43rd Airlift Wing

The 43rd Airlift Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit last stationed at Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where it was inactivated in March 2011. The wing performed en route operations support at Pope Field to include mission command & control, aircrew management, aircraft maintenance, aircraft loading, aircraft fueling and supply. Since the wing's inactivation, the 43rd Airlift Group has carried out airlift, maintenance, and base support at Pope Field. The wing provided strategic, en route airlift support and Lockheed C 130 Hercules tactical airlift support to the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps and 82nd Airborne Division. The wing traces its roots back to the 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), which was constituted 20 November 1940, and activated 15 January 1941, at Langley Field, VA. It operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as a Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress, and later a Consolidated B 24 Liberator heavy bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force. The 43rd Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit. Active for over 60 years, the wing was a component wing of Strategic Air Command's deterrent force throughout the Cold War.

On 17 November 1947, the 43rd Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy was organized at Davis Monthan Field, Arizona The 43rd Bombardment Group, flying Boeing B 29 Superfortresses became its operational component. When the wing base organization was made permanent in 1948, the wing was redesignated as the 43rd Bombardment Wing, Medium on 1 August. On 2 March 1949, a wing B 50A, the "Lucky Lady II", commanded by Capt. James Gallagher, completed the first nonstop, around the world flight. The flight departed from and ended at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. Boeing KB 29s of the wing's 43rd Air Refueling Squadron refueled the Lucky Lady II four times on this mission. The mission received both the Mackay Trophy from the National Aeronautical Association and the Vandenberg Trophy from the Air Force Association for this mission. The wing conducted strategic bombardment training from 1946 to 1960, and air refueling from 1949 to 1960, to meet Strategic Air Command's (SAC) global commitments. Replaced the propeller driven B 29s and B 50s with new B 47E Stratojet swept wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds, primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. The 43rd set a new, jet endurance record in 1954 by keeping a B 47 airborne for 47:35 hours. Flew numerous training missions and participated in various SAC exercises and deployments with the Stratojet during the 1950s. In the late 1950s, the B 47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence, and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. The 43rd began reassigning its Stratojets to other wings as replacement aircraft beginning in 1959.

The 43rd Bombardment Wing moved to Carswell Air Force Base without personnel or equipment on 15 April 1960. At Carswell, it was manned and equipped from the 3958th Operational Test and Evaluation Group and the 6592nd Test Squadron of Air Research and Development Command, which were discontinued. The wing immediately began training crews on the Convair B 58 Hustler, the world's first supersonic bomber, and, it began participating in Category III testing (operational testing) of the Hustler in August. The crew on the second flight was awarded the Thompson Trophy. On 29 May 1961, a wing B 58 flew from New York to Paris in 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 45 seconds, establishing a new transatlantic speed record of 1,089.36 mph, earning the crew the MacKay Trophy. On 5 March 1962, a wing B 58 flew from Los Angeles to New York at an average speed of 1,214.65 mph. It flew from Los Angeles to New York and back in 4 hours, 41 minutes, and 15 seconds. This earned the crew another MacKay Trophy and the Bendix Trophy. The 3960th supported SAC Boeing B 47 Stratojet REFLEX deployments to Andersen over the years the wing designation and its mission changed to supporting deployed Boeing B 52 Stratofortress aircraft forming the Andersen Task Force, Provisional. and the 454th Bombardment Wing at Columbus AFB, Mississippi

In 1970, in order to retain the lineage of the 43rd Bomb Wing, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCON 3960th SW and activate a regular AFCON wing which was inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history of the mission at Anderson. On 1 April 1970, the 3960th SW was discontinued and replaced by the 43rd Bomb Wing, which became the 43rd Strategic Wing. In July, it also assumed resources and mission of the Bombardment Wing, Provisional, 4133rd, which had operational control over B 52s striking targets in Southeast Asia. The 43rd employed attached aircraft and aircrews of other SAC units that were deployed from bases in the United States to participate in Operation Arc Light combat missions in Southeast Asia from 1 July to mid August 1970, and again from February 1972 to August 1973. Following the end of combat operations, the 43rd provided routing training and ground alert with B 52 and KC 135 aircraft, the latter provided by other SAC units on loan. During 1975 the wing provided logistical and medical support to thousands of Vietnamese refugees evacuated from their homeland and located temporarily at Guam awaiting resettlement in the United States. The wing trained to remain proficient in long range nuclear bombing and conventional warfare capabilities. Beginning in 1974 it controlled Temporary Duty (TDY) tankers and crews participating in the Pacific (formerly Andersen) Tanker Task Force that supported SAC operations in the western Pacific Ocean. The 60th Bombardment Squadron was the wing's primary flying unit during the 1980s. However in July 1986 the 65th Strategic Squadron was activated to control the Temporary Duty (TDY) air refueling aircraft.

Since 1990 the 43rd has been inactivated, redesignated and activated on several occasions. In 1989 Andersen AFB was transferred from the Strategic Air Command to Pacific Air Forces. The PACAF 633rd Air Base Wing was activated on 1 October 1989, which led to the inactivation of the 43rd Bombardment Wing on 30 September 1990. The wing was redesignated as the 43rd Air Refueling Wing, and activated, on 1 June 1992 at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana where it conducted refueling operations under Air Combat Command (ACC) before being moved to MacDill Air Force Base, Florida when flight operations ended at Malmstrom. At MacDill it was redesignated as a group (43rd Air Refueling Group) and operated until 1 October 1996 when it was inactivated and replaced by the 6th Air Refueling Wing when Air Mobility Command assumed the air refueling mission from ACC. It was brought back into active service in 1997 when the unit was redesignated as the 43rd Airlift Wing on 31 March and activated on 1 April 1997 at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina under Air Mobility Command. Crews and aircraft deployed to Europe and Southwest Asia for expeditionary rotations and contingency operations such as the enforcement of no fly zones over Iraq. It also took part in humanitarian airlift operations and training exercises, often with U. S. Army airborne organizations stationed at nearby Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, elements deployed in support of the Global War on Terror. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission mandated the distribution of the assigned 43rd Airlift Wing C 130s and the 23rd Fighter Group A 10s to meet Air Force requirements at other locations; established a Reserve/Active Duty 16 C 130H organization; established a Medical Squadron; established an Air Force Group to provide mission execution, planning, and management of efficient load out of Fort Bragg assets; and transferred Real Property accountability to the Army at Fort Bragg. The 2005 BRAC Law directed that the mandates be completed no later than 15 September 2011. The 440th Airlift Wing stood up at Pope Air Force Base in June 2007, and the active duty squadrons (the 2nd Airlift Squadron and the 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron) were associated in June 2008. The transfer of the Pope assigned 23rd Fighter Group A 10s was completed in December 2007, and, the 43rd Airlift Wing C 130s was completed in June 2008. The wing was inactivated on 1 March 2011, and, its 43rd Operations Group redesignated as the 43rd Airlift Group.