509th
509th refers most prominently to units of the United States military that have carried the designation 509. The best known is the 509th Bombardment Group, later redesignated the 509th Composite Group, of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Formed in 1944 at Wendover Field, Utah, the group was created to conduct atomic bombing missions as part of the Manhattan Project. It trained with specially modified B-29 Superfortress bombers, often nicknamed Silverplate, and conducted operations from the Pacific island of Tinian.
In August 1945, the 509th carried out the world's first nuclear weapon missions. Hiroshima was bombed on
Following the war, the 509th remained a central element of the U.S. Air Force’s strategic bombing capability,
The designation 509th has also been used by other U.S. military entities, including separate airborne or support
---