514th Air Mobility Wing

514th Air Mobility Wing
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
514th Air Mobility Wing Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Commanders
Current; commander	Colonel William GUTERMUTH
Insignia
514th Air Mobility Wing emblem (approved 18 January 2007)
514th Air Mobility Wing emblem (approved 13 March 1995)
Patch with 514th Troop Carrier Wing emblem (approved 9 September 1954)

The 514th Air Mobility Wing is a

McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III

.

The wing was organized in June 1949, when Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization. It was mobilized for the Korean War, serving at its home station as part of Eighteenth Air Force, which was initially composed of reserve troop carrier units. The wing was released from active duty and inactivated in February 1953.

The wing was reactivated in April 1953. In 1968, it lost its aircraft and became an associate unit, flying and maintaining aircraft of the regular

438th Military Airlift Wing

, and later of the 305th Air Mobility Wing.

History

The wing was first activated at

319th Bombardment Wing assumed its personnel and equipment in Birmingham.^[2]

At Mitchel, the wing trained under the supervision of the 2233d Air Reserve Training Center until it was mobilized for the Korean War in May 1951. The wing was one of six Curtiss C-46 Commando wings mobilized for Tactical Air Command. These wings formed the basis for the formation of Eighteenth Air Force^[3] It served on active duty at Mitchel until inactivated in February 1953.^[2]

Troop carrier operations

The wing was again activated in the reserves in April 1953 and, again, trained under the 2233d Center, initially with Commandos but with

Isla Grande Airport in Puerto Rico and San Salvador in the Bahamas. After the success of this operation, the wing began to use inactive duty training periods for Operation Swift Lift, transporting high priority cargo for the Air Force and Operation Ready Swap, transporting aircraft engines between Air Materiel Command's depots.^[4]

In 1958, the 2233d Center was inactivated and some of its personnel were absorbed by the wing. In place of active duty support [note 1] for reserve units, ConAC adopted the Air Reserve Technician program, in which a cadre of the unit consisted of full-time personnel who were simultaneously civilian employees of the Air Force and also held military rank as members of the reserves.^[5] After 1958, the wing increasingly participated in humanitarian and other airlift missions. By the mid-1960s, it was augmenting Military Air Transport Service airlift operations on a regular basis.

Dispersed squadrons

Starting in late 1955,

Stewart Air Force Base

, New York in April 1961 as part of this program.

In April 1959, the wing reorganized under the Dual Deputy system. Its

335th, 336th and 337th Troop Carrier Squadrons were assigned directly to the wing.^[1]

Activation of groups under the wing

Although the dispersal of flying units was not a problem when the entire wing was called to active service, mobilizing a single flying squadron and elements to support it proved difficult. This weakness was demonstrated in the partial mobilization of reserve units during the

905th Troop Carrier Group at Bradley were all assigned to the wing on 17 January.^[1]

Vietnam War

The wing trained

375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing

. A C-119 group remained with the wing until mid-1970.

Associate unit

By 1968 regular air force military airlift squadrons were operating the

438th Military Airlift Wing at McGuire.^[1]

In Jul 1973, its groups at Dover and Charleston were replaced by new reserve wings, and the 514th Wing absorbed all of the squadrons of what had been its 903d Group at McGuire. Continuing to use C-141 aircraft of the active wing at McGuire Air Force Base (first the 438th and later the 305th Air Mobility Wing), the wing's crews augmented Military Airlift Command units for strategic airlift missions worldwide, including contingency and humanitarian operations and took part in strategic mobility exercises for training.

Operations in which crews participated were

Operation Restore Hope to Somalia in 1992. In 1993 the wing added aerial refueling to its airlift mission. Since then the wing has been a part of every major conflict including Operations Desert Storm/Shield, Operation Uphold Democracy, Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Its members deployed in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

and the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Current units

514th Operations Group^{[citation needed]}

76th and 78th Air Refueling Squadrons

732d Airlift Squadron

514th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron

514th Maintenance Group
514th Mission Support Group
514th Aeromedical Staging Squadron
514th Aerospace Medicine Squadron

Lineage

Established as the 514th Troop Carrier Wing, Medium on 10 May 1949

Activated in the reserve on 26 June 1949

Ordered to active service on 1 May 1951

Inactivated on 1 February 1953

Activated in the reserve on 1 April 1953

Redesignated 514th Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 July 1967

Redesignated 514th Military Airlift Wing (Associate) on 25 September 1968

Redesignated 514th Airlift Wing (Associate) on 1 Feb 1992

Redesignated 514th Air Mobility Wing on 1 October 1994^[1]

Assignments

Fourteenth Air Force, 26 June 1949
First Air Force, 10 October 1949
Tactical Air Command, 2 May 1951
Eighteenth Air Force, 1 June 1951 – 1 February 1953
First Air Force, 1 April 1953
Fourteenth Air Force, 25 March 1958
First Air Force Reserve Region, 15 August 1960
Eastern Air Force Reserve Region, 31 December 1969
Fourteenth Air Force, 8 October 1976
Twenty-Second Air Force, 1 July 1993
Fourth Air Force, 1 October 2011 – present^[1]

Components

Groups

98th Air Refueling Group
: 1 October 1993 – 30 September 1994
514th Troop Carrier Group
(later 514th Operations Group): 26 June 1949 – 1 February 1953; 1 April 1953 – 14 April 1959; 1 August 1992 – present
903d Troop Carrier Group (later 903d Tactical Airlift Group, 903d Military Airlift Group): 17 January 1963 – 1 July 1973
904th Troop Carrier Group: 17 January 1963 – 1 July 1966
905th Troop Carrier Group: 17 January 1963 – 1 July 1966
912th Troop Carrier Group
(later 912th Tactical Airlift Group, 912th Military Airlift Group): 1 July 1966 – 1 July 1973
913th Troop Carrier Group
(later 913th Tactical Airlift Group): 1 July 1966 – 17 September 1970 (detached after 1 July 1970)
932d Military Airlift Group
, 1 April 1969 – 1 January 1972
943d Military Airlift Group: 25 September 1969 – 1 July 1973^[1]

Squadrons

335th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 335th Military Airlift Squadron): 14 April 1959 – 17 January 1963, 1 July 1973 – 1 August 1992

336th Troop Carrier Squadron: 14 April 1959 – 17 January 1963

337th Troop Carrier Squadron: 14 April 1959 – 17 January 1963

702d Military Airlift Squadron

: 1 July 1973 – 1 August 1992

732d Military Airlift Squadron: 1 July 1973 – 1 August 1992^[1]

Stations

Birmingham Municipal Airport, Alabama, 26 June 1949

Mitchel Air Force Base, New York, 10 October 1949 – 1 February 1953

Mitchel Air Force Base, New York, 1 April 1953

McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 15 March 1961 – present [1]

Aircraft

Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (1952–1970)
Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor
(1953)
Douglas C-124 Globemaster II (1966, 1969)
Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (1968 – 200x)

McDonnell Douglas C-9 Nightingale (1969–1971)
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy (1973)
McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender (1994–2022)
McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III (2004–present)
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus (2022-2023)^[1]

References

Notes

^ Air reserve centers training reserve units were regular air force units.

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Patsy, Robertson (22 June 2017). "Factsheet 514 Air Mobility Wing (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ravenstein, pp. 381-283
^ Cantwell, p. 97
^ Cantwell, pp. 149-150
^ Cantwell, p. 163
^ Cantwell, p. 156
^ Cantwell, pp. 189-191
^ Cantwell, p. 210