4047th Strategic Wing - McCoy AFB

The phase out of B-47s at MacDill was part of a SAC wide program to transition from B-47s to B-52s. In 1955, SAC began introducing the longer ranged, more powerful B-52 Stratofortress to the strategic force. The 93d Bomb Wing, Castle Air Force Base, California, became the first wing to convert from B-47s to B-52s. On 29 Jun 1955, Brigadier General William E. Eubank, Jr., the wing commander, flew the first B-52B from the Boeing factory at Seattle, Wash, to Castle. Shortly thereafter, the 93d’s 4017^th Combat Crew Training Squadron, which had been activated on 8 Jan 1955, began training crews to man additional B-52 wings. In June 1956, the 42d BW, Loring AFB, Maine, became the second wing to be equipped with B-52s, and the first wing converting from B-36s. The 99^th Bomb Wing, Westover AFB, Mass, the third B-52 wing, which had been a RB-36 unit, began receiving B-52s in December 1956.

The first heavy bomb wings were composed of 45 B-52s and 20 KC-135s, all assigned to one base. These bases presented increasingly vulnerable targets as the soviet missile threat became more pronounced and warning time less. In response, SAC developed a dispersal plan to provide for a more survivable and responsive bomber force. These large wings were to be broken into three wings of 15 B-52s each with two of these new wings relocated to other bases. The B-52 dispersal plan was activated in 1958. New units were named Strategic Wings and given four digit designations.

In 1961 SAC continued to implement the B-52 dispersal plan resulting in the transfer of the 347th Bombardment Squadron, one of three squadrons of B-52Ds, from the 99th Bombardment Wing, Westover AFB, Massachusetts, to the 4047th Strategic Wing, McCoy AFB, Florida. The Berlin Crisis occurred during this transition period, and in July 1961 the transfer of the 347^th BS from the 99^th BW was delayed almost a month. Air crews involved in the transfer were frozen in place at Westover AFB, and those already en-route were stopped by the various state highway patrols along the way, and sent back to Westover AFB with their families. The 99^th BW went on maximum alert during this crisis. Meanwhile all furniture and belongings continued to McCoy AFB. The 347^th BS was officially transferred to the 4047^th SW on 1 September 1961.

The 306th Air Refueling Squadron, having converted from KC-97s in early 1962 and now equipped with KC-135A tankers, was assigned to the 4047^th SW in July 1962.

In October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis the 347^th BS was dispersed to Turner AFB, Albany Georgia  where aircrews stood maximum ground alert for two months. Additionally, SAC aircrews had participated in airborne alert training since early 1961, and on 22 October 1962 the 347^th BS participated in actual 24 hour airborne nuclear alert missions continuously until this crisis terminated. Airborne alert missions were routed over Spain where they were refueled by KC-135 tankers, then continuing over the Mediterranean toward Corsica returning toward Gibraltar and entering a racetrack pattern. The mission would end with a refueling outbound from the Mediterranean and a flight back to the home base. During this time McCoy AFB was crowded with Tactical Air Command F-100s, F-105s as well as C-119 troop carriers loaded with paratroopers, all poised to attack Cuba if required. Two U-2 reconnaissance planes flew missions over Cuba from McCoy during this crisis. Families of the deployed 306th BW waited tensely not knowing if their husbands and fathers would soon be flying nuclear strikes against targets in the Soviet Union. Security Police guarded the quarters while the men were away and families stocked can goods and bottled water in preparation of a nuclear attack on the United States. The 347^th BS returned to McCoy AFB in December 1962 after the Soviets agreed to remove their long range missiles from Cuba on 28 October and medium range bombers on 20 November.

On 1 April 1963, SAC re-designated the 4047^th Strategic Wing as the 306^th Bombardment Wing, under the command of Colonel William G. Walker. The re-designation ceremony was held on the flight line at McCoy with Mrs. Rose McCoy, widow of Colonel McCoy, assisting in the change over. The Air Force Band, at McCoy for "Spring Tune Up", participated in the change over parade which was organized and presented by the McCoy Eighth Air Force NCO Academy graduates. The 347^th BS was re-designated the 367^th Bombardment Squadron at this time. Both of these re-designations were part of a SAC wide unit historical preservation program done to retain unit lineage (histories, awards and battle honors). On 8 June 1963 Colonel Sherman W. Wilkins assumed command of the Wing, when Colonel Walker was transferred to command the 2705 th Air Munitions Wing at Hill AFB, Utah.