940th Wing

The 940th Wing (940 WG) is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California.

The 940th WG is a composite wing, with associate units assigned which are gained by the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces and the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency if mobilized.

Overview
The 940th Wing is responsible for the stand up and total force integration of the Air Force Reserve Command's newest multi-mission wing, including command & control, intelligence and reconnaissance forces.

Units

 * 940th Operations Group
 * 13th Reconnaissance Squadron
 * 50th Intelligence Squadron
 * 718th Intelligence Squadron


 * 940th Mission Support Group

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 940th 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 group was one of four C-119 groups assigned to the 312th TCW in 1963, the other being the 938th Troop Carrier Group at Hamilton AFB, California; 939th Troop Carrier Group, at Portland International Airport, Oregon, and the 941st Troop Carrier Group at Paine AFB, Washington.

The 941st performed routine reserve airlift operations; was upgraded to the C-124 Globemaster II intercontinental airlifter in 1965. The group flew overseas missions, particularly to the Far East and Southeast Asia.

Air Refueling
In March 1974 the group converted to C-130A Hercules and only three years later moved to Mather AFB, Calif. and converted to the KC-135A Stratotanker. It was at this time the group became the 940th Air Refueling Group.

In September 1986, the 940 ARG traded its older KC-135A Stratotankers for the upgraded KC-135E configuration. When Mather AFB closed, the 940 ARG temporarily moved to McClellan AFB, Calif from July 1993 until May 1998. It then moved to its current home at Beale AFB, Calif. In the summer of 2005 the 940 ARW upgraded its KC-135s to the KC-135R model. Following the approval of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations by President Bush, the 940th ARW changed missions from flying the KC-135 to the RQ-4 Global Hawk, unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and other command and control missions.

In 2009 the 940th Air Refueling Wing was redesignated as the 940th Wing and became a composite organization, operating both tankers and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)s.

Lineage

 * Established as 940th Troop Carrier Group, Medium, and activated in the Reserve, on 15 Jan 1963
 * Organized on 11 Feb 1963
 * Re-designated as: 940th Troop Carrier Group, Heavy on 1 Apr 1965
 * Re-designated as: 940th Air Transport Group, Heavy on 1 Dec 1965
 * Re-designated as: 940th Military Airlift Group on 1 Jan 1966
 * Re-designated as: 940th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 Apr 1972
 * Re-designated as: 940th Air Refueling Group, Heavy on 1 Jan 1977
 * Re-designated as: 940th Air Refueling Group on 1 Feb 1992
 * Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 Oct 1994
 * Re-designated as: 940th Air Refueling Wing on 1 Oct 1994
 * Re-designated as: 940th Wing on 1 Jul 2009.

Assignments

 * Continental Air Command, 15 January 1963
 * 349th Troop Carrier Wing, 11 Feb 1963
 * 452d Military Airlift (later, 452d Tactical Airlift; 452d Air Refueling) Wing, 26 Jan 1968
 * Fourth Air Force, 1 Oct 1994
 * Tenth Air Force, 1 Oct 2008–Present

Components

 * 940th Operations Group: 1 Oct 1994–Present
 * 314th Troop Carrier (later Air Transport, Military Airlift, Tactical Airlift, Air Refueling) Squadron: 11 Feb 1963-1 Aug 1992.

Stations

 * McClellan AFB, California, 11 Feb 1963
 * Mather AFB, California, 1 Jan 1977
 * McClellan AFB, California, 1 Jul 1993
 * Beale AFB, California, 1 Oct 1997–Present

Aircraft

 * C-119 Flying Boxcar (1963–1974)
 * C-130 Hercules (1974–1977)
 * KC-135A/E/T (1977–2008)
 * RQ-4 Global Hawk (2008–Present)

Decorations

 * Outstanding Unit ribbon.svg Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
 * 1 Oct. 2003 - 30 Sept. 2005
 * 1 Oct. 2001- 30 Sept. 2003
 * 1 Oct. 1999 - 30 Sept. 2001
 * 1 Oct. 1998 - 30 Sept. 1999
 * 1 Oct. 1995 - 30 Sept. 1997
 * 31 July 1989 - 30 Sept. 1990
 * 1 Jan. 1979 - 31 Dec. 1980
 * 1 March 1981 - 29 Feb. 1984
 * 1 March 1963 - 29 Feb. 1965