633d Special Operations Wing

333d Special Operations Wing; Active as the 633d Special Operations Wing
	A-1E Skyraider of the wing's 6th Special Operations Squadron
Active	1942–1944; 1944–1946; 1968-1970
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Special Operations
Part of	Pacific Air Forces
Engagements	Pacific Theater ; Vietnam War
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device ; Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Insignia
633d Special Operations Wing emblem (approved 29 May 1969) [1]

Last updated March 05, 2019

The 333d Special Operations Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was active from July 1968 through March 1970 at Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam. In 1985, the wing was consolidated with the 333d Bombardment Group as the 333d Special Operations Wing.

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

Pleiku Air Base is a former air force base in Vietnam. It was established by the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) in 1962 at an undeveloped airstrip, and was used by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War in the II Corps Tactical Zone of South Vietnam. It was captured by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in March 1975 and was abandoned for many years. Today, the facility has been redeveloped as Pleiku Airport.

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.

History

World War II

Heavy bomber training unit

The 333d Bombardment Group, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Operational Training Unit (OTU) assigned to Second Air Force, was established at Topeka Army Air Base, Kansas in July 1942. The 333d's original components were the 466th, 467th, 468th and 469th Bombardment Squadrons.^[2]^[3] The squadrons were all initially formed at Salt Lake City Army Air Base, and did not join group headquarters at Topeka until late August.^[3]

The Second Air Force is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended the Northwestern United States and Upper Great Plains regions and during the Cold War, was Strategic Air Command unit with strategic bombers and missiles. Elements of Second Air Force engaged in combat operations during the Korean War; Vietnam War, as well as Operation Desert Storm.

The 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron is part of the 552d Air Control Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates the E-3 Sentry aircraft conducting airborne command and control missions.

The 467th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 333d Bombardment Group, stationed at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas. It was inactivated on 1 April 1944.

The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups". In February 1943 it moved to Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, and shifted its mission to become a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). RTUs were also oversized units, but trained individual pilots or aircrews for shipment to theaters of operation.^[2]^[4] However, the Army Air Forces found that standard military units like the 333d, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.^[5] As a result, the group was inactivated and training activities at Dalhart were assumed by the 232d (bomber) and 268th (fighter) AAF Base Units.

Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose.

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.

Very heavy bomber operations

B-29 Superfortress as flown by the group B29.jpg — B-29 Superfortress as flown by the group

Dalhart became a center for organizing Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment groups and the 333d was again activated there in July 1944.^[2] However, its original squadrons were not activated along with it. Instead, the 435th, 460th, and 507th Bombardment Squadrons were assigned. These three squadrons had previously been the "fourth" (highest numbered) squadrons in groups that also flew B-29s. The three squadrons had been inactivated in May 1944, when B-29 groups were reorganized to have three, rather than four squadrons.^[6] The 435th had seen combat in the Southwest Pacific Theater early in the war.^[7]

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing, which was flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. It was one of the largest aircraft operational during World War II and featured state-of-the-art technology. Including design and production, at over $3 billion it was the single most expensive weapons project in World War II, exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project—using the value of dollars in 1945. Innovations introduced included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled, tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system directing four remote machine gun turrets that could be operated by a single gunner and a fire-control officer. A manned tail gun installation was semi-remote. The name "Superfortress" continued the pattern Boeing started with its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. Designed for the high-altitude strategic bomber role, the B-29 also excelled in low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. One of the B-29's final roles during World War II was carrying out the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The 435th Bombardment Squadron, also known as the "Kangaroo" Squadron, is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Eighth Air Force 333d Bombardment Group, based at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. It was inactivated on May 28, 1946.

The 460th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 333d Bombardment Group, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. It was inactivated on 28 May 1946.

