Editing Strategic Air Command (section)

== Korean War ==
In July 1950, in response to combat operations on the Korean peninsula, SAC dispatched ten nuclear-capable bombers to [[Andersen AFB|Guam]]<!--{{rp |112}}--> and deployed four B-29 bomber wings in Korea for tactical operations, although this action caused SAC commander LeMay to comment <!--{{rp |114}}-->"...too many splinters were being whittled off the [deterrence] stick"<!--{{rp |113–4}}-->.{{r|Tillman}}

Initial SAC B-29 successes against North Korea in the summer of 1950 were countered by subsequent Soviet [[MiG-15]] fighter-interceptors, and SAC's [[27th Special Operations Wing|27th Fighter Escort Wing]] began escorting the bombers with F–84 Thunderjets.{{r|AFD100526}} [[Ground-directed bombing]] (GDB) was subsequently used for [[close air support]] (CAS) missions after three SAC radar bomb scoring (RBS) squadron detachments (Dets C, K, & N) arrived at [[Pusan, South Korea|Pusan]] in September 1950<!-- (the GDB mission later transferred to the [[502d Tactical Control Group]].)-->.{{r|AFD100526}} In 1951, SAC "began to eliminate its combat groups", transferring medium bombardment groups "to [[Far East Air Forces]] (FEAF) Bomber Command for combat."<ref name=AFD100526>{{Cite book |author=Organizational History Branch, Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency |editor-last=Endicott |editor-first=Judy G. |title=The USAF in Korea: Campaigns, Units, and Stations 1950–1953 |year=2001 |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/May/26/2001330297/-1/-1/0/AFD-100526-045.pdf |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Air Force History and Museums Program |isbn=9780160509018 |oclc=994583778 |quote=To help meet the threat of the Soviet-built MiG–15 fighter in Korea, the USAF diverted Strategic Air Command's 27th FEW with its F–84 Thunderjets to the Far East instead of sending it as planned to England. In early December 1950, the wing established a rear echelon at [[Itazuke, Japan]] and took its F–84s to [[Taegu AB]], South Korea. Less than two months later, fearful that Chinese ground forces would overrun United Nations jet bases in South Korea, [[Fifth Air Force]] withdrew the 27th FEW to Japan. The wing continued combat operations from Japan until the [[136th FBW]] replaced it in late June 1951.}}</ref> In 1951, LeMay convinced the Air Staff to allow SAC to approve nuclear targets,{{r|Rosenberg1983}}{{rp |18}} and he continued refusing to submit war plans for JCS review, which the JCS eventually came to accept{{r|Rosenberg1983}}{{rp |37}} (of 20,000 candidates in 1960, SAC designated 3,560 as bombing targets—mostly Soviet air defense: airfields and suspected missile sites.){{r|Rosenberg1983}}{{rp |60}}

Although experimented with prior to World War II, SAC refined aerial refueling to a fine art.  SAC's in-flight refueling mission began in July 1952 when its [[31st Fighter-Escort Wing]] refueled sixty [[F-84G Thunderjet]]s from [[Turner Air Force Base|Turner AFB]], Georgia to [[Travis Air Force Base|Travis AFB]], California non-stop with fuel from twenty-four [[KB-29P Superfortress]]es modified into aerial tankers. Exercise FOX PETER ONE followed with 31st FEW fighters being refueled [[Hickam AFB]] en route to Hawaii.<ref name="AFREF">{{cite web|url=https://www.amc.af.mil/news/story?id=123144488|title=History of aerial refueling: Fueling the fighters|work=af.mil|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

On 15 March 1953, a [[38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron]] RB-50<!--("The Laboring Lady") SOURCE: 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing ARTICLE--> returned fire on a Soviet MiG-15, while a [[343d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron]] RB-50 was shot down over the [[Sea of Japan]] 2 days after the Korean Armistice, while on 7 November 1954, an RB-29 was shot down near [[Hokkaido Island]] in northern Japan. By the time of 27 July 1953 Korean War cease-fire, SAC B-29s had flown over 21,000 sorties and dropped nearly 167,000 tons of bombs, with thirty-four B-29s lost in combat{{r|Lloyd}} and forty-eight B-29s were lost to damage or crashes.