Misplaced Pages

458th Airlift Squadron
Gates Learjet C-21A as flown by the squadron
Active	1942–1945; 1952; 1966–1972; 1975–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Airlift
Part of	Air Mobility Command
Garrison/HQ	Scott Air Force Base
Engagements	Pacific Ocean Theater Vietnam War
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Insignia
458th Airlift Squadron emblem
458 Tactical Airlift Squadron emblem
458th Bombardment Squadron

The 458th Airlift Squadron is part of the 375th Airlift Wing at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It operates C-21 aircraft, providing executive airlift and aeromedical evacuation. It has performed its current mission since activating in 1975 as the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron. The 1401st Squadron was consolidated with the 458th in 1991.

The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 458th Bombardment Squadron. It was a replacement training unit for heavy bomber crews until being inactivated in the spring of 1944 when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States. It was reactivated the same day as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. The unit deployed to the Pacific Ocean Theater in early 1945 and participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan until V-J Day, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. The squadron returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated.

The squadron was redesignated the 458th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated in the reserve in 1952, but was quickly inactivated as reserve units that had been mobilized for the Korean War were released from active duty. As the Air Force assumed the light airlift mission from the Army, the squadron was again activated on New Year's Day 1967. It served in combat in Vietnam until March 1972, earning an additional Presidential Unit Citation and three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with Combat "V" Device before inactivating in theater.

Mission

The squadron's mission is to provide air mobility operations through its fleet of 14 C-21 Learjet operational support aircraft. It delivers rapid, responsive and safe airlift, including aeromedical evacuation in increasingly congested airspace. It also acts as the Formal Training Unit for the C-21.

History

World War II

Bombardment training unit

The squadron was first activated at Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah on 6 July 1942 as one of the original four squadrons of the 330th Bombardment Group. Although equipped early on with some Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, it became a Consolidated B-24 Liberator Operational Training Unit (OTU), moving to Biggs Field, Texas by early September. The OTU program was patterned after the unit training system of the Royal Air Force and involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups" It then assumed responsibility for their training and oversaw their expansion with graduates of Army Air Forces Training Command schools to become effective combat units. Phase I training concentrated on individual training in crewmember specialties. Phase II training emphasized the coordination for the crew to act as a team. The final phase concentrated on operation as a unit.

By early 1944 most units had been activated and almost three quarters of them had deployed overseas. With the exception of special programs, like forming Boeing B-29 Superfortress units, training “fillers” for existing units became more important than unit training. The squadron then became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). RTUs were also oversized unit, but their mission was to train individual pilots or aircrews.

However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 458th, whose manning was based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving not well adapted to the training mission, even more so to the replacement mission. Accordingly, the Army Air Forces adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. As a result, the 330th Bombardment Group and its components, including the 458th, along with all supporting units at Biggs were inactivated or disbanded on 1 April 1944 and replaced by the 235th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Bombardment, Very Heavy).

B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan

The squadron was activated the same day at Walker Army Air Field, Kansas as a Boeing B-29 unit. While waiting for new B-29s to come off the production line, it again flew B-17 Flying Fortresses for a short time. It trained at Walker and at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas until January 1945, when it deployed to the Pacific.

The squadron arrived at its combat station, North Field, Guam in the Mariana Islands in early February 1945. Because the results of high altitude B-29 raids on Japan were disappointing. XXI Bomber Command switched to low altitude night area attacks with incendiaries beginning in March 1945. It flew its first combat mission, an attack on the Hodogaya chemical plant in Koriyama, Japan on 12 April 1945.

During April and May 1945, the squadron was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japan to support Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa. It struck air bases from which kamikaze attacks were being launched. Many of these bases were located on Kyushu, only 300 miles from Okinawa. The attacks directly impacted kamikaze launches, but also forced the Japanese military to retain fighter aircraft to defend the Japanese Special Attack Units that otherwise might have been used to challenge air superiority over Okinawa.

The squadron resumed attacking urban industrial areas until the end of the war in August 1945. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for incendiary raids on the industrial sections of Tokushima and Gifu and a strike against the hydroelectrical power center at Kofu in July 1945. It received a second DUC for a mission attacking the Nakajima aircraft engine plant at Musashino near Tokyo in August.

Following V-J Day the squadron dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war and participated in several show of force missions over Japan. It departed the theater in November and was inactivated at Camp Anza, the Port of Embarkation in December 1945.

Air Force reserve

The reserve mobilization for the Korean War had left the reserve without aircraft. In September 1951, Continental Air Command (ConAC) formed the 917th Reserve Training Wing to train reservists at Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Pennsylvania. Anticipating the return of mission aircraft to reserve units, ConAC replaced the 917th Wing with the 330th Troop Carrier Wing on 14 June 1952. The squadron was redesignated the 458th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated the same day. It is not clear whether the squadron possessed its own aircraft or flew the Curtiss C-46 Commandos of the 2253rd Air Force Reserve Training Center, which was responsible for its training. However, this activation was short lived, as the 330th was replaced by the 375th Troop Carrier Wing, which was released from active duty on 14 July 1952, and which had been mobilized at Greater Pittsburgh in 1951. The 458th was inactivated and transferred its personnel to the 56th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.

