Military
The 11th Air Force became active in the North Pacific with the arrival of a B-10 aircraft at Elmendorf AFB in 1940. During World War II, aerial combat extended from the American continent to Japan across a vast expanse marked by some of the worst flying weather in the world. In June 1942 U.S. bombers and fighters repelled a Japanese task force attack on Dutch Harbor, after which the enemy retreated to the western Aleutians and occupied Kiska and Attu Islands, the first occupation of American soil since the War of 1812. For the next 15 months, squadrons of the 28th Composite Group bombed and strafed Kiska and Attu, culminating in the reoccupation of Attu in May 1943 and Kiska in August 1943 by American and Canadian troops. Strike missions against Japan, already underway before the fall of Kiska, intensified despite flights of more than 2000 miles in adverse weather, strong enemy fire, and heavy loss of life and aircraft. The 28th Composite Group received 6 Distinguished Unit Citations and included 7 Pursuit/Fighter Squadrons, 6 Bomber Squadrons, 2 Troop Carrier Squadrons, and the 10th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron.
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Air Force Academy, Colorado · United States
