The unit was activated in the reserve in 1949 as the 309th Troop Carrier Group', a corollary unit of the 314th Troop Carrier Wing. It was inactivated in 1951 and its personnel used to man other units as a result of the Korean War. It was activated flying the Chase YC-122 Avitruc, then the Fairchild C-123 Provider as the United States Air Force's first assault airlift group. It deployed to Europe, but was inactivated in 1957 and its components transferred to another unit. It was activated as a maintenance wing in 2005.
History
World War II
A B-25 at Issaqueena Bombing Range near Columbia SC in 1942[note 2]
The wing was first activated in the early expansion of the Army Air Forces during World War II as the 309th Bombardment Group at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona.[2] Its initial components were the 376th,[3]377th,[4] and 378th Bombardment Squadrons,[5] and the 37th Reconnaissance Squadron.[6] The group was an Operational Training Unit (OTU), which trained bombardment groups until January 1943.[7] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups."[8] It then became a Replacement Training Unit and trained replacement aircrews, using North American B-25 Mitchell aircraft in both training programs.[2] In addition, the group operated specialist training schools, with as many as eight in operation at once.[7] However, the AAF found that standard military units based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving to be less well adapted to performing the mission, so a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[9] As a result, the group was disbanded in 1944 and replaced by the 329th Army Air Force Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Medium, Bombardment), which absorbed the mission, material, and personnel of the group.[10] The group's four squadrons became Sections A through D of the Base Unit.
Reserve airlift operations
The May 1949 Air Force Reserve program called for a new type of unit, the Corollary unit, which was a reserve unit integrated with an active duty unit. The plan called for corollary units at 107 locations. It was viewed as the best method to train reservists by mixing them with an existing regular unit to perform duties alongside the regular unit.[11] As part of this program, the group was reconstituted and redesignated as the 309th Troop Carrier Group at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee. The 309th used the aircraft of the active duty 314th Troop Carrier Wing, to which it was attached for training.[1] The group was transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1950, after which it apparently ceased flying operations.[1] All reserve combat and corollary units were mobilized for the Korean War.[12] As a result, the 309th was inactivated in February 1951[1] and its personnel were used to man other units.
Assault airlift operations
The unit was reactivated at Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma in July 1955. It replaced the 16th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was flying the Air Force's fleet of Chase YC-122 Avitrucs.[13] The group became the first fixed wing assault airlift group in the Air Force and was the first to fly the Fairchild C-123B Provider.[14] The 309th trained to airlift troops, equipment, and supplies for assault landings.[2] After training with the 463d Troop Carrier Wing, the group deployed to Dreux-Louvilliers Air Base, France, ferrying its Providers over the north Atlantic. Although assigned to the 60th Troop Carrier Wing shortly after its arrival in France, the group was operationally controlled by the 322d Air Division. The group frequently supported airlift and fighter unit exercises involving deployments to dispersed operating bases, providing quicker and more secure transport than the road transport that had been used for these exercises prior to its arrival in Europe. However, the dispersed operating base concept proved oo costly, and other airlift requirements in Europe could be met by Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar units, so United States Air Forces Europe began to question the need for the C-123 in Europe.[15] In November 1956, the group headquarters became non-operational and on 12 March 1957, it was inactivated and its squadrons transferred to the 60th Troop Carrier Wing.[1][16]
Maintenance wing
F-16 Fighting Falcon restoration by the 309th AMARG
37th Reconnaissance Squadron (later 426th Bombardment Squadron): 15 March 1942 – 1 May 1944
376th Bombardment Squadron (later 376th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 – 1 May 1944; 26 June 1949 – 20 February 1951; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957
377th Bombardment Squadron (later 377th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 – 1 May 1944; 26 June 1949 – 28 January 1950; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957
378th Bombardment Squadron (later 378th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 – 1 May 1944; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957
^Aircraft is Fairchild C-123B-2-FA Provider serial 54-555
^Unit not identified, but possibly from the 309th. A number of B-25 groups were formed at Columbia, but the 309th was the only one that remained on the base for more than a few months.
Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). "Introduction". The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. xxxvi. LCCN48-3657.
Goss, William A (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN48003657. OCLC704158.
United States
United States Air Force
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