512th Airlift Wing

The 512th Airlift Wing, an associate Air Force Reserve Command unit is located at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The wing helps maintain, repair and fly the same aircraft as its active duty counterparts. Members of the 512th work side by side with members of the 436th Airlift Wing in fulfilling the mission, maintaining and flying the Lockheed C 5M Galaxy and Boeing C 17 Globemaster III working together to form the "Dover Team". As one of only two reserve associate units flying the Galaxy, the 512 AW has a unique role in the Air Force. The first C 5 all reserve aircrew flew out of Dover in November 1973.

Recruit, train, equip and retain a qualified force to augment major commands with people and units to support strategic aircraft during peace and war.

The wing was first organized at Reading Municipal Airport on 2 September 1949 as the 512th Troop Carrier Wing, when it absorbed the personnel and equipment of the 319th Bombardment Wing, which was inactivated. A few months later, in April 1950, reserve operations at Reading ended when the wing transferred to New Castle County Airport, Delaware. In March of the following year the wing, along with all reserve combat units, was mobilized for the first time for the Korean War. Its personnel were assigned to other units as fillers, as were its aircraft, and the wing was inactivated two weeks later. 512th aircrews flew Curtiss C 46 Commandos throughout the periods of reserve and active status. In the summer of 1956, the wing participated in Operation Sixteen Ton during its two weeks of active duty training. Sixteen Ton was performed entirely by reserve troop carrier units and moved United States Coast Guard equipment From Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station to Isla Grande Airport in Puerto Rico and San Salvador in the Bahamas. After the success of this operation, the squadron/group/wing began to use inactive duty training periods for Operation Swift Lift, transporting high priority cargo for the air force and Operation Ready Swap, transporting aircraft engines, between Air Materiel Command's depots. Cuts in the budget in 1957 led to a reduction in the number of reserve squadrons from 55 to 45. In November, the wing's 328th Troop Carrier Squadron moved on paper to Paine Air Force Base, Washington, where it assumed the facilities that the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron had vacated there. The 328th Squadron's stay on the West Coast was brief, for it replaced the 64th Troop Carrier Squadron at Niagara Falls Municipal Airport the following March. The moves of the 328th Squadron were not only due to budget cuts, they were part of a reserve program called the Detached Squadron Concept. The Air Force believed that the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning. In time, the detached squadron program proved successful in attracting additional participants

Also in 1957, the wing converted to Fairchild C 119 Flying Boxcars. After that transition, the wing transferred to Willow Grove Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania in July 1958. In April 1959, the 512th Troop Carrier Group inactivated as the wing reorganized under the Dual Deputy system, and the wing's three troop carrier squadrons were reassigned directly to the wing.

Although the dispersal of flying units 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, Continental Air Command 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, which included the 512th Wing, occurred for the Cuban Missile Crisis, with the units being released on 22 November 1962. The formation of troop carrier groups was delayed until February 1963 for wings that had been mobilized. 912th and 913th Troop Carrier Groups at Willow Grove and the 914th Troop Carrier Group at Niagara Falls were assigned to the wing on 11 February. On 26 April 2015, the wing and its associated 436th Airlift Wing dispatched the first USAF aircraft, a C 17, carrying cargo and personnel for humanitarian aid following the earthquake in Nepal. The plane carried a United States Agency for International Development Disaster Assistance Response Team, the Fairfax County, Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Team and 45 tons of cargo.