| 43d Airlift Wing | |
|---|---|
43d Airlift Wing Insignia |
|
| Active | 1947--present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | Tactical Airlift |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Pope Air Force Base |
| Motto | Willing, Able, Ready |
| Decorations | PUC AFOUA w/ V Device PPUC RVGC w/ Palm |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Colonel James C. Johnson |
| Notable commanders |
David A. Burchinal Jack J. Catton |
The 43rd Airlift Group (43 AG) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Pope Army Airfield, part of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The 43 AG performs en route operations support at Pope AAF to include mission command & control, aircrew management, aircraft maintenance, aircraft loading, aircraft fueling and supply.
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The unit provides strategic enroute airlift support and C-130 Hercules tactical airlift support to the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps, 82nd Airborne Division and US Special Forces Command. It is capable of deploying a self-sustaining war fighting package anywhere in the world at a moment's notice and reflected Pope's motto "Ready Now".
It traces its roots back to the 43d Bombardment Group (Heavy), which was constituted 20 November 1940, and activated 15 January 1941, at Langley Field, VA. It operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as a B-17 Flying Fortress, and later a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force. The 43d Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit.
Active for over 60 years, the 43 AG was a component wing of Strategic Air Command's deterrent force throughout the Cold War.
The 43d Airlift Group is commanded by Colonel James C. Johnson. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Douglas A. Ackerman.
The 2005 BRAC Law mandated the distribution of the assigned 43d Airlift Wing C-130s and the 23rd Fighter Group A-10s to meet Air Force requirements at other locations; establish a Reserve/Active Duty 16 C-130H organization; establish a Medical Squadron; establish an Air Force Group to provide mission execution, planning, and management of efficient load-out of Fort Bragg assets; and transfer Real Property accountability to the Army (Fort Bragg). The 2005 BRAC Law directed the mandates be completed no later than 15 September 2011.
The 440th Airlift Wing stood up at Pope AFB in June 2007 and the active duty squadrons, the 2nd Airlift Squadron and the 43d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, were associated in June 2008. The transfer of the Pope assigned 23rd FG A-10s was completed in December 2007 and the 43d AW C-130s was completed in June 2008.
It consists of the following groups:
The 43d was established on 3 November 1947. It conducted strategic bombardment training from, 1946–1960, and air refueling, 1949–1960, to meet Strategic Air Command's (SAC) global commitments. Wing personnel established flight records, flying two B-29s around the world in 1948 in 15 days, flying the B-50 Lucky Lady II nonstop around the world in 94 hours and 40 seconds in 1949.
Replaced the propeller-driven B-29s with new B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. The 43d set a new jet endurance record in 1954 by keeping a B-47 airborne for 47:35 hours. Flew numerous training missions and participated in various SAC exercises and deployments with the Stratojet during the 1950s. In the late 1950s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. The 43d began reassigning it's Stratojets to other wings as replacement aircraft beginning in 1959.
The wing converted to the Convair B-58 Hustler aircraft, the world's first supersonic bomber, in 1960. The 43d Bombardment Wing was the first USAF B-58 wing, 59-2436, the first fully operational Hustler equipped with all tactical systems, was delivered to the 43d on 15 March. On 23 March a test unit B-58A (55-0671), remained airborne for 18 hours 10 minutes while averaging an airspeed of 620 mph over 11,000 miles. This was apparently the longest-lasting single flight ever by a B-58. The 43d BW received deliveries of new aircraft from Convair throughout the year, the last being in December 1960.
From March 1960 to July 1961 it operated a combat crew training school for B-58 aircrews, and from July 1962 until late 1969 it served as one of two SAC B-58 wings with a strategic bombardment mission. During the 1960s the wing established world flight speed records in the B-58. For example, in May 1961, a wing B-58 flew from New York to Paris in 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 45 seconds, establishing a new transatlantic speed record of 1,089.36 mph. During a race in 1962, a wing B-58 flew from Los Angeles to New York at an average speed of 1,214.65 mph. It flew from Los Angeles to New York and back in 4 hours, 41 minutes, and 15 seconds. The 43d BW, which had been prevented from being declared combat-ready by the B-58's teething problems, was finally declared as such in August 1962. The Wing was placed on alert in September 1962.
