of Sobe on the Okinawa western coast. It was closed and turned over to the Japanese government in 1972...

26°23′36.83"N 127°44′48.12"E

Epilogue

The Battle of Okinawa was a critical turning point that served as a catalyst for the world-changing decision that followed. It helped spur President Truman

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

's decision to attack Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

and Nagasaki

Nagasaki

is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...

with nuclear weapon

Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

s, because the casualty numbers at Okinawa indicated a projected one million deaths for the planned Invasion of Japan.

At Okinawa, American military forces all but destroyed Japan's Imperial Army in the Pacific. The sinking of Japan's last major naval vessels in the battle and the elimination of almost all available fuel supplies in Japan by the Twentieth Air Force's destruction of most fuel storage and oil refineries forced an end to the Japanese war machine's capability to engage in battle effectively.

To the Japanese, the defeat on Okinawa convinced the civilian leadership that defeat was inevitable. Their arguments convinced Emperor Hirohito to oppose the pro-war leaders in his government, and after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to accept the Potsdam Declaration

Potsdam Declaration

The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement calling for the Surrender of Japan in World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S...

's demand for Japan's unconditional surrender.

Two months later, on 15 August 1945 Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allied forces, ending the War in the Pacific, and World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

came to an end. The massive air armada assembled by the USAAF for the Invasion of Japan was never used in combat; it was instead partially used as an occupation force, but mostly demobilized and inactivated in 1945 and 1946.