925th Tactical Airlift Group

The 925th Tactical Airlift Group is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve unit. It was last active with the 446th Tactical Airlift Wing, based at Ellington Air Force Base, Texas. It was inactivated on 25 March 1968.

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 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 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 925th Troop Carrier Group was established 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 airlift operations.

The group was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 446th TCW in 1963, the others being the 924th Troop Carrier Group, also at Ellington AFB and the 926th Troop Carrier Group at New Orleans Naval Air Station, Louisiana.

Flew experimental drop missions in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1963 to 1967. Was part of the USAF Combat Crew Training School, the first Air Force Reserve institution that trained active duty crews. Retied the Flying Boxcars in 1967, upgrading to the newer C-130A Hercules.

Unit was inactivated in 1968 by DoD budget reductions due to the Vietnam War.

Lineage

• Established as the 925th Troop Carrier Group, Medium and activated on 28 December 1962 (not organized)

Organized in the Reserve on 17 January 1963

Redesignated 925th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 July 1967

Inactivated on 25 March 1968

Assignments

• Continental Air Command, 28 December 1963
• 446th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) Wing, 17 January 1963 – 25 March 1968

Components

• 705th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) Squadron, 28 December 1963 – 25 March 1968

Stations

• Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, 17 January 1963 – 25 March 1968

Aircraft

• C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1963–1967
• C-130A Hercules, 1967-1968

References

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

• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
• AFHRA search 925th Tactical Airlift Group