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In this series, we’ve learned about many aspects of the B-52, but no discussion regarding the iconic aircraft is complete without understanding the preliminary military characteristics (the military’s required performance specifications/intended mission use) of what would become the B-52 Stratofortress. Envisioned as a “special purpose (i.e. nuclear) bomber capable of delivering an atomic device across a range of 8,000 miles at a minimum cruising speed of 550 mph,” the BUFF was designed for a singular purpose: atomic warfare. Understanding this single aspect of the BUFF connects the aircraft to the 509th Bombardment Wing, Pease AFB, NH.
Atomic weapons in the late 1940s were heavy and large, weighing in around 10,000 pounds; they were basically improved, stockpiled versions of the Fat Man bomb used in combat over Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945. Although miniaturization of the nuclear stockpile made weapons more efficient, powerful and smaller, those improvements would take many years. This brings us back on topic a bit: the BUFF was intended to be an atomic weapon delivery aircraft. The sole atomic weapons-capable unit in the entire War Department (the Department of Defense did not exist until 1947) was the 509th Composite Group. The 509th was a specially-trained and equipped bomber unit flying Silverplate modified B-29s, just like they did at the close of WWII. When WWII ended, nearly every bombardment unit in the US military deactivated in a massive postwar drawdown. Only the 93d Bombardment Wing and the 509th Composite Group remained active and were absorbed into the new Strategic Air Command (SAC). The advent of SAC was contingent on the operational capability to conduct atomic strike missions. The existence of SAC depended on the 509th. The 509th was the only capable and combat experienced unit on the planet that could conduct atomic strikes. Once the war ended, 509th moved to Roswell Army Air Base, New Mexico, near the atomic weapon production and development center of the world, Los Alamos.
Since the 509th was the world’s only nuclear capable strike unit, it was naturally chosen to conduct a military effects nuclear weapon test under Operation CROSSROADS. Shot “Able” was a B-29 airdropped Mark 3 (Fat Man) bomb over water. Nearly 100 retired American and captured German and Japanese vessels were staged at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean for the 1 July 1946 test. Due to presumed weapon fin damage upon release, the bomb missed ground zero by almost 1900 feet, but still sunk or heavily damaged five vessels. Among the ships in the test area was Japanese battleship Nagato. Nagato was sunk about three weeks later in the “Baker” underwater shot.
Sometime following the end of the war and August 1946, the 509th Composite Group was redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, and following the birth of the US Air Force, renamed again 509th Bombardment Wing (509 BMW) on 17 November 1947 with the Bombardment Group assigned to the wing. The change was consistent with a long-held tradition of retaining prestigious unit designations as units were phased out or inactivated.
From its infancy, the 509th flew B-29 Superfortress aircraft until 1948, and upgraded to the improved B-29, the B-50, and flew it until 1951. The wing was notable in its creation of a first of its kind mission—aerial refueling—and flew KB-29Ms from 1948-1954 when new KC-97s replaced them. The first jet bombers, the B-47 Stratojet arrived at the 509th in 1955. The Stratojet was short-lived at the 509th at Roswell, and the wing moved to Pease AFB, New Hampshire in 1958. Pease AFB was once a municipal airport as early as 1931 named for its nearest city, Portsmouth. During WWII, it was closed to civilian use, and gained a Civil Air Patrol mission. In 1951, the base fell under USAF control, SAC facility construction began in 1954 and the first B-47s arrived in 1956 at what was then known as Portsmouth Air Force Base.
The base was renamed as Pease AFB in 1957 in honor of a New Hampshire Medal of Honor recipient, Captain Harl Pease, Jr. Pease was involved in an August 1942 bombing mission in which his B-17 Flying Fortress suffered an inflight emergency and returned to base. Faithfully dedicated to his unit, Pease personally repaired another aircraft in three hours, and with a volunteer crew and minimal weapons, rejoined the fight. His aircraft shot down several enemy fighters but suffered fatal battle damage and was unable to fly home safely following the mission. After bailing out of the doomed aircraft, Japanese forces captured him and his surviving crew who were forced to dig their own graves and were eventually beheaded by the Japanese about October 1942. His remains were never recovered and President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded the nation’s highest military decoration posthumously.
The BUFF entered the picture at Pease in the mid-1960s, since the USAF was retiring the B-47 fleet but due to tradition, did not wish to shut down the base and lose the distinguished wing’s designation. The first B-52Ds (and KC-135 tankers) arrived at Pease in March 1966. The BUFFs were short-lived at Pease; but still served in combat over Vietnam under Operation ARC LIGHT in two deployments in 1968 and 1969. SAC had a change in plan for the 509th—in 1970 the BUFFs would leave and be replaced by FB-111 Aardvark fighter-bombers. The FB-111s and KC-135s served Pease until 1991, when the base was closed.
The traditions of the USAF highly prized the illustrious history of the 509th, so while Pease shut down, Whiteman AFB in Missouri assumed the rich history and name of the 509th. Previously designated the 351st Strategic Missile Wing and armed with Minuteman II ICBMs (until 1995 when the missiles were drawn down), Whiteman was redesignated the 509th Bombardment Wing in 1990 for the expected arrival of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. Bombers were not stationed at Whiteman since the 1960s, when the last B-47 was retired. In 1991, the name was simplified to 509th Bomb Wing, and in 1992, SAC released control of Whiteman and other combat wings to Air Combat Command. On 17 December 1993, nine decades to the day of the historic first powered flight by the Wright Brothers, and the 49th anniversary of the activation of the 509th Composite Group, the first B-2, Spirit of Missouri landed at Whiteman. Whiteman AFB flies the B-2s today and is expected to receive its follow-on, the B-21 Raider bomber.
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To find this cache, calculate the coordinates from the information in this listing.
N 48° AB.CDE W 101° FG.HIJ
A= Airspeed required in military characteristics, XNX mph, A=(N-3)
B= Designation of only remaining bombardment wing to remain active following WWII drawdown, XN BW, B=(N-3)
C= Year first postwar nuclear test airdrop under Operations CROSSROADS, XXXN, C=(N-2)
D= Day in November 1947 the 509th was redesignated as a Bombardment Wing, XN, D=(Nx1)
E= Final year B-50s were flown by 509 BMW, XXNX, E=(N-0)
F= Year B-47s first arrived at Pease, XXXN, F=(N-5)
G= Year of Captain Pease’s fateful bombing mission, XXNX, G=(Nx2)
H= Year B-52Ds first arrived at Pease, XXXN, H=(N+1)
I= Year FB-111s replaced BUFFs at Pease, XXNX, I=(N-5)
J=Year the first B-2, Spirit of Missouri, arrived at Whiteman AFB, XXXN, J=(N-2)
Dorr, R. & Peacock, L. (1995). Boeing’s Cold War Warrior: B-52 Stratofortress. London, UK; Osprey Aerospace.
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/0509bw.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harl_Pease
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8096123
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Whiteman_AFB.htm
https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/Crossrd.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/509th_Composite_Group