In January 1945 the group moved to Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, where it continued its training until June 1945. The group deployed to Okinawa as part of Eighth Air Force in the Pacific Theater. It arrived in Okinawa, but the end of the war with the defeat of Japan led to a drawdown of Eighth Air Force and the group never engaged in combat. The group helped evacuate prisoners of war from Japan to airfields in the Philippines. The unit was inactivated on Okinawa on 28 May 1946.^[2]

Great Bend Army Air Field is a closed United States Air Force base. It is located 5.6 miles (9.0 km) west-southwest of Great Bend, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Great Bend Municipal Airport.

The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces Strategic – Global Strike, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The Eighth Air Force includes the heart of America's heavy bomber force: the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber, and the B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber aircraft.

Vietnam War

The 633d Combat Support Group ^[8] had provided support for Air Force units at Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam since the spring of 1966. In February 1968, the 6th Air Commando Squadron, flying Douglas A-1 Skyraiders, moved to Pleiku from England Air Force Base, Louisiana and was assigned to the 14th Air Commando Wing, which was located at Nha Trang Air Base. The 633d Special Operations Wing was activated in July 1968 to act as the headquarters for both units stationed at Pleiku.^[1]^[9]^[10]

The Douglas A-1 Skyraider is an American single-seat attack aircraft that saw service between the late 1940s and early 1980s. The Skyraider had a remarkably long and successful career; it became a piston-powered, propeller-driven anachronism in the jet age, and was nicknamed "Spad", after the French World War I fighter.

England Air Force Base 1942-1992 United States Air Force base near Alexandria, Louisiana, USA

England Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Louisiana, located 5 miles (8.0 km) Northwest of Alexandria and about 170 miles (270 km) Northwest of New Orleans. Originally known as Alexandria Army Air Base, on 23 June 1955 the facility was renamed England Air Force Base in honor of Lt Col John Brooke England (1923–1954).

Nha Trang Air Base was a French Air Force, Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF), United States Air Force (USAF) and Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) (Khong Quan Nhan Dan Viet Nam) military airfield used during the Vietnam War. It is located on the southern edge of Nha Trang in Khánh Hòa Province.

The wing engaged in special operations combat, including close air support, air escort, day and night interdiction, and visual and photographic reconnaissance from its activation until November 1969.^[1]

In November 1969 its only operational squadron was inactivated in Operation Keystone Cardinal, the first reduction in United States Air Forces combat forces as ceilings on forces in South Vietnam were reduced and the United States began to withdraw. Its Douglas A-1 Skyraiders were transferred to the 56th Special Operations Wing in Thailand.^[11] The wing managed the reduction of United States forces at Pleiku until March 1970, when it was inactivated and transferred its remaining equipment and personnel to the 6254th Air Base Squadron.

Consolidation and redesignation

In July 1985, the wing was consolidated with the 333d Bombardment Group, a World War II unit that also served in the Pacific area. The consolidated unit was designated the 333d Special Operations Wing, but has never been active under that designation.^[12]

Lineage

333d Bombardment Group

Constituted as the 333d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 9 July 1942

Activated on 15 July 1942

Inactivated on 1 April 1944

Redesignated 333d Bombardment Group, Very Heavy

Activated on 7 July 1944

Inactivated on 28 May 1946^[2]

Consolidated with the 633d Special Operations Wing as the 333d Special Operations Wing on 31 July 1985^[12]

333d Special Operations Wing

Established as the 633d Special Operations Wing and activated on 9 July 1968 (not organized)

Organized on 15 July 1968

Inactivated on 15 March 1970^[1]

Consolidated with the 333d Bombardment Group as the 333d Special Operations Wing on 31 July 1985^[12]

Assignments

21st Bombardment Wing, 15 Jul 1942^[13]
Probably II Bomber Command, 21 February 1943 – 1 April 1944
Probably II Bomber Command, 7 July 1944
316th Bombardment Wing (later 316th Composite Wing), by 31 August 1945 – 28 May 1946^[14]
Pacific Air Forces, 9 July 1968 (not organized)
Seventh Air Force, 15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970^[1]

Components

Group

633d Combat Support Group, 15 July 1968- 15 March 1970^[1]

Squadrons

6th Air Commando Squadron (later 6th Special Operations Squadron), 15 July 1968 – 15 November 1969^[1]
466th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
467th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
468th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
469th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
435th Bombardment Squadron, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946
460th Bombardment Squadron, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946
507th Bombardment Squadron, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946^[15]
633d Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970

Other

31st Photo Laboratory, c. 7 July 1944 – c. 28 May 1946
633d USAF infirmary, 15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970

Stations

Topeka Army Air Base, Kansas, 15 July 1942
Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 22 February 1943 – 1 April 1944
Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 7 July 1944
Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, 13 January – 18 June 1945
Kadena Air Base, Okinawa 5 August 1945 – 28 May 1946^[16]
Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam, 9 July 1968 – 15 March 1970^[1]

Aircraft

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942-1944^[2]
Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944-1946^[2]
Douglas A-1 Skyraider, 1968-1969^[1]

Campaigns and awards

Award streamer	Award	Dates	Notes
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	15 July 1968 – 31 May 1969	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]
	Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm	15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]

Campaign	Dates	Notes
American Theater without inscription	15 Jul 1942 – 1 April 1944, 7 July 1944-18 Jun 45	333d Bombardment Group^[2]
Asiatic–Pacific Theater without inscription	5 August 1945 – 2 March 1946	333d Bombardment Group^[2]
Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase III	9 July 1968 – 31 October 1968	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]
Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase IV	1 November 1968 – 22 February 1969	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]
Tet 1969/Counteroffensive	23 February 1969 – 8 June 1969	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]
Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969	9 June 1969 – 31 October 1969	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]
Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970	3 November 1969 – 15 March 1970	633d Special Operations Wing^[1]

Related Research Articles

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References

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Ravenstein, pp. 290-291
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 213-214
1 2 Maurer, Combat Squadrons, 572-575
↑ Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
↑ Goss, p. 75
↑ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 537-538, 566-567, 609-610
↑ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 537-538
↑ Robertson, Patsy (9 March 2010). "Factsheet 633 Air Base Wing (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
↑ Robertson, Patsy (23 August 2011). "Factsheet 14 Flying Training Wing (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
↑ Robertson, Patsy (9 April 2015). "Factsheet 6 Special Operations Squadron (AFSOC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
↑ USAF Force Withdrawal from Southeast Asia, p. 14
1 2 3 Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations
↑ "Factsheet 21 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
↑ "Factsheet 316 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 12 October 2007. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
↑ World War II squadrons in Maurer, pp. 213-214
↑ Station information through 1946 in Maurer, pp. 213-214

Bibliography

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .

Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158 . Retrieved 17 December 2016.
Goss, William A. (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L. The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158 . Retrieved 17 December 2016.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556 . Retrieved 17 December 2016.
Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
"Project Corona Harvest, USAF Force Withdrawal from Southeast Asia 1 January 1970 – 30 June 1971 (Secret, automatically declassified 1984)" (PDF). Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces. 31 May 1972. Retrieved 5 October 2015.

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[Ravenstein633SOW-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Ravenstein, pp. 290-291

[Maurer333BG-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 213-214

[466469Squadrons-3] 1 2 Maurer, Combat Squadrons, 572-575

[4] Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi

[5] Goss, p. 75

[6] Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 537-538, 566-567, 609-610

[7] Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 537-538

[633ABWfacts-8] Robertson, Patsy (9 March 2010). "Factsheet 633 Air Base Wing (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2016.

[9] Robertson, Patsy (23 August 2011). "Factsheet 14 Flying Training Wing (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 24 October 2016.

[10] Robertson, Patsy (9 April 2015). "Factsheet 6 Special Operations Squadron (AFSOC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.

[11] USAF Force Withdrawal from Southeast Asia, p. 14

[DAFMPM648q-12] 1 2 3 Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations

[13] "Factsheet 21 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2014.

[14] "Factsheet 316 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 12 October 2007. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2018.

[15] World War II squadrons in Maurer, pp. 213-214

[16] Station information through 1946 in Maurer, pp. 213-214