An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft.
In military aviation, a wing is a unit of command. In most military aviation services, a wing is a relatively large formation of planes. In Commonwealth countries a wing usually comprises three squadrons, with several wings forming a group. Each squadron will contain around 20 planes.
Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, and is one of two USAF MAJCOMs assigned outside the Continental United States, the other being the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. Over the past sixty-five plus years, PACAF has been engaged in combat during the Korean and Vietnam Wars and Operations Desert Storm, Southern Watch, Northern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
The United States Army Air Forces, informally known as the Air Force, was the aerial warfare service of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1939/41–1945), successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today, one of the five uniformed military services. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply, and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff.
A group is a military aviation unit, a component of military organization and a military formation. The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches of a national defence force.
The Wing was first organized as the 483d Troop Carrier Wing during the Korean War, as an airlift organization assigned to Far East Air Forces (later Pacific Air Forces) (PACAF) for duty.
The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border.
History
Korean War
C-119B 49-109 of the wing's 314th Troop Carrier GroupC-130A similar to planes assigned to wing
The 315th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces, based at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. It was inactivated in April 1969.
The wing was equipped with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars and performed troop carrier and air transport operations in the Far East, including landing of troops and cargo in forward areas of the combat zone, air transportation of airborne troops and equipment, and air evacuation of casualties.[1] In June 1953, as the Korean war neared an armistice, all wing C-119s airlifted the entire 187th Regimental Combat Team (Airborne) from Kyushu, Japan to Seoul and Chunch'on, South Korea, to preclude enemy breakthroughs.[2] This was the largest mass movement of personnel in the history of combat cargo to that time.[1] For is actions in the Korean War, the wing received the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.
The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar is an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The first C-119 made its initial flight in November 1947, and by the time production ceased in 1955, more than 1,100 C-119s had been built. Its cargo-hauling ability and unusual twin-boom design earned it the nickname "Flying Boxcar".
Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternative ancient names include Kyūkoku(九国, "Nine Countries"), Chinzei(镇西, "West of the Pacified Area"), and Tsukushi-no-shima(筑紫岛, "Island of Tsukushi"). The historical regional name Saikaidō referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands.
Seoul, officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. With surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, Seoul forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area. Seoul is ranked as the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the world and is larger than London and Paris.
Between April 1953 and September 1954, the wing aided the French Air Force in Indochina by training aircrews, evacuating wounded, and maintaining aircraft.[1] For these actions, the wing became one of the first units in the Air Force to receive the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. In 1958, the wing began to reequip with Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.[3] Its transition was complete by 1959. It performed theater transport duties and participated in joint exercises with Army units[2] until inactivated in Japan on 23 June 1960. Its squadrons were transferred to the direct control of the 315th Air Division and relocated to Naha Air Base and Tachikawa Air Base, Japan as Ashiya AB closed.[4][5]
The French Air Force[aʀme də lɛʀ], literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1934. The number of aircraft in service with the French Air Force varies depending on source, however sources from the French Ministry of Defence give a figure of 658 aircraft in 2014. The French Air Force has 225 combat aircraft in service, with the majority being 117 Dassault Mirage 2000 and 108 Dassault Rafale. As of early 2017, the French Air Force employs a total of 41,160 regular personnel. The reserve element of the air force consisted of 5,187 personnel of the Operational Reserve.
Indochina, originally Indo-China, is a geographical term originating in the early nineteenth century and referring to the continental portion of the region now known as Southeast Asia. The name refers to the lands historically within the cultural influence of India and China, and physically bound by the Indian Subcontinent in the west and China in the north. It corresponds to the present-day areas of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and (variably) peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. The term was later adopted as the name of the colony of French Indochina, and the entire area of Indochina is now usually referred to as the Indochinese Peninsula or Mainland Southeast Asia.
The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force. It was established in 1954 and was the first independent Air Force decoration created. The Air Force Longevity Service Award would follow in 1957 with most of the standard Air Force awards established in the early to mid 1960s.
Vietnam War
The 483d Troop Carrier Wing (TCW) was again organized on 1 January 1967 at Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam when the United States Army transferred all its C-7 Caribou aircraft to the Air Force.[1] The 483d TCW was assigned the mission of providing intra-theater airlift in support of United States military civic actions, combat support and civic assistance throughout the Republic of Vietnam.[6] In addition, the wing was transferred ex-United States Army C-7A Caribou light transports.[1]
The C-7s provided the light load-short haul transport to rough landing strips in South Vietnam. The unique capabilities of the C-7 for short landing and takeoff made Caribou transports vital to the war effort. On many occasions the C-7A's flew emergency airlift missions to airstrips and combat areas that no other aircraft could reach. Most notable were those in support of special forces camps in the Central Highlands.
