87th Troop Carrier Group

The 87th Troop Carrier Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 87th Troop Carrier Wing, stationed at Atterbury Air Force Base, Indiana. It was inactivated on 1 February 1953.

During World War II, the 87th Fighter Group was a First Air Force P-47 Thunderbolt replacement training unit (RTU). In the postwar era, the 87th Fighter-Escort Group was an Air Force Reserve unit equipped with P-51 Mustangs that trained with Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortresses. Redesignated in 1952 as the 87th Troop Carrier Group, the unit remained in the reserve as a C-47 Skytrain transport unit, being activated during the Korean War, with its equipment and personnel being assigned to active duty units in Far East Air Force. The group was inactivated as a paper unit in early 1953.

Lineage

 * Constituted as 87th Fighter Group on 24 September 1943
 * Activated on 1 October 1943
 * Disbanded on 10 April 1944.


 * Reconstituted on 16 May 1949 and allotted to the reserve
 * Activated on 27 June 1949
 * Redesignated 87th Fighter-Escort Group in March 1950
 * Ordered into active service on 1 May 1951
 * Inactivated on 25 June 1951.


 * Redesignated 87th Troop Carrier Group (Medium) and allotted to the reserve.
 * Activated on 15 June 1952
 * Inactivated on 1 February 1953.

Assignments

 * First Air Force, 1 October 1943 – 10 April 1944
 * Attached to: Philadelphia Fighter Wing, 1943 (dates undetermined)


 * Continental Air Command, 27 June 1949 – 25 June 1951
 * 87th Troop Carrier Wing, 15 June 1952 – 1 February 1953

Components

 * 450th Fighter Squadron: 1943–1944
 * 535th Fighter (later Fighter-Escort, later Troop Carrier) Squadron: 1943–1944; 1949–1951; 1952–1953
 * 536th Fighter (later Troop Carrier) Squadron: 1943–1944; 1952–1953
 * 537th Fighter (later Troop Carrier) Squadron: 1943–1944; 1952–1953.

Stations

 * Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 1 October 1943
 * Camp Springs Army Airfield, Maryland, 21 January – 10 April 1944
 * Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, 27 June 1949 – 25 June 1951
 * Atterbury Air Force Base, Indiana, 15 June 1952 – 1 February 1953

Aircraft

 * P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944
 * P-51 Mustang, 1949–1951
 * C-47 Skytrain, 1952