443d Troop Carrier Group
Encyclopedia
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. Its last assignment was with Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....
, being stationed at Altus Air Force Base
Altus Air Force Base
Altus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-northeast of Altus, Oklahoma.The host unit at Altus AFB is the 97th Air Mobility Wing , assigned to the Nineteenth Air Force of the Air Education and Training Command...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. It was inactivated on October 1, 1992.
History
- For additional history and lineage, see 443d Troop Carrier Group443d Troop Carrier GroupThe 443d Airlift Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with Air Mobility Command, being stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
Established and trained as a Reserve troop carrier wing under supervision of the 2596th Air Force Reserve Training Center, June 1949 – April 1951.
The 443d was brought to active duty at Donaldson AFB, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
on August 9, 1951 as a training wing by Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
. For almost two years, the 443d participated in tactical exercises in operations, training troop carrier aircrews using C-46 Commandos for assignment to the Far East and worked closely with other troop carrier groups to test and evaluate new troop carrier doctrine and procedures. With the end of the Korean War, the 443d was inactivated on June 8, 1953.
In January 1966, Military Airlift Command
Military Airlift Command
The Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command of the USAF which was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It was constituted on 1 January 1966 and active until the end of the Cold War, when the Air Force table of organization was revised...
(MAC) reactivated the 443d at Altus AFB, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, replacing the inactivated Military Air Transport Service
Military Air Transport Service
The Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command into a single, joint, unified command...
1707th Air Transport Wing
1707th Air Transport Wing
The 1707th Air Transport Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the Western Transport Air Force, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
, Heavy. The 443d became the primary USAF wing charged with training air and ground crews of C-124 Globemaster II
C-124 Globemaster II
The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shakey", was a heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California....
and the new C-141 Starlifter
C-141 Starlifter
The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was a military strategic airlifter in service with the Air Mobility Command of the United States Air Force...
heavy transports, while simultaneously maintaining a capability to perform airlift operations worldwide.
With the retirement of the prop-driven C-124 Globemaster II
C-124 Globemaster II
The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shakey", was a heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California....
from active service, training diminished in 1967 and ceased in 1968, being replaced by training air and ground crews on the new C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
very heavy lift transport in 1969. The wing performed this training mission until 1992 when C-5 and C-141 training was consolidated after the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
Air Mobility Command reorganized Air Force Airlift units in 1992 and the 443d was inactivated on October 1, 1992 as part of the Air Force Heritage program, where notable units were retained and reassigned after the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The new 97th Air Mobility Wing
97th Air Mobility Wing
The 97th Air Mobility Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The wing is also the host unit at Altus...
, a former Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
bombardment group and later Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
bomb Wing absorbed the personnel, equipment and aircraft of the 443d upon its inactivation in an administrative transfer.
Lineage
- Established as 443d Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, on May 10, 1949.
- Activated in the Reserve on June 27, 1949.
- Ordered to active service on May 1, 1951
- Inactivated on January 8, 1953
- Redesignated 443d Military Airlift Wing, Training, and activated, on December 27, 1965
- Organized on January 8, 1966, assuming personnel and equipment of 1707th Air Transport Wing1707th Air Transport WingThe 1707th Air Transport Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the Western Transport Air Force, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
(MATS) which was discontinued. - Redesignated 443d Airlift Wing August 27, 1991
- Inactivated October 1, 1992, personnel and equipment redesignated 97th Air Mobility Wing97th Air Mobility WingThe 97th Air Mobility Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The wing is also the host unit at Altus...
Assignments
- Twelfth Air Force, 27 June 1949
- Fourteenth Air ForceFourteenth Air ForceThe Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command . It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California....
, 1 July 1950 - Tactical Air CommandTactical Air CommandTactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
, May 2, 1951 - Eighteenth Air ForceEighteenth Air ForceEighteenth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force component of the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It was activated on 1 October 2003 and headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois...
, June 1, 1951 – January 8, 1953 - Military Air Transport ServiceMilitary Air Transport ServiceThe Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command into a single, joint, unified command...
(later, Military Airlift CommandMilitary Airlift CommandThe Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command of the USAF which was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It was constituted on 1 January 1966 and active until the end of the Cold War, when the Air Force table of organization was revised...
), December 27, 1965 - Twenty-Second Air ForceTwenty-Second Air ForceTwenty-Second Air Force is a Numbered Air Force component of Air Force Reserve Command . It was activated on 1 July 1993 and is headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia....
, April 1, 1973 – June 1, 1992 - Air Mobility CommandAir Mobility CommandAir Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....
June 1 – October 1, 1992
Stations
- Hensley FieldNaval Air Station DallasNaval Air Station Dallas was a United States Navy Naval Air Station located on Mountain Creek Lake in southwest Dallas. The installation was originally established as an Army Aviation center, and eventually became home to aviation assets from all the military services. The facility was...
, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, June 27, 1949 - Donaldson AFB, South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, August 9, 1951 – January 8, 1953 - Tinker AFB, OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, January 8, 1966 - Altus AFB, OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, May 5, 1969 – October 1, 1992
Components
Groups- 443d Troop Carrier Group443d Troop Carrier GroupThe 443d Airlift Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with Air Mobility Command, being stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
: June 27, 1949 – January 8, 1953
Squadrons.
- 56th Military Airlift Squadron (Training): January 8, 1966 – October 1, 1992 (C-124A/C 1966-68, C-5A/B 1969-92)
- 57th Military Airlift Squadron (Training): January 8, 1966 – October 1, 1992 (C-141A/B)
Aircraft Assigned
- C-46 CommandoC-46 CommandoThe Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando was a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C...
, 1949–1952 - C-119 Flying BoxcarC-119 Flying BoxcarThe Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was 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...
, 1952–1953 - C-124 Globemaster IIC-124 Globemaster IIThe Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shakey", was a heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California....
, 1966–1968 - C-141 StarlifterC-141 StarlifterThe Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was a military strategic airlifter in service with the Air Mobility Command of the United States Air Force...
, 1966–1992 - C-5 GalaxyC-5 GalaxyThe Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
, 1969–1992