34th Training Wing
The Commandant of Cadets is a named organization of the United States Air Force based at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Until August 2006 the commander of the 34th Training Wing was "dual-hatted" as the Commandant of Cadets at the Academy. In that month the 34th Wing became a named organization. The organization was first activated in 1941 as the 34th Bombardment Group. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the group briefly participated in antisubmarine patrols. During most of 1942 and 1943, the group acted as a heavy bomber training unit. In early 1944, the unit began preparations to move overseas. It served with Eighth Air Force in England, from April 1944 until the end of the war, converting form the Consolidated B-24 Liberator to the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in the middle of combat operations. It returned to the United States after VE Day and was inactivated in August 1945. The 34th Tactical Group was activated in the early days of American participation in the Vietnam War. It trained Republic of Vietnam Air Force airmen and engaged in combat operations and the operational testing of weapons and munitions until 1965, when the increasing American involvement in Vietnam caused it to be replaced by the larger 6251st Tactical Fighter Wing. In 1984 the 34th Bombardment Group and the 34th Tactical Group were consolidated into a single unit. The consolidated unit was redesignated the 34th Training Wing and activated in October 1994 at the United States Air Force Academy, where it has served the Commandant of Cadets as the military training arm of the academy. Mission The mission of the Commandant of Cadets is to educate and train potential United States Air Force officers as the administrative organization responsible for cadet leadership and military training programs, instruction in military and airmanship courses, and general supervision of cadet life activities. History World War II The group was first activated at Langley Field, Virginia in January 1941 as the 34th Bombardment Group and equipped with a mixture of B-17C and B-17D Flying Fortresses and Douglas B-18 Bolos. Its original squadrons were the 4th, 7th, and 18th Bombardment Squadrons, while the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron) was initially assigned to General Headquarters Air Force, but attached to the 34th Bombardment Group. The 34th Group moved to Westover Field, Massachusetts four months after it was activated. After the Pearl Harbor attack the group began antisubmarine patrols off the Northeast coast of the United States, but soon became part of Western Defense Command and moved to Pendleton Field, Oregon. By the summer of 1942, Second Air Force had become primarily a heavy bomber training force and the group became a B-17 Replacement Training Unit (RTU) at Geiger Field. RTUs were oversized units which trained aircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters. On 15 December 1942 the group moved to Blythe Army Air Base, California a base of the Desert Training Center. The 34th provided cadres for a number of heavy bomber groups that served