443d Airlift Wing

443d Airlift Wing
443d Military Airlift Wing, Training Patch
Active	1949–1992
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Heavy Airlift Training
Garrison/HQ	Air Mobility Command

USAF C-124 Globemaster II

C-141A Graduating Class, 1970s. 66-0179 in background

C-5B Galaxy from Atlus, about 1990

The 443d Airlift Wing (443d AW) is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with Air Mobility Command, being stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It was inactivated on October 1, 1992.

History

For additional history and lineage, see 443d Troop Carrier Group

Established and trained as a Reserve troop carrier wing under supervision of the 2596th Air Force Reserve Training Center, June 1949 – April 1951.

The 443d was brought to active duty at Donaldson AFB, South Carolina on August 9, 1951 as a training wing by Tactical Air Command. For almost two years, the 443d participated in tactical exercises in operations, training troop carrier aircrews using C-46 Commandos for assignment to the Far East and worked closely with other troop carrier groups to test and evaluate new troop carrier doctrine and procedures. With the end of the Korean War, the 443d was inactivated on June 8, 1953.

In January 1966, Military Airlift Command (MAC) reactivated the 443d at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, replacing the inactivated Military Air Transport Service 1707th Air Transport Wing, Heavy. The 443d became the primary USAF wing charged with training air and ground crews of C-124 Globemaster II and the new C-141 Starlifter heavy transports, while simultaneously maintaining a capability to perform airlift operations worldwide.

With the retirement of the prop-driven C-124 Globemaster II from active service, training diminished in 1967 and ceased in 1968, being replaced by training air and ground crews on the new C-5 Galaxy very heavy lift transport in 1969. The wing performed this training mission until 1992 when C-5 and C-141 training was consolidated after the end of the Cold War.

Air Mobility Command reorganized Air Force Airlift units in 1992 and the 443d was inactivated on October 1, 1992 as part of the Air Force Heritage program, where notable units were retained and reassigned after the Cold War. The new 97th Air Mobility Wing, a former Eighth Air Force World War II bombardment group and later Strategic Air Command bomb Wing absorbed the personnel, equipment and aircraft of the 443d upon its inactivation in an administrative transfer.

Lineage

• Established as 443d Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, on May 10, 1949.

Activated in the Reserve on June 27, 1949.

Ordered to active service on May 1, 1951

Inactivated on January 8, 1953

• Redesignated 443d Military Airlift Wing, Training, and activated, on December 27, 1965

Organized on January 8, 1966, assuming personnel and equipment of 1707th Air Transport Wing (MATS) which was discontinued.

Redesignated 443d Airlift Wing August 27, 1991

Inactivated October 1, 1992, personnel and equipment redesignated 97th Air Mobility Wing

Assignments

• Twelfth Air Force, 27 June 1949
• Fourteenth Air Force, 1 July 1950
• Tactical Air Command, May 2, 1951
• Eighteenth Air Force, June 1, 1951 – January 8, 1953
• Military Air Transport Service (later, Military Airlift Command), December 27, 1965
• Twenty-Second Air Force, April 1, 1973 – June 1, 1992
• Air Mobility Command June 1 – October 1, 1992

Stations

• Hensley Field, Texas, June 27, 1949
• Donaldson AFB, South Carolina, August 9, 1951 – January 8, 1953
• Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, January 8, 1966
• Altus AFB, Oklahoma, May 5, 1969 – October 1, 1992

Components

Groups

• 443d Troop Carrier Group: June 27, 1949 – January 8, 1953

Squadrons.

• 56th Military Airlift Squadron (Training): January 8, 1966 – October 1, 1992 (C-124A/C 1966-68, C-5A/B 1969-92)
• 57th Military Airlift Squadron (Training): January 8, 1966 – October 1, 1992 (C-141A/B)

Aircraft Assigned

• C-46 Commando, 1949–1952
• C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1952–1953
• C-124 Globemaster II, 1966–1968
• C-141 Starlifter, 1966–1992
• C-5 Galaxy, 1969–1992

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• 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.
• Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.