924th Fighter Group



The 924th Fighter Group is a group of the United States Air Force Reserve. It is operated under the Tenth Air Force and assigned to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona as a Geographically Separated Unit (GSU) of the Air Force Reserve Command's 442d Fighter Wing (442 FW) at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. On 1 October 2012, the 924 FG was transferred from the claimancy of the 442 FW to that of a GSU of the 944th Fighter Wing (944 FW) at Luke AFB, Arizona. The 924 FG flies the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and is operationally-gained by Air Combat Command.

Until its deactivation 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 AFB's closure due to BRAC 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 AFB, 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 TCW in 1963, the others being the 925th Troop Carrier Group, also at Ellington AFB 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 (NASA) 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 C-130A Hercules. The 924ht 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 AFB, Texas in 1976 as part of the active duty 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.

In 1981, the 924th was transferred back to TAC and realigned as the 924th Tactical Fighter Group, converting to the F-4D 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 AFB, 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 F-16A Fighting Falcon in 1991. The 924th TFG was the last USAF F-4E Phantom II organization in Air Force Reserve service.

Renamed the 924th Fighter Group, in 1994 the 924th's equipment was again upgraded to the front-line Block 32 F-16C Fighting Falcon and the unit was upgraded to a Wing, renamed the 924th Fighter Wing and coming under the direct command of Tenth Air Force (10 AF). However with the end of the Cold War, Bergstrom AFB was on the list of bases to be closed under the BRAC process, and the 924th Fighter Wing was inactivated in September 1996 with the closure of Bergstrom AFB. 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 (924 FG) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. As part of the Air Force Reserve Command, the 924 FG was previously a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the 442d Fighter Wing and is now a GSU of the 944th Fighter Wing. The 924 FG currently flies the A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft.

Lineage

 * Established as 924th Troop Carrier Group, Medium, and activated, on 28 December 1962
 * Organized in the Reserve on 17 January 1963
 * Re-designated 924th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 July 1967
 * Re-designated 924th Tactical Fighter Group on 1 April 1981
 * Re-designated 924th Fighter Group on 1 February 1992
 * Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 October 1994
 * Re-designated 924th Fighter Wing on 1 October 1994
 * Inactivated on 27 September 1996
 * Re-designated 924th Fighter Group on 1 January 2011

Assignments

 * Continental Air Command, 28 December 1963
 * 446th Troop Carrier Wing, 17 January 1963-1 July 1972
 * 433d Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 July 1972-1 April 1981
 * 301st Tactical Fighter (later Fighter) Wing, 1 April 1981-1 October 1994
 * 442d Fighter Wing, 1 January 2011-1 October 2012
 * 944th Fighter Wing, 1 October 2012-Present
 * Tenth Air Force, 1 October 1994-27 September 1996; 1 January 2011-Present

Components

 * 704th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift, Tactical Fighter, Fighter) Squadron, 28 December 1963-27 September 1996
 * 45th Fighter Squadron, 1 January 2011-Present
 * 924th Maintenance Squadron, 1 January 2011-Present

Stations

 * Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, 17 January 1963
 * Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, 1 March 1976-27 September 1996
 * Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, 1 January 2011-Present

Aircraft

 * C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1963–1967
 * C-130A Hercules, 1967–1976
 * C-130B Hercules, 1976–1981
 * F-4D Phantom II, 1981–1989
 * F-4E Phantom II, 1989–1991
 * F-16A Fighting Falcon, 1991–1994
 * F-16C Fighting Falcon, 1994–1996
 * A-10C Thunderbolt II, 2011-Present