Vietnam War

In August 1966, the Air Force and the Army began implementing Project Red Leaf, which would transfer responsibility for the de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou from the Army to the Air Force following the Johnson-McConnell agreement of 1966. AAt Dong Ba Thin Airfield, South Vietnam, Air Force personnel began being assigned to the 135th Aviation Company. The Department of Defense had ordered that the 483d Tactical Airlift Wing's new squadrons be located on Air Force installations, not on Army posts, and the cadre of the wing at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base began planning to move squadron level operations from the small Army camps they were operating from to permanent sites when the Air Force units were activated. In December, the company began moving to Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, and on 1 January 1967, the 458th Squadron was organized and took over Caribou operations from the 135th Company.

The squadron provided intratheater airlift to support United States military civic actions, combat support and civic assistance throughout the Republic of Vietnam. This included airland and airdrop assault missions. It also maintained a detachment at Nha Trang Air Base. In the summer of 1967, the 458th and its sister Caribou squadron at Cam Ranh Bay, the 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron took over Caribou operations at Pleiku Air Base, formerly operated by the 459th Tactical Airlift Squadron. However, a Viet Cong mortar attack on Can Tho Airfield on 21 December 1967 that damaged two C-7s, forced a reevaluation of dispersal arrangements and Caribous were withdrawn from Nha Trang.

Most missions by the Caribou were airlift flights, with fewer than 2% being airdrops. The squadron experienced an exception to this during the attempt by the North Vietnamese Army to overrun Duc Lap Camp, near the Cambodian border. The camp was manned by half strength Civilian Irregular Defense Group companies, assisted by American special forces. Duc Lap's landing strip was outside its defensive perimeter, and once Communist forces had surrounded the camp and occupied parts of it, airlanding resupplies was out of the question. Airdrops were particularly difficult, as only about 75 square yards remained in friendly force possession. The squadron's pilots approached the camp from random directions, flying at treetop level using strong evasive action due to heavy enemy fire, popping up and leveling off at the minimum altitude for parachutes to open only seconds before the drop was made. Squadron efforts included what is believed to have been the first operational night airdrop by a Caribou, flown by Major George Finck, which encountered heavy fire approaching a drop zone marked only by flares. Major Finck was awarded the Air Force Cross for this mission. Major Hunter Hackney also received an Air Force Cross for missions flown on 25 August. On that afternoon, he flew an air drop mission on which he received "hundreds" of hits by enemy antiaircraft fire. Despite his plane being rendered unflyable, he flew another sortie with a different plane, incurring yet more battle sameagem, but completing the mission. Between 24 and 26 August, C-7s delivered 26 tons of supplies to the besieged camp. After the 26th, reinforcements expanded the area under friendly control and the brunt of further supply was borne by Army Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopters. For his heroism in making airdrops, Major Hunter Hackney was awarded the Air Force Cross.

In April 1970, the squadron helped break the siege of Dak Seang Special Forces Camp. North Vietnamese forces had surrounded the camp, and learning from the success of air resupply during their 1969 attack on the Ben Het Camp, also established anti-aircraft artillery positions along likely air resupply corridors. On the first day of the siege, two C-7s were diverted from their scheduled missions and staged out of Pleiku to make the first airdrops to the camp. Resupply of the camp was so urgent that all drop-qualified crews of the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing were ordered to Pleiku to support the operation and eleven sorties were flown that day with cover from Douglas A-1 Skyraiders. Crews approached the camp from the north or south to use terrain to mask their approaches from enemy flak. Loss of the third Caribou in five days, including one from the 458th, prompted a move to resupply the camp with night drops, with cover and illumination provided by Fairchild AC-119 Stinger gunships. All 483rd Wing squadrons participated in the operation. It earned a second Presidential Unit Citation for this action, evacuation of over 2000 refugees from Cambodia, and transportation of the Presidential Southeast Asia Investigation Team to various remote locations in South Vietnam. The squadron flew its last combat mission the day it was inactivated.

The squadron transferred most of its equipment to the Republic of Viet Nam Air Force and was inactivated in March 1972 as Cam Ranh Bay prepared for closure with the withdrawal of the United States military from Viet Nam.

Administrative airlift

The second predecessor of the squadron was activated at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois on 1 April 1975 as the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron and assigned to the 89th Military Airlift Wing. The 1401st was one of the squadrons formed when the Air Force decided to consolidate its administrative airlift fleet under Military Airlift Command. The Air Force also decided the administrative airlift fleet would become all jet, using North American T-39 Sabreliners, although the 458th also flew turboprop powered Beechcraft C-12 Hurons. In 1978, the squadron transferred to the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing, and until 1990 also flew aeromedical evacuation missions. In 1984, it converted from the Sabreliