916th Air Refueling Wing

The 916th Air Refueling Wing (916 ARW) is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Fourth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. If mobilized, the Wing is gained by the Air Mobility Command.

Mission
Fly the KC-135R Statotanker in air-to-air refueling and other air mobility missions.

Units

 * 916th Operations Group (916 OG)
 * 77th Air Refueling Squadron (77 ARS)


 * 911th Air Refueling Squadron (911 ARS) (Active Duty)


 * 916th Maintenance Group (916 MXG)


 * 916th Mission Support Group (916 MSG)


 * 916th Aerospace Medical Squadron (916 AMDS)

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 916th 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 916th TCG was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 435th TCW in 1963, the others being the 915th Troop Carrier Group at Homestead AFB, Florida and the 917th Troop Carrier Group at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.

In 1966 was equipped with C-124 Globemaster II airlifters, being a reserve unit of Military Air Transport Service (later Military Airlift Command).

Conducted air and ground training activities, airlifting personnel and cargo in support of active duty forces worldwide. It has supported missions included military airlifts to South Vietnam beginning in 1965 and to U.S. forces in the Dominican Republic during a 1965 crisis. It also participated in numerous humanitarian airlift missions.

Since October 1986 it has flown air mobility operational and training missions within and beyond the United States. It refueled aircraft and airlifted passengers and cargo for various training exercises and contingency and humanitarian operations around the world.

Lineage

 * Established as 916th Troop Carrier Group, Heavy, and activated, on 28 December 1962
 * Organized in the Reserve on 17 January 1963
 * Re-designated: 916th Air Transport Group, Heavy on 1 December 1965
 * Re-designated: 916th Military Airlift Group on 1 January 1966
 * Inactivated on 8 July 1972


 * Re-designated 916th Air Refueling Group, Heavy (Associate) on 10 July 1986
 * Activated in the Reserve on 1 October 1986
 * Re-designated: 916th Air Refueling Group (Associate) on 1 February 1992
 * 916th Operations Group established on 1 August 1992
 * Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 October 1994
 * Re-designated: 916th Air Refueling Wing on 1 October 1994.
 * Group element activated in the Reserve and assigned as subordinate unit

Assignments

 * Continental Air Command, 28 December 1962
 * 435th Troop Carrier Wing, 17 January 1963
 * 433d Troop Carrier Wing, 18 March 1963
 * 442d Troop Carrier Wing, 1 July 1963
 * 512th Troop Carrier (later, 512th Air Transport; 512th Military Airlift) Wing, 8 January 1965
 * 433d Military (later, 433d Tactical) Airlift Wing, 21 April 1971-8 July 1972
 * 452d Air Refueling Wing, 1 October 1986
 * 434th Air Refueling Wing (later, 434th Wing; 434th Air Refueling Wing), 1 July 1987
 * Twenty-Second Air Force, 1 October 1994
 * Fourth Air Force, 1 April 1997-President

Components

 * 916th Operations Group: 1 October 1994-Present
 * 77th Military Airlift (later Air Refueling) Squadron: 17 January 1963-8 July 1972; 1 October 1986-1 August 1992.

Stations

 * Donaldson AFB, South Carolina 17 January 1963
 * Carswell AFB, Texas, 1 April 1963-8 July 1972
 * Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, 1 October 1986-Present

Aircraft

 * C-124 Globemaster II (1963–1972)
 * KC-10 Extender (1986–1995)
 * KC-135 Stratotanker, 1972-1985; 1995 – Present