913th Airlift Wing

The 913th Airlift Wing (913 AW) is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve unit. It was last assigned to the 22d Air Force, stationed at Naval Air Station Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. It was inactivated on 30 September 2007.

Overview
The 913th Airlift Wing trained and equipped Air Force Reservists to perform the combat missions of tactical airlift and aerial re-supply.

Subordinate organizations of the 913th AW were:
 * 913th Operations Group (913 OG)
 * 327th Airlift Squadron (327 AS)


 * 913th Maintenance Group (913 MXG)


 * 913th Mission Support Group (913 MSG)


 * 913th Medical Squadron (913 MDS)

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 913th 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 913th TCG was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 512th TCW in 1963, the others being the 912th Troop Carrier Group also at Willow Grove NAS, and the 914th Troop Carrier Group at Niagara Falls International Airport, New York.

The 913th performed air transportation for airborne forces, airdrops, airlandings, and extraction delivery of equipment and supplies, as well as airlift of personnel and cargo. During the Vietnam War the group also helped train Vietnamese Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcar aircrews in 1967 and ferried aircraft to Southeast Asia in March 1968 and to Taiwan in January 1969.

In 1970, the 913th transitioned from the C-119 to the C-130 Hercules. Beginning in 1977 the 913th participated in rotational "Coronet Oak" operations in the Panama Canal Zone flying airlift in support of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) at Howard AFB. In addition, it has performed humanitarian airlift and supported contingency operations worldwide, including operations in Southwest Asia and the Balkans.

The 913 AW was inactivated on 30 Sep 2007 pursuant to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) 2005 action, with its C-130 Hercules aircraft redistributed to other active duty Air Force and Air Force Reserve airlift units.

Lineage

 * Established as 913th Troop Carrier Group, Medium, and activated, on 15 Jan 1963
 * Organized in the Reserve on 11 Feb 1963
 * Re-designated: 913th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 Jul 1967
 * Re-designated: 913th Airlift Group on 1 Feb 1992
 * Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 Oct 1994
 * Re-designated: 913th Airlift Wing on 1 Oct 1994.

Assignments

 * Continental Air Command, 15 Jan 1963
 * 512th Troop Carrier Wing, 11 Feb 1963
 * 302d Troop Carrier Wing, 8 Jan 1965
 * 514th Troop Carrier (later, 514th Tactical Airlift; 514th Military Airlift) Wing, 1 Jul 1966
 * Attached to 302d Special Operations Wing, 1 Jul-16 Sep 1970


 * 302d Special Operations Wing, 17 Sep 1970
 * Attached to 403d Composite Wing, 1-20 Apr 1971


 * 403d Composite (later, 403d Tactical Airlift) Wing, 21 Apr 1971
 * 459th Tactical Airlift (later, 459th Airlift) Wing, 8 Jan 1976
 * 403d Airlift Wing (later, 403d Wing), 1 Aug 1992
 * Tenth Air Force, 1 Oct 1994
 * Twenty-Second Air Force, 1 Apr 1997–Present

Components

 * 913th Operations Group: 1 Aug 1992-30 September 2007
 * 327th Tactical Airlift Squadron: 11 Feb 1963-1 Aug 1992.

Stations

 * Willow Grove Air Reserve Facility (later, Station), Pennsylvania, 11 Feb 1963-30 Sep 2007

Aircraft operated

 * C-119 Flying Boxcar (1963–1971)
 * C-130 Hercules (1970–2007)