924th Fighter Group

924th Fighter Group

A-10C Thunderbolt II as currently flown by the 924th Fighter Group
Active 1963–1996; 2011–Present
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Role Fighter
Garrison/HQ Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
Insignia
924th Fighter Group emblem (approved 27 July 1983)[1]
924th Tactical Airlift Group emblem

The 924th Fighter Group is a group of the United States Air Force Reserve. It assigned to Tenth Air Force and stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona as a Geographically Separated Unit (GSU) of the Air Force Reserve Command's 442d Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.[1] On 1 October 2012, the 924 FG was reassigned to the 944th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.[2] The 924th flies the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and is gained by Air Combat Command when mobilized.

Until its inactivation in 1994, the group was known as the 924th Fighter Wing and was based at the former Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, the 924 FW was a subordinate command of Tenth Air Force and was inactivated as a wing on 27 September 1996 concurrent with Bergstrom's closure due to 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission action.

History

Following the mobilizations in 1961 and 1962 for the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Continental Air Command (ConAC) realized that it was unwieldy to mobilize an entire wing unless absolutely necessary. Their original Table of Organization for each Troop Carrier Wing was a wing headquarters, a troop carrier group, an Air Base Group, a maintenance and supply group, and a medical group. In 1957, the troop carrier group and maintenance and supply groups were inactivated, with their squadrons reassigned directly to the wing headquarters - despite the fact that many wings had squadrons spread out over several bases due to the Detached Squadron Concept, dispersing Air Force Reserve units over centers of population.

To resolve this, in late 1962 and early 1963, ConAC reorganized the structure of its reserve Troop Carrier Wings by establishing fully deployable Troop Carrier Groups and inserting them into the chain of command between the Wing and its squadrons at every base that held a ConAC troop carrier squadron. At each base, the group was composed of a material squadron, a troop carrier squadron, a tactical hospital or dispensary, and a combat support squadron. Each troop carrier wing consisted of 3 or 4 of these groups. By doing so, ConAC could facilitate the mobilization of either aircraft and aircrews alone, aircraft and minimum support personnel (one troop carrier group), or the entire troop carrier wing. This also gave ConAC the flexibility to expand each Wing by attaching additional squadrons, if necessary from other Reserve wings to the deployable groups for deployments.

As a result, the 924th Troop Carrier Group was established at Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, with a mission to organize, recruit and train Air Force Reserve personnel in the tactical airlift of airborne forces, their equipment and supplies and delivery of these forces and materials by airdrop, landing or cargo extraction systems. The group was equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars for Tactical Air Command (TAC) airlift operations.

The group was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 446th Troop Carrier Wing in 1963, the others being the 925th Troop Carrier Group, also at Ellington and the 926th Troop Carrier Group at Naval Air Station New Orleans, Louisiana.

924th flew experimental drop missions in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 1963 to 1967 and was also part of the USAF Combat Crew Training School, the first Air Force Reserve institution that trained active duty crews. The 924th retired their C-119 Flying Boxcars in 1967, upgrading to the newer Lockheed C-130A Hercules. The 924th ferried C-130s to Taiwan in 1966 and to Southeast Asia from 1968-1970, with unit members flying more than 120 missions to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. The unit transferred to Military Airlift Command (MAC) control in 1974 and moved to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas in 1976 as part of the USAF pullout from Ellington and turnover of the installation to the Texas Air National Guard as Ellington Field ANGB. At Bergstrom, the unit became the first Air Force Reserve unit assigned, and was upgraded to the newer C-130B.

McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II at Bergstrom AFB, TX, 1990[3]

In 1981, the 924th was transferred back to TAC and realigned as the 924th Tactical Fighter Group, converting to the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. With the mission change, the 924th was reassigned as a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the Air Force Reserve's 301st Tactical Fighter Wing at Carswell Air Force Base, while the 924th remained at Bergstrom. The 924th trained with the F-4D throughout the 1980s, being upgraded to the F-4E in 1989. With the retirement of all F-4 Phantom IIs from Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard service in the early 1990s, the 924th was re-equipped with the Block 15 General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon in 1991. The 924th was the last USAF F-4E Phantom II organization in Air Force Reserve service.

704th FS General Dynamics F-16C Block 30 Fighting Falcon, AF Ser. No. 85-1410

Renamed the 924th Fighter Group, in 1994 the 924th's equipment was again upgraded to the front-line Block 32 F-16Cs and the unit was upgraded as the 924th Fighter Wing and coming under the direct command of Tenth Air Force. However with the end of the Cold War, Bergstrom was on the list of bases to be closed under the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission process, and the 924th Fighter Wing was inactivated in September 1996 with the base's closure. Most of the 924th's F-16s were reassigned to the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing.

In 2011, the unit was reactivated as the 924th Fighter Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. As part of the Air Force Reserve Command, the 924th was a geographically separated unit of the 442d Fighter Wing and is now a GSU of the 944th Fighter Wing. The 924th currently flies the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft. The group is an associate of the 355th Fighter Wing and conducts formal training on the A-10,[2]

Lineage

Organized in the Reserve on 17 January 1963
Redesignated 924th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 July 1967
Redesignated 924th Tactical Fighter Group on 1 April 1981
Redesignated 924th Fighter Group on 1 February 1992
Redesignated 924th Fighter Wing on 1 October 1994
Inactivated on 27 September 1996
Activated on 1 January 2011[1]

Assignments

Components

Stations

Aircraft

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Robertson, Patsy (May 27, 2011). "Factsheet 924 Fighter Group (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Johnston, SSG Danielle. "924th Fighter Group reassigned". 442nd Fighter Wing Public Afairs. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ F-4D-32-MC Phantom II Serial No. 66-8768. This aircraft is now on display in front of a VFW post in Pastro, TX.
  4. ↑ Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Report, January 2011

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links