| 438th Air Expeditionary Wing | |
|---|---|
438th Air Expeditionary Wing emblem |
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| Active | 1949–1951; 1952–1957; 1965–1994; 2001—present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Air Expeditionary |
The 438th Air Expeditionary Wing (438 AEW) is an active United States Air Force unit operating in Afghanistan and assigned to United States Air Forces Central. The wing trains Afghan Air Force members, including pilots.
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The 438th Troop Carrier Wing (Medium) was established on 10 May 1949, at Offut AFB, Nebraska. It was activated in the USAF reserve on 27 June 1949. The wing flew C-45, C-46 and C-47 aircraft. It was ordered to active service on 10 March 1951. It was inactivated on 14 March 1951.
The 438th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated at General Billy Mitchell Field, Wisconsin in the reserves flying F-80 Shooting Stars and later F-86 Sabres on 15 June 1952. It was inactivated 16 November 1957.
The 438th Military Airlift Wing replaced the 1611th Air Transport Wing at McGuire AFB, New Jersey in June 1966, equipped with Lockheed C-141 Starlifters. For the next 30 years, the 438th MAW and transported military cargo, mail and passengers worldwide, particularly in the Eastern United States, Atlantic, European and Mediterranean areas, with frequent special missions to the Arctic, the Antarctic, South America, the Far East, and to Southeast Asia combat areas during the Vietnam War.
On 1 December 1991, the wing was redesignated as the 438th Airlift Wing and implemented objective wing. On 1 June 1992, it was assigned to the new Air Mobility Command.
On 1 October 1993, the 30th AS was moved w/o/p/e to the 374th Operations Group, Yokota AB, Japan, replacing the 20th AS as part of the Air Force illustrious units realignment. It was replaced by the 13th Airlift Squadron at McGuire which was transferred w/o/p/e from the 18th Operations Group, Kadena AB, Okinawa.
A KC-10 air refueling squadron, the 2d ARS, was assigned to the wing from the former 2d Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as part of a major Air Force realignment on 1 October 1994 to have KC-10 bases with two squadrons of 10 aircraft each.
On 1 October 1994, the 438th Airlift Wing was inactivated, being replaced at McGuire by the 305th Air Mobility Wing which was transferred from Grissom AFB, Indiana when Grissom was realigned via BRAC action to the Air Force Reserve Command as Grissom ARB.
The 438th Air Expeditionary Group was activated as part of the Global War on Terrorism in 2001. It's people fought in Iraq and trained Iraqis and then moved to Afghanistan to train Afghan airmen at bases around the country.
Former:
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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