913th Airlift Group


The 913th Airlift Group is a United States Air Force Reserve unit. It is assigned to 22d Air Force and is stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It was activated 13 July 2014.

Overview

The 913th Airlift Group trains and equips Air Force Reservists to perform the combat missions of tactical airlift and aerial resupply.
Subordinate organizations of the 913th AG are:

WWII

The Second Combat Cargo Squadron constituted April 11, 1944, to fly the C-47 “Gooney Bird” actively throughout Asia during World War II. The squadron had five flights, each of which was represented by a deuce of spades in the squadron emblem. The emblem shows a hand fanning a deck of five deuce playing cards—the deuce signifying the “Second” squadron.
August 1944, the 2nd Combat Cargo Squadron moved to Sylhet, India, where it flew until October 1945. By Halloween, the squadron relocated to Peishiyi, China, where it was redesignated as the 327th Troop Carrier Squadron.
The 327th flew combat troops into the battle field, and evacuated the wounded from it, throughout the China-Burma-India theater of operations. The squadron flew in China until Christmas, when the squadron was inactivated after operating more than 20 months in Asia. The squadron earned battle streamers and won citations during WWII.
The squadron remained inactive until the spring of 1947, when it was reactivated at Marietta Army Air Field, Ga., and equipped with C-46s. It was assigned to the 514th Troop Carrier Wing for two and half years.
In 1949, the 327th moved to Reading Municipal Airport, Pennsylvania and joined the 512th Troop Carrier Wing.
The 512th moved to New Castle County Airport, Del. in April 1950, leaving the 327th behind at Reading. By August 1951, the 916th Air Force Reserve Training Wing was activated at Reading Municipal Airport to fill the empty support role left by the 512th.
The start of the Cold War saw tensions rise in Korea and March 15, 1951 the 512th activated to support the military actions in the Korean conflict. Shortly thereafter, the 512th was inactivated at New Castle.

Need for reserve troop carrier groups

During the first half of 1955, the Air Force began detaching Air Force Reserve squadrons from their parent wing locations to separate sites. The concept offered several advantages. Communities were more likely to accept the smaller squadrons than the large wings and the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning. Continental Air Command 's plan called for placing Air Force Reserve units at fifty-nine installations located throughout the United States. When these relocations were completed in 1959, reserve wing headquarters and wing support elements would typically be on one base, along with one of the wing's flying squadrons, while the remaining flying squadrons were spread over thirty-five Air Force, Navy and civilian airfields under what was called the Detached Squadron Concept.
Although this dispersal was not a problem when the entire wing was called to active service, mobilizing a single flying squadron and elements to support it proved difficult. This weakness was demonstrated in the partial mobilization of reserve units during the Berlin Crisis of 1961 To resolve this, at the start of 1962, ConAC determined to reorganize its reserve wings by establishing groups with support elements for each of its troop carrier squadrons. This reorganization would facilitate mobilization of elements of wings in various combinations when needed. However, as this plan was entering its implementation phase, another partial mobilization occurred for the Cuban missile crisis, with the units being released on 22 November 1962. The formation of troop carrier groups occurred in January 1963 for units that had not been mobilized, but was delayed until February for those that had been.

Activation of 913th Troop Carrier Group

As a result, the 913th Troop Carrier Group was established at Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Pennsylvania on 11 February 1963, as the headquarters for the 327th Troop Carrier Squadron, which had been stationed there since July 1958. Along with group headquarters, a Combat Support Squadron, Materiel Squadron and a Tactical Infirmary were organized to support the 327th.
The group's mission was 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 Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars for Tactical Air Command airlift operations.
The 913th was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 512th Troop Carrier Wing in 1963, the others being the 912th Troop Carrier Group also at Willow Grove, and the 914th Troop Carrier Group at Niagara Falls International Airport, New York.

Redesignation as 913th Tactical Airlift Group

The 913th was redesignated as the 913th Tactical Airlift Group and performed air transportation for airborne forces, airdrops,, and extraction delivery of equipment and supplies, as well as airlift of personnel and cargo. During the Vietnam War the group also helped train Republic of Vietnam Air Force C-119 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 Lockheed 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 at Howard AFB. In addition, it has performed humanitarian airlift and supported contingency operations worldwide, including operations in Southwest Asia and the Balkans.

Redesignation as 913th Airlift Group and 913th Airlift Wing

With the disestablishment of the 913th's active duty gaining command, the Military Airlift Command in 1992, the 913th was redesignated as 913th Airlift Group, with the Air Mobility Command. From 1993 to 1997, the 913th's gaining command was temporarily changed to Air Combat Command, until a USAF reorganization returned the unit back to AMC. In 1994, the 913 AG was redesignated as the 913th Airlift Wing as part of an Air Force-wide initiative to redesignate all Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard flying units with unit-assigned aircraft as wings.
The 913 AW was inactivated on 1 October 2007 under budget considerations. The 913th AW was not closed under the 2005 BRAC, with its Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft redistributed to other active duty Air Force and Air Force Reserve airlift units.

Associate unit

The unit was reactivated as the 913th Airlift Group at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas and an activation ceremony was held on 13 July 2014. The group replaced Detachment 1, Twenty-Second Air Force, which had been established at Little Rock in March 2011. The 913th Airlift Group is the first C-130 classic associate unit in the U.S. Air Force. Upon activation, it was associated with the 314th Airlift Wing of the Air Education and Training Command and the 189th Airlift Wing of the Arkansas Air National Guard in performing the crew training mission for the C-130. In October 2013, however, its predecessor had already begun transitioning to the combat airlift mission in association with the 19th Airlift Wing of the Air Mobility Command. The 913th currently flies active duty Lockheed C-130J Hercules assigned to the 19th Operations Group, 19th Airlift Wing, at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas to accomplish all operational and training missions.
Late February 2018, the unit returned home from a six-month Operation Enduring Freedom deployment to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Lineage

; Squadrons