The Wing was first organized as the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing during the Korean War, as an airlift organization assigned to Far East Air Forces (later Pacific Air Forces) (PACAF) for duty.
History
Korean War
C-119B 49–109 of the wing's 314th Troop Carrier GroupC-130A similar to planes assigned to wing
The wing was equipped with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars and performed troop carrier and air transport operations in the Far East, including landing of troops and cargo in forward areas of the combat zone, air transportation of airborne troops and equipment, and air evacuation of casualties.[1] In June 1953, as the Korean war neared an armistice, all wing C-119s airlifted the entire 187th Regimental Combat Team (Airborne) from Kyushu, Japan to Seoul and Chunch'on, South Korea, to preclude enemy breakthroughs.[2] This was the largest mass movement of personnel in the history of combat cargo to that time.[1] For is actions in the Korean War, the wing received the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.
Between April 1953 and September 1954, the wing aided the French Air Force in Indochina by training aircrews, evacuating wounded, and maintaining aircraft.[1] For these actions, the wing became one of the first units in the Air Force to receive the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. In 1958, the wing began to reequip with Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.[3] Its transition was complete by 1959. It performed theater transport duties and participated in joint exercises with Army units[2] until inactivated in Japan on 23 June 1960. Its squadrons were transferred to the direct control of the 315th Air Division and relocated to Naha Air Base and Tachikawa Air Base, Japan as Ashiya AB closed.[4][5]
Vietnam War
The 483rd Troop Carrier Wing (TCW) was again organized on 1 January 1967 at Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam when the United States Army transferred all its C-7 Caribou aircraft to the Air Force.[1] The 483rd TCW was assigned the mission of providing intra-theater airlift in support of United States military civic actions, combat support and civic assistance throughout the Republic of Vietnam.[6] In addition, the wing was transferred ex-United States Army C-7A Caribou light transports.[1]
The C-7s provided the light load-short haul transport to rough landing strips in South Vietnam. The unique capabilities of the C-7 for short landing and takeoff made Caribou transports vital to the war effort. On many occasions the C-7A's flew emergency airlift missions to airstrips and combat areas that no other aircraft could reach. Most notable were those in support of special forces camps in the Central Highlands.
In June 1968 the wing flew a record 2,420 combat troops in three days between Dak Pek, Ben Het and Đắk Tô. In August 1968 pinpoint night airdrops were accomplished at Duc Lap, Ha Thanh and Tonle Cham Special Forces camps. Ammunition and medical supplies were parachuted into 75-foot-square drop zones while the camps were under attack. In June 1969 during the siege of Ben Het more than 200 tons of ammunition, POL, rations, water and medical supplies were airdropped into a 100 x 200-foot zone with every load on target and 100 per cent recovered.
In March 1969, a provisional group was established at Vung Tau Airfield to exercise command and control over the wing's units located there.[7] As drawdowns from Viet Nam began, the group was discontinued in June 1970.[1]
In March 1970, when the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated, the wing became the host wing at Cam Ranh Air Base. As a corrolary to assuming the support mission for the base, support organizations assigned to the wing carried out a number of civic actions, including construction of housing, providing support for orphanages and educational institutions and improvement of water supply systems.[8]
Again in April 1970, the wing, now designated the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing (TAW) helped break the siege of Dak Seang Special Forces Camp.[8] The wing flew 100 air-drop sorties under heavy hostile fire in ten days delivering some 400,000 pounds of vital supplies. When three C-7s were shot down with the loss of all crewmen between 2 and 6 April,[8] the operation switched to low-level night drops. On 15 May 1970 the 459th Tactical Airlift Squadron (TAS) ceased operations in preparation for inactivation 1 June as part of the U.S. forces drawdown in Vietnam, and on 31 August 1971 its sister unit at Phù Cát Air Base, the 537th TAS, inactivated in place, followed shortly thereafter by the 536th TAS at Vung Tau. During their five years' flying for the 483rd TAW, the C-7A Caribous carried more than 4.7 million passengers, averaging more than one million a year during 1967–1969. At the same time the wing averaged more than 100,000 tons of cargo each year.
On 31 August 1971, three electronic warfare squadrons from the inactivating 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, stationed at various bases in Viet Nam, were assigned to the 483rd TAW. The following day, two special operations squadrons were transferred from the inactivating 14th Special Operations Wing. The electronic warfare squadrons were inactivated or assigned to other wings within six months.
The three remaining C-7 squadrons inactivated in early 1972 (535th TAS on 24 January, 458th on 1 March, and 457th on 30 April). Most of the C-7 Caribous were transferred to the VNAF. No. 35 Squadron RAAF at Vung Tau flew its last mission on 13 February 1972 and departed South Vietnam for RAAF Base Richmond in Australia on 19 February 1972; it was the last RAAF unit to leave following the decision to withdraw.[9] The mixture of reassigned squadrons from other wings were all inactivated or reassigned by the end of May. The 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing was inactivated on 31 May 1972.[1] For its service in Vietnam, the 483rd TAW was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations, three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with combat "V" (Valor) device and three Republic of Viet Nam Gallantry Crosses.
Lineage
483rd Tactical Airlift Wing
Constituted as 483rd Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, on 15 November 1952[1]
535th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 535th Tactical Airlift Squadron): 1 January 1967 – 24 January 1972[22] (C-7A Tail Code: KH; call sign Tong) (detached to Tactical Group, Provisional, 6483rd, 15 March 1969 – 30 June 1970)
Stationed at Vung Tau Airfield 1 January 1967 – 21 June 1970
536th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) Squadron: 1 January 1967 – 15 October 1971[1] (C-7A Tail Code: KL; call sign Iris) (detached to Tactical Group, Provisional, 6483rd, 15 March 1969 – 30 June 1970)
Stationed at Vung Tau Airfield 1 January 1967 – ca 1 July 1970
537th Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) Squadron: 1 January 1967 – 31 August 1971[23](C-7A Tail Code: KN; Soul)
Stationed at Phu Cat Air Base, Viet Nam
Royal Australian Air Force, Transport Flight Vietnam / 35 Squadron (DHC-4 call sign: Wallaby) Jul 1964 – Feb 1972
Stationed at Vung Tau Airfield, Viet Nam
Support Units
6466th USAF Hospital: ca. 1 July 1954 – 25 June 1960[24]
483rd Avionics Maintenance Squadron (later 483rd Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 483rd Field Maintenance Squadron): 8 March 1958 – 25 June 1960, 15 Jul 71 – 30 April 1972[11]
483rd Field Maintenance Squadron (later 483rd Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 483rd Field Maintenance Squadron): 8 March 1958 – 25 June 1960, 1 January 1967 – 13 May 1972[11]
483rd Flight Line Maintenance Squadron: 8 March 1958 – 18 December 1959[24]
483rd Periodic Maintenance Squadron (later 483rd Organizational Maintenance Squadron): 8 March 1958 – 25 June 1960, 10 December 1970 – 30 April 1972[11]
483rd Munitions Maintenance Squadron, 15 July 1971 – 30 April 1972[11]
6483rd Flight Line Maintenance Squadron: 22 August 1957 – 8 March 1958[25]
6483rd Periodic Maintenance Squadron: 22 August 1957 – 8 March 1958
Stations
Ashiya AB, Japan, 1 January 1953 – 25 June 1960.
Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam, 15 October 1966 – 31 May 1972.
Aircraft flown
A-37B, 1971–1972
C-7A, 1967–1972
C-47D, 1953–1959
VC-47D 1970–1971
EC-47N 1971–1972)
EC-47P 1971–1972)
EC-47Q 1971–1972)
C-119A, 1953–1955
C-119B, 1953–1955
C-119G, 1955–1959
C-130A, 1958–1960
UH-1, 1971–1972.
Awards
The temporary bestowal of the honors of the 483rd Bombardment Group entitles the wing to display the two Distinguished Unit Citations earned by the group as appropriate in addition to these awards.
^Robertson, Patsy (16 March 2015). "Factsheet 37 Airlift Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
AFHRA Factsheet, 37th Airlift Squadron] (accessed 27 Oct 2012)
United States
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