| 463d Airlift Group | |
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463d Airlift Group emblem |
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| Active | 1 August 1943 – 1 October 2008 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | Tactical Airlift |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force |
| Garrison/HQ | Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas |
| Engagements |
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The United States Air Force's 463d Airlift Group (463AG) is a tactical airlift unit headquartered in Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.
During World War II as the 463d Bombardment Unit, it was one of the last B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber groups deployed to Southern Italy as part of the Fifteenth Air Force in March, 1944.
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The 463d is a direct reporting unit of over 1,200 Airmen. The unit employs 30 C-130 aircraft that perform airlift missions worldwide. It provides direct support to warfighting combatant commanders with theater combat aerial delivery of personnel and their resupply worldwide.
The unit comprises eight squadrons: five flying, two maintenance, and one support.
Constituted as 463d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943. Activated on 1 August 1943. Trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses for duty overseas. Moved to Italy, February–March 1944, and assigned to Fifteenth Air Force. Operational squadrons were the 772d, 773d, 774th and 775th Bombardment Squadrons.
Entered combat on 30 March 1944 and operated chiefly against strategic objectives. Attacked such targets as marshaling yards, oil refineries, and aircraft factories in Italy, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece.
The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing oil refineries in Ploesti on 18 May 1944: when clouds limited visibility to such an extent that other groups turned back, the 463d proceeded to Ploesti and, though crippled by opposition from interceptors and flak, rendered destructive blows to both the target and the enemy fighters.
Received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for leading the wing through three damaging enemy attacks to bomb tank factories in Berlin on 24 March 1945. Also engaged interdiction and support missions. Bombed bridges during May and June 1944 in the campaign for the liberation of Rome.
Participated in the invasion of Southern France in August 1944 by striking bridges, gun positions, and other targets. Hit communications such as railroad bridges, marshalling yards, and airdromes in the Balkans. Operated primarily against communications in northern Italy during March and April 1945.
The "Swoose" Group was commanded by Col. Frank Kurtz, a pre-war Olympic swimmer and pilot of the famed B-17 "The Swoose" in the Pacific during 1941–42.
After V-E Day, transported personnel from Italy to Casablanca for return to the US. Inactivated in Italy on 25 September 1945. Flew 222 combat missions; 91 aircraft lost.
Re-designated 463d Troop Carrier Group (Medium). Activated at Memphis Airport, Tennessee on 16 January 1953. Assigned to Tactical Air Command and equipped with C-119's. On 1 September, the group was reassigned to Ardmore AFB, Oklahoma.
The 463d Group (later 463d Troop Carrier Wing) airlifted and airdropped troops and cargo to support operations and exercises worldwide, supporting deployments during the following crises: Lebanon (July 1958), Taiwan (August 1958), Berlin (September 1961), Cuba (October–November 1962), the Gulf of Tonkin (August–December 1964), Southeast Asia (February and April–November 1965), and the Dominican Republic (April–September 1965).
The wing moved to Pacific Air Forces in November 1965, being assigned to the 315th Air Division. In PACAF, the wing was responsible for operating a C-130 combat airlift support unit at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam and a detachment at Clark AB, Philippines, through November 1968 which flew transport and aeromedical evacuation missions. In December 1965, began furnishing aircraft and crews to fly missions in Southeast Asia under operational control of the 315th Air Division (to October 1966) and 834th Air Division (October 1966 – October 1971).
Redesignated as the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing in August 1967. The wing ceased aircraft operations in Southeast Asia on 25 October 1971.
Returning to Dyess AFB, Texas in June 1972, the 463d began participating in operations and exercises worldwide for Tactical Air Command (1972–1974). In 1974, all tactical airlift was transferred to Military Airlift Command, then to Air Mobility Command (AMC) in 1992 when MAC was deactivated. The wing's tactical components deployed frequently to Europe, the Pacific, and the Canal Zone to provide air transportation as needed. On 1 November 1991, the wing implemented the Objective Wing organization and was redesignated as the 463d Airlift Wing.
The wing was inactivated on 1 October 1993 and its personnel and equipment was absorbed by the incoming 7th Wing at Dyess. The 7th was a composite wing which incorporated Dyess' C-130s, which were transferred from Air Mobility Command to Air Combat Command (ACC).
When the US-based C-130 force was realigned in 1997 from ACC back to AMC, the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB was split into two pieces. The wing and training units went to Air Education and Training Command (AETC). AMC reactivated the unit as the 463d Airlift Group on 1 April 1997 to control the two operational C-130 squadrons.
From Little Rock, the 463d has provided worldwide airlift, delivering combat, humanitarian, and other supplies.
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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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