In June 1968 the wing flew a record 2,420 combat troops in three days between Dak Pek, Ben Het and Đắk Tô. In August 1968 pinpoint night airdrops were accomplished at Duc Lap, Ha Thanh and Tonle Cham Special Forces camps. Ammunition and medical supplies were parachuted into 75-foot-square drop zones while the camps were under attack. In June 1969 during the siege of Ben Het more than 200 tons of ammunition, POL, rations, water and medical supplies were airdropped into a 100 x 200-foot zone with every load on target and 100 per cent recovered.
In March 1969, a provisional group was established at Vung Tau Airfield to exercise command and control over the wing's units located there.[7] As drawdowns from Viet Nam began, the group was discontinued in June 1970.[1]
In March 1970, when the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated, the wing became the host wing at Cam Ranh Air Base. As a corrolary to assuming the support mission for the base, support organizations assigned to the wing carried out a number of civic actions, including construction of housing, providing support for orphanages and educational institutions and improvement of water supply systems.[8]
Again in April 1970, the wing, now designated the 483d Tactical Airlift Wing (TAW) helped break the siege of Dak Seang Special Forces Camp.[8] The wing flew 100 air-drop sorties under heavy hostile fire in ten days delivering some 400,000 pounds of vital supplies. When three C-7s were shot down with the loss of all crewmen between 2 and 6 April,[8] the operation switched to low-level night drops. On 15 May 1970 the 459th Tactical Airlift Squadron (TAS) ceased operations in preparation for inactivation 1 June as part of the U.S. forces drawdown in Vietnam, and on 31 August 1971 its sister unit at Phù Cát Air Base, the 537th TAS, inactivated in place, followed shortly thereafter by the 536th TAS at Vung Tau. During their five years' flying for the 483d TAW, the C-7A Caribous carried more than 4.7million passengers, averaging more than one million a year during 1967–1969. At the same time the wing averaged more than 100,000 tons of cargo each year.
On 31 August 1971, three electronic warfare squadrons from the inactivating 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, stationed at various bases in Viet Nam, were assigned to the 483d TAW. The following day, two special operations squadrons were transferred from the inactivating 14th Special Operations Wing. The electronic warfare squadrons were inactivated or assigned to other wings within six months.
The three remaining C-7 squadrons inactivated in early 1972 (535th TAS on 24 January, 458th on 1 March, and 457th on 30 April). Most of the C-7 Caribous were transferred to the VNAF. All Australian aircraft departed for Australia.[citation needed] The mixture of reassigned squadrons from other wings were all inactivated or reassigned by the end of May. The 483d Tactical Airlift Wing was inactivated on 31 May 1972.[1] For its service in Vietnam, the 483d TAW was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations, three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with combat "V" (Valor) device and three Republic of Viet Nam Gallantry Crosses.
Lineage
483d Tactical Airlift Wing
Constituted as 483d Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, on 15 November 1952[1]
535th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 535th Tactical Airlift Squadron): 1 Jan 1967 – 24 Jan 1972[21] (C-7A Tail Code: KH; call sign Tong) (detached to Tactical Group, Provisional, 6483d, 15 Mar 1969 – 30 Jun 1970)
Stationed at Vung Tau Airfield 1 Jan 1967 – 21 Jun 1970
536th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) Squadron: 1 Jan 1967 – 15 Oct 1971[1] (C-7A Tail Code: KL; call sign Iris) (detached to Tactical Group, Provisional, 6483d, 15 Mar 1969 – 30 Jun 1970)
Stationed at Vung Tau Airfield 1 Jan 1967 - ca 1 Jul 1970
537th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) Squadron: 1 Jan 1967 – 31 Aug 1971[22](C-7A Tail Code: KN; Soul)
Stationed at Phu Cat Air Base, Viet Nam
Royal Australian Air Force, Transport Flight Vietnam / 35 Squadron (DHC-4 call sign: Wallaby) Jul 1964 - Feb 1972
Stationed at Vung Tau Airfield, Viet Nam
Support Units
6466th USAF Hospital: ca. 1 Jul 1954 - 25 Jun 1960[23]
483d Avionics Maintenance Squadron (later 483d Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 483d Field Maintenance Squadron): 8 Mar 1958 – 25 Jun 1960, 15 Jul 71 - 30 Apr 1972[10]
483d Field Maintenance Squadron (later 483d Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 483d Field Maintenance Squadron): 8 Mar 1958 – 25 Jun 1960, 1 Jan 1967 - 13 May 1972[10]
483d Flight Line Maintenance Squadron: 8 Mar 1958 - 18 Dec 1959[23]
483d Periodic Maintenance Squadron (later 483d Organizational Maintenance Squadron): 8 Mar 1958 – 25 Jun 1960, 10 Dec 1970 - 30 Apr 1972[10]
6483d Flight Line Maintenance Squadron: 22 Aug 1957 - 8 Mar 1958[24]
6483d Periodic Maintenance Squadron: 22 Aug 1957 – 8 Mar 1958
Stations
Ashiya AB, Japan, 1 January 1953 – 25 June 1960.
Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam, 15 October 1966 – 31 May 1972.
Aircraft flown
A-37B, 1971-1972
C-7A, 1967–1972
C-47D, 1953–1959
VC-47D 1970-1971
EC-47N 1971–1972)
EC-47P 1971–1972)
EC-47Q 1971–1972)
C-119A, 1953-1955
C-119B, 1953-1955
C-119G, 1955-1959
C-130A, 1958–1960
UH-1, 1971–1972.
Awards
The temporary bestowal of the honors of the 483d Bombardment Group entitles the wing to display the two Distinguished Unit Citations earned by the group as appropriate in addition to these awards.
The United States Air Force's 463d Airlift Group was a theater airlift unit last stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It was inactivated on 1 October 2008.
The 403d Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command. It is located at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi and employs a military manning authorization of more than 1,400 reservists, including some 250 full-time air reserve technicians. It also controls an active duty associate airlift squadron consisting of active duty regular Air Force personnel integrated into the operations of its reserve airlift squadron.
The 839th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-First Air Force at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, although except for the last month of its existence it was assigned to Tactical Air Command. It was inactivated on 31 December 1974.
The 840th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to Ninth Air Force at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated on 24 December 1969. The division's components provided tactical airlift support worldwide, and after 1965, trained Lockheed C-130 crews and maintenance personnel, primarily for deployment to the Pacific and participation in the Vietnam War.
The 535th Airlift Squadron is part of the 15th Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. It operates C-17 Globemaster III aircraft providing airlift in the Pacific theater.
The 356th Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 433d Operations Group, stationed at Kelly Field Annex, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.
The 73d Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 932d Operations Group, stationed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
The 37th Airlift Squadron is part of the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It operates Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules aircraft providing theater airlift.
The 309th Airlift Squadron is part of the 86th Airlift Wing at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium. It operates a single C-37 aircraft providing executive airlift for NATO.
The 18th Air Refueling Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 931st Operations Group, stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.
The 327th Air Division is an inactive air division of the United States Air Force (USAF). It was assigned to Thirteenth Air Force throughout its existence. It was last stationed at Taipei Air Station in Gongguan, Taipei, Taiwan, where it was inactivated on 7 January 1976.
The 483d Airlift Group is an inactive unit last assigned to Pacific Air Forces at Osan AB Korea. It was assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force as a VIP transport unit for Headquarters, Seventh Air Force. It was inactivated on 1 June 1992.
The 537th Airlift Squadron is an inactive squadron of the United States Air Force. The unit was last active at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Alaska, where it was inactivated on 13 September 2013.
The 536th Tactical Airlift Squadron is an inactive squadron of the United States Air Force. The unit was last active at Cam Ranh Air Base Viet Nam, where it was inactivated on 15 October 1971.
The 345th Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force squadron most recently assigned to the 19th Operations Group at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, where it was inactivated in June 2014. The squadron was activated in the summer of 2010 as an "active duty associate" squadron, jointly operating the Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft of the 815th Airlift Squadron.
The 346th Tactical Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force squadron that was last assigned to the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Republic of China, where it was inactivated in May 1971.
The 347th Tactical Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force squadron that was last assigned to the 516th Tactical Airlift Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas where it was inactivated in June 1972.
The 63d Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed. No publicly available information indicates it has been active as an expeditionary unit. The wing was last active as the 63d Airlift Wing at Norton Air Force Base, California, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1994.
↑ Robertson, Patsy (16 March 2015). "Factsheet 37 Airlift Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016. AFHRA Factsheet, 37th Airlift Squadron] (accessed 27 Oct 2012)
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