913th Airlift Wing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 913th Airlift Wing | |
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| Active | 15 January 1963 — 30 September 2007 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | Air Force |
| Type | Wing |
| Role | Airlift |
| Size | 1,300 personnel |
| Part of | Air Force Reserve Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Willow Grove Air Reserve Station |
| Mascot | Liberty Bell |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm |
The 913th Airlift Wing (913 AW) was a wing of the United States Air Force based out of the Willow Grove Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania. According to its website, it was illegally closed outside of the BRAC process. The 913th Airlift Wing trains and equips reservists to perform the combat mission of aerial re-suppply.
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[edit] History
The 913th has performed air transportation for airborne forces, airdrops, airlandings, and extraction delivery of equipment and supplies, as well as airlift of personnel and cargo since 1963. During the Vietnam War the group helped train Vietnamese Air Force C-119 aircrews in 1967 and ferried aircraft to Southeast Asia in March 1968 and to Taiwan in January 1969. Beginning in 1977 the 913th participated in "rotation" operations in the Panama Canal Zone flying airlift in support of U.S. Southern Command. In addition it has performed humanitarian airlift and supported contingency operations worldwide, including operations in Southwest Asia and the Balkans.
Feb 2005 - The 913th Airlift Wing gave up assigned aircraft to USAF active duty and Iraqi Air Force. Aircraft loaned to 913th from other USAFR units to meet upcoming deployments.
April 2005- Chief of Maintenance from Colorado Springs gives his "Don't crash our planes" speech at a Commanders Call of the 913th. (Colorado has crashed 2 planes, one of which the Chief of Mainenance worked on! The 913th had NEVER crashed a plane.)
June 2006, First meeting of the Secret Committee to close the base
September 2006, Secret Committee meeting minutes leaked to members “Told not secret, just unadvertised” Confirmed worst fears. 60 day notice of RIF possible.
For four months meetings were held to close the base without Union representation at the meetings , this was illegal and violated many of the agreements the federal union had with the Air force. These secret meetings were illegal.
October 26, 2006, General Bradley gives a speech at the Air and Space conference exposition 2006, there he states he’s going to KILL A FLYING WING outside of BRAC (913th), and a small unit in a small town (92nd APS)
December 22nd, Air Force Secretary signs death warrant for the 913th
December 23rd, Death warrant is leaked, but held back due to Christmas.
January 4th , Official announcement of the 913th Closure by General Severson, though he could not provide the date so benefits could start.
January 5th, Job Fair 913th, 1 person placed,
January 5th, Colonel Schmidt hands out the worthless ICTAP letter, people are deceived into thinking it would get them placed. To date no one placed through this letter, 4 months later OPM states the letter was improperly written.
January 9th, 2007 , 913th Base Advocate Grasso receives a letter form the Pentagon indicating there will be no BRAC rights whatsoever for the 913th, contradicting the promises and or assurances we were given by Commanders.
March 3, 2007 Final Official Flight of the 913th
April 12, 2007 Article in Intell 913th Members boycott GALA
Note about the Gala, the Gala had nothing to do with the 913th , Colonel Schmidt’s wife wanted to have a formal Ball, and this was to impress the brass, of course the boycott affected how impressed he was, especially since they had to read the General the Boycott article, they had expected 1500 people to attend, and they got 600.
April 13th, 2007 Announcement of the Air Force taking over the base to lease to the State of PA
April 14th , Harriagns Pub Gathering vs. Liars Convention “Gala” General Bradley, the USAFR Commander, who pushed and finally signed off on the closing of the 913th, was the KEYNOTE speaker at the "Heritage Gala"
June 20th, 2007 Pentagon reports to Senator Specter PPP placement is 38% at the base, but out of the original 340 people at this day only 23 people are placed through PPP, less than 10%.
August 2007, Air Force fails to notify Congress properly of the closure resulting in a delay for all those with a RIF letter.
We should have had 45 days from August 11th for Congress to review this, which then we should have received RIF letters on September 26th, then we would have had a RIF effective November 26th and since that was the holidays we then would not have been closed until January 2008, but the Closure Manager and Command worked hard to make sure that did not happen, and Congress failed to hold AF to the letter of the law despite pleas from the members.
September 2007 NAGE Union files grievance UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICE against base for violating Union agreements and federal regulations.
SUNDAY September 30th , 2007, 913th Airlift Wing disbanded
October 1, 2007 Air Force Secretary Wynn States in the Air force times that cutting personnel for planes is not working, and a failure. The 913th was the main part of that cut
October 11, 2007 NAGE UNION asks for a cease and desist on the RIF
October 13th 2007, all remaining 913th Personnel terminated
Source material available upon request Further accreditation is in progress. [1] [2]
[edit] Operations
[edit] Previous designations
- 913th Troop Carrier Group (1963 – 1967)
- 913th Tactical Airlift Group (1967 – 1992)
- 913th Airlift Group (1992 – 1994)
- 913th Airlift Wing (1994 – 2007)
[edit] Assignments
[edit] Major command
- Continental Air Command (1963)
- Air Force Reserve Command (1994 – 2007)
[edit] Numbered Air Force
- 10th Air Force (1994 – 1997)
- 22nd Air Force (1997 – 2007)
[edit] Wing
- 512th Troop Carrier Wing (1963 – 1965)
- 302d Troop Carrier Wing (1965 – 1966)
- 514th Military Airlift Wing (1966 – 1970)
- 302d Special Operations Wing (1970 – 1971)
- 403d Tactical Airlift Wing (1971 – 1976)
- 459th Airlift Wing (1976 – 1992)
- 403d Wing (1992 – 1994)
[edit] Subordinate organizations
913th Operations Group (913 OG)
- 327th Airlift Squadron (327 AS)
- 913th Operations Support Flight (913 OSF)
913th Maintenance Group (913 MXG)
- 913th Maintenance Squadron (913 MXS)
- 913th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (913 AMXS)
- 913th Maintenance Operations Squadron (913 MOS)
913th Mission Support Group (913 MSG)
- 31st Aerial Port Squadron (31 APS)
- 92d Aerial Port Squadron (92 APS)
- 913th Civil Engineering Squadron (913 CES)
- 913th Communications Flight (913 CF)
- 913th Contracting Flight (913 CONF)
- 913th Mission Support Squadron (913 MSS)
- 913th Security Forces Squadron (913 SFS)
- 913th Services Flight (913 SVF)
- 913th Logistics Readiness Squadron (913 LRS)
913th Medical Squadron (913 MDS)
[edit] Aircraft operated
- C-119 Flying Boxcar (1963 – 1971)
- C-130 Hercules (1970 – 2007)