By the mid-1960s, the B-58 had become a fairly effective weapons system. By the end of 1962, USAF crews had made over 10,500 flights and loges 53,00 hours (1150 of them supersonic, including 375 at Mach 2). Initially, all B-58 training was conducted by the 43d Combat Crew Training School. From 1960 through 1964, this unit fulfilled the requirements of both its parent 43d BW and the second B-58 wing, the 305th BW. In August 1964, the 305th activated its own CCTS. The wing also controlled an air refueling squadron from August 1964.
The active service life of the B-58 was destined to be rather short. Phaseout of the B-58 fleet was ordered by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in December 1965, since it was felt that the high-altitude performance of the B-58 could no longer guarantee success against increasingly sophisticated Soviet air defenses. Although SAC had never been happy with the relatively limited range of the B-58 and felt that the Air Force through congressional pressure had forced the B-58 on them, the aircraft had gone through a long gestation period during which lots of bugs had been wrung out of the system, and it was now thought to be a valuable and effective weapons system. Consequently, SAC pressed the Defense Department for the retention of the B-58, at least until 1974. However, the decision of 1965 was to stand. Another factor was the B-58's relatively high cost as compared to the B-52 and B-47. The unit cost of the B-58 was 33.5 million dollars as compared to 9 million for the B-52 and 3 million for the B-47. The cost of maintaining and operating two B-58 wings equaled the cost of maintaining six B-52 wings. In addition, the B-58 was quite costly to maintain.
The first B-58 to go to the boneyard was 59-2446, which flew to Davis Monthan AFB on 5 November 1969. Once underway, the B-58 retirement program moved relatively rapidly. The retirement was completed on 16 January 1970.
Once their B-58s were in storage, the 43d BW was temporarily inactivated, but was immediately reactivated with the assets of the 3960th Strategic Wing at Andersen AFB on Guam. The 3960th SW was established on 1 November 1965 at Anderson as a provisional SAC MAJCOM Wing with a mission to support B-52 and KC-135 elements from SAC CONUS-based units engaged in combat operations over Southeast Asia on a daily basis during the Vietnam War.
In 1970, in order to retain the lineage of its provisional wing at Anderson, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM wing and activate a regular AFCON wing which was inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history of the mission at Anderson. On 1 April 1970, the 3960th SW was redesignated as the 43d Strategic Wing. The 43d SW employed attached aircraft and aircrews of other SAC units deployed from bases in the United States to participate in Operation Arc Light combat missions in Southeast Asia from 1 July to mid-August 1970, and again from February 1972 to August 1973.
Following the end of combat operations the 43d provided routing training and ground alert with B-52 and KC-135 aircraft, the latter provided by other SAC units on loan. During 1975 the wing provided logistical and medical support to thousands of Vietnamese refugees evacuated from their homeland and located temporarily at Guam awaiting resettlement in the United States.
The wing trained to remain proficient in strategic and conventional warfare capabilities. Beginning in 1974 it controlled TDY tankers and crews participating in the Pacific (formerly Andersen) Tanker Task Force that supported SAC operations in the western Pacific. In July 1986 the 43d activated the 65th Strategic Squadron to control the TDY air refueling forces.
Since 1990 the 43d has been inactivated, redesignated and activated on several occasions. In 1989 Andersen AFB was transferred from the Strategic Air Command to Pacific Air Forces. The PACAF 633rd Air Base Wing was activated on 1 October 1989, which led to the deactivation of the 43d Bombardment Wing on 26 March 1990.
The wing was redesignated as the 43d Air Refueling Wing, and activated, on 1 June 1992 at Malmstrom AFB, Montana where it conducted refueling operations under Air Combat Command before being moved to MacDill AFB, Florida when flight operations ended at Malmstrom. At MacDill it was redesignated as a group and operated until 1 October 1996 when it was inactivated and replaced by the 6th Air Refueling Wing when Air Mobility Command assumed the air refueling mission from ACC.
It was brought back into active service in 1997 when the unit was redesignated as the 43d Airlift Wing on 31 March and activated on 1 April 1997 at Pope AFB, North Carolina under Air Mobility Command. Crews and aircraft deployed to Europe and Southwest Asia for expeditionary rotations and contingency operations such as the enforcement of no-fly zones over Iraq. It also took part in humanitarian airlift operations and training exercises, often with U.S. Army airborne organizations stationed at nearby Fort Bragg. After terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, elements deployed in support of the Global War on Terror.
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References for commands and major units assigned, components and stations:[1][2][3]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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