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| 463d Airlift Group | |
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 463d Airlift Group emblem |
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| Active | 1 Augusts 1943 - Present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | Tactical Airlift |
| Part of | USAF Group |
| Garrison/HQ | Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas |
| Engagements |
  
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The United States Air Force's 463d Airlift Group (463AG) is a tactial airlift unit at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas.
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Mission
The 463d Airlift Group is a direct reporting unit of over 1,200 Airmen employing 30 C-130 aircraft performing worldwide airlift missions. It provides direct support to warfighting combatant commanders with theater combat aerial delivery of personnel and their re-supply worldwide while executing a 23,000 hour flying program and operating a budget of over $60 million.
Units
The 463d AG comprises six squadrons - three flying, two maintenance and one support. Providing Air Mobility Commands airlift support anywhere they are needed, anytime. These are:
- 30th Airlift Squadron (C-130H) Cheyenne Regional Airport (ANG Associate Unit)
- 50th Airlift Squadron (C-130H) "Red Devils" (Red tail Stripe)
- 61st Airlift Squadron (C-130E) "Green Hornets" (Green tail Stripe)
- 463d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
- 463d Maintenance Squadron
- 463d Operations Support Squadron
History
Lineage
- Constituted as 463d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943.
- Activated on 1 Aug 1943
- Inactivated on 25 Sep 1945
- Established as 463d Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, on 1 Dec 1952.
- Activated on 16 Jan 1953.
- Redesignated: 463d Troop Carrier Wing, Assault, on 1 Oct 1962
- Redesignated: 463d Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, on 15 May 1965
- Redesignated: 463d Troop Carrier Wing on 8 Dec 1965
- Redesignated: 463d Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 Aug 1967.
- Inactivated on 31 Dec 1971.
- Activated on 1 Jun 1972.
- Redesignated: 463d Airlift Wing on 1 Nov 1991.
- Inactivated on 1 Oct 1993.
- Activated 1 Apr 1997
- Redesignated: 463d Airlift Group on 31 Mar 1997.
Assignments
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Components
Wings
- 456 Troop Carrier: attached 10 Mar-9 Jul 1956 (not operational).
Groups
- 309 Troop Carrier: attached 8 Jul 1955-c. 21 May 1956
- 419 Troop Carrier: attached 9 Jul 1956-25 Sep 1957
- 463 Troop Carrier (later, 463 Operations): 16 Jan 1953-25 Sep 1957; 1 Nov 1991-1 Oct 1993.
Squadrons
- 772d Bombardment: 1943-1945
- 773d Bombardment: 1943-1945
- 774th Bombardment: 1943-1945
- 775th Bombardment: 1943-1945
Bases Assigned
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Aircraft Flown
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Operational History
World War II
Constituted as 463d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943. Activated on 1 Aug 1943. Trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses for duty overseas. Moved to Italy, Feb-Mar 1944, and assigned to Fifteenth Air Force. Operational squadrons were the 772d, 773d, 774th and 775th Bombardment Squadrons.
Entered combat on 30 Mar 1944 and operated chiefly against strategic objectives. Attacked such targets as marshalling yards, oil refineries, and aircraft factories in Italy, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece.
The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing oil refineries at Ploesti on 18 May 1944: when clouds limited visibility to such an extent that other groups turned back, the 463rd proceeded to Ploesti and, though crippled by opposition from interceptors and flak, rendered destructive blows to both the target and the enemy fighters.
Received a second DUC for leading the wing through three damaging enemy attacks to bomb tank factories in Berlin on 24 Mar 1945. Also engaged interdictory and support missions. Bombed bridges during May and Jun 1944 in the campaign for the liberation of Rome.
Participated in the invasion of Southern France in Aug 1944 by striking bridges, gun positions, and other targets. Hit communications such as railroad bridges, marshalling yards, and airdromes in the Balkans. Operated primarily against communications in northern Italy during Mar and Apr 1945.
After V-E Day, transported personnel from Italy to Casablanca for return to the US. Inactivated in Italy on 25 Sep 1945.
Cold War
Redesignated 463d Troop Carrier Group (Medium). Activated at Memphis Airport, Tennessee on 16 Jan 1953. Assigned to Tactical Air Command and equipped with C-119's. On 1 September, the group was reassigned to Ardmore AFB, Oklaholma.
The 463d Group (later 463d Troop Carrier Wing) airlifted and airdropped troops and cargo to support operations and exercises worldwide, supporting deployments during the following crises: Lebanon (Jul 1958), Taiwan (Aug 1958), Berlin (Sep 1961), Cuba (Oct-Nov 1962), the Gulf of Tonkin (Aug-Dec 1964), Southeast Asia (Feb and Apr-Nov 1965), and the Dominican Republic (Apr-Sep 1965).
The wing moved to Pacific Air Forces in Nov 1965, being assigned to the 315th Air Division. In PACAF, the wing was responsible for operating a C-130 combat airlift support unit at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam and a detachment at Clark AB, Philippines, through Nov 1968 which flew transport and aeromedical evacuation missions. In Dec 1965, began furnishing aircraft and crews to fly missions in Southeast Asia under operational control of the 315th Air Division (to Oct 1966) and 834th Air Division (Oct 1966-Oct 1971).
Redesignated as the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing in August 1967. The wing ceased aircraft operations in Southeast Asia on 25 Oct 1971.
Returning to Dyess AFB, Texas in Jun 1972, the 463d began participating in operations and exercises worldwide for Tactical Air Command (1972-1974). In 1974, all tactical airlift was transferred to Military Airlift Command, then to Air Mobility Command (AMC) in 1992 when MAC was deactivated. The wing's tactical components deployed frequently to Europe, the Pacific, and the Canal Zone to provide air transportation as needed. On 1 November 1991, the wing implemented the Objective Wing organization and was redesignated as the 463d Airlift Wing.
Post Cold War
The wing was inactivated on 1 October 1993 and it's personnel and equipment was absorbed by the incoming 7th Wing at Dyess. The 7th was a composite wing which incorporated Dyess' C-130s, which were transferred from Air Mobility Command to Air Combat Command (ACC).
When the US-based C-130 force was realigned in 1997 from ACC back to AMC, the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB was split into two pieces. The wing and training units went to Air Education and Training Command (AETC). AMC reactivated the unit as the 463d Airlift Group on 1 April 1997 to control the two operational C-130 squadrons.
From Little Rock, the 463d has provided worldwide airlift, delivering combat, humanitarian, and other supplies.
See also
References
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This article incorporates text from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website which, as a United States government publication, is in the public domain. |
- Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
- Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
External links
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