97-е авиационное крыло мобильности: обучение и боевая готовность ВВС США

Unit of the US Air Force, Air Education and Training Command

The 97th Air Mobility Wing (97 AMW) is a United States Air Force (USAF) unit assigned to Nineteenth Air Force of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The wing is also the host unit at Altus. It plans and executes McDonnell Douglas C 17 Globemaster III, Boeing KC 46, and Boeing KC 135 Stratotanker pilot and aircrew training, providing formal school initial and advanced specialty training programs for up to 3,000 students annually. The training is done in a three phase approach: Academic Phase, Simulator Phase, and Flying Phase. The 97th Air Mobility Wing is commanded by Colonel Blaine L. Baker Its Vice Commander is Colonel Patrick L. Brady Lee Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Randy L. Kay II The wing's operational mission is, in conjunction with its training mission, to have its instructor force maintain operational currency so that they, as highly qualified combat ready aircrew members, can deploy to augment worldwide contingencies. The 97th maintains approximately 500 mobility personnel ready to deploy all over the world in a moment's notice in support of national interests.

Established as 97 Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, on 11 Sep 1947. Organized on 1 December 1947 at Mile 26 Field (later named Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska). The new wing reported to Fifteenth Air Force, Strategic Air Command (SAC), although the Yukon Sector of the Alaskan Air Command controlled its operations. The 97th was organized in 1947 during the test of the Wing Base Organization, composed of the 97th Bombardment Group and support elements transferred from the 519th Air Service Group. The bomb wing conducted training missions and participated in various SAC exercises and deployments with the Stratojet and aerial refueling until December 1958 when SAC rendered it inoperable. Some of the 97th's crews went to other B 47 units, while others began training for duty in the Air Force's latest bomber, the Boeing B 52 Stratofortress.

The 97th Bombardment Wing moved to Blytheville Air Force Base, (later named Eaker Air Force Base), in northeast Arkansas, after SAC reassigned the wing to the 4th Air Division on 1 July 1959. Later that year SAC redesignated it the 97th Bombardment Wing, Heavy; its new mission was "to provide command and staff supervision over assigned combat tactical units that execute bombardment missions designed to destroy enemy forces and facilities." The wing's first B 52G, City of Blytheville, Arkansas, arrived in January 1960. That summer, SAC declared the 97th combat ready and slightly changed the scope of the mission statement. Now operational, the 97th "was to conduct strategic bombardment operations on a global scale, either independently or in cooperation with land and sea forces." The wing's bomber crews, who were assigned to the 340th Bomb Squadron, would fly their share of Operation Chrome Dome missions, which kept a number of SAC's B 52s on airborne alert. In the early 1960s the 97th received missiles that would improve its B 52's survivability during penetration into enemy territory. On 27 September 1960 the 97th deployed its first GAM 77/AGM 28 Hound Dog, capable of delivering a nuclear warhead from its launch point, to defeat heavy air defenses. Four months later, on 31 January 1961, the GAM 77/ADM 20 Quail entered the 97th's arsenal. The Quail was a decoy that could generate radar and heat signatures resembling those of a B 52, thereby saturating the enemy's defenses. The aerial refueling capability of the KC 135 Stratotankers extended the range of the wing's B 52s. On 12 January 1962, the 97th received its first KC 135, christened the Arkansas Traveler before its first mission three days later. Along with refueling the B 52s on training missions, the tankers participated in an ongoing command wide rotation to bases in Southern Europe to support Operation Chrome Dome bombers.

The political climate grew tense in October 1962 as Cuba began preparing sites for offensive Soviet missiles. On 22 October SAC responded by establishing Defense Condition Three (DEFCON III), and ordered the 97th to place two B 52s on airborne alert. Tension grew and the next day SAC declared DEFCON II, a heightened state of alarm. While at DEFCON II the 97th maintained two B 52s on airborne alert. These, along with bombers from other SAC wings, were ready to strike targets within the Soviet Union. No missions were aborted or canceled during the crisis. The 97th and other units deployed more tankers to Spain to refuel the alert forces. Reconnaissance photographs taken on 1 November 1962 indicated that the Cubans had begun dismantling the sites. The wing returned to DEFCON III on 15 November and subsequently resumed normal activity on 20 November.

The 97th Bomb Wing's involvement in the Vietnam War started slowly, but would demand the wing's undivided attention before ending. Its involvement began on 14 December 1965 when the wing sent one KC 135 to participate in the Young Tiger Task Force, the operation to refuel fighters involved in the war. At first, the wing's B 52s remained at Blytheville AFB while bomber crews went to Guam to fly Operation Arc Light bombing missions. However, by the summer of 1972 all the 97th's bombers were at Guam. From there wing crews flew Operation Linebacker II (sometimes called the "11 Day War" because of its intensity) missions in December 1972. On 18 December 1972 Hanoi's air defenses claimed the lives of nine crew members during this operation, while North Vietnamese ground forces captured another four and held them as prisoners of war. On 15 August 1973, after months of committing most of the wing's people and resources to the war, crew E 21 had the distinction of flying the last mission over a target in Cambodia. This marked the end of the United States' bombing in Southeast Asia. Active for over 60 years, the 97th Bombardment Wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Command's deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing.

The 97th resumed its bomber training and refueling missions after the Vietnam War ended while it continued to participate in contingency operations and assume new roles. Tanker crews and aircraft refueled other Air Force units supporting the rescue of American citizens in Grenada in October and November 1983. In 1984 the wing upgraded its B 52G force to carry the AGM 86 ALCM air launched cruise missile. The wing further expanded its mission in 1987 to include conventional bombing, sea search and surveillance, and aerial mining.

After Iraq's August 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, the 97th began deploying elements to various locations in the United States and overseas to support Operation Desert Shield. In late December, 97th Bombardment Wing B 52 crews practiced high altitude bombing missions at the Nellis Test Range in Nevada, anticipating their role in the inevitable war to come. Once Operation Desert Storm was underway (January 1991) the nature of the wing's involvement changed. At the end of January 1991 six of the wing's bombers and crews assumed ground alert duty at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan, allowing the 379th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Wurtsmith, to participate in Operation Desert Storm. On 1 February 1991 major elements of the 97th deployed to RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, forming the 806th Bombardment Wing (Provisional). The wing conducted more than 60 conventional bombing sorties and many air refueling sorties.

As the Air Force began reorganizing in 1991, it redesignated the wing as the 97th Wing on 1 September to indicate it was composed of both bomber and tanker aircraft, and inactivated it on 1 April 1992 as Eaker Air Force Base closed. On 1 October 1992 the Air Force activated the wing at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and redesignated it the 97th Air Mobility Wing under Air Mobility Command. At the same time the Air Force inactivated the 443d Military Airlift Wing, which had been the host wing at Altus since 5 May 1969. Less than a year later, on 1 July 1993, Air Education and Training Command assumed control of the 97th. The redesignated wing possessed Lockheed C 5 Galaxies, Lockheed C 141 Starlifters, and Boeing KC 135 Stratotankers; it subsequently started to add McDonnell Douglas C 17 Globemaster IIIs in March 1996. The 97th's new mission was: to conduct strategic airlift, aerial delivery, aerial refueling training schools, conduct training for AMC aircrews, provide strategic aircraft support for Joint Chiefs of Staff Single Integrated Operational Plan and conventional contingencies, provide aerial port of embarkation for US Army, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and accomplish other tasks when assigned by higher authority. The 97th Air Mobility Wing no longer possesses the C 5 Galaxy aircraft which were transferred in 2007 when the Air Force Reserve Command's 433d Airlift Wing at Lackland AFB/Kelly Field Annex assumed responsibility for all C 5 Formal Unit Training for the Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. The last C 5 Galaxy (tail number 0462) "flyaway" from Altus AFB took place on 20 July 2007, when this aircraft was transferred to the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard at Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base in Martinsburg, West Virginia. On 23 April 2014, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced Altus Air Force Base as the preferred training unit for the Boeing KC 46 Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft. The 97th Air Mobility Wing took delivery of their first KC 46 on 3 February 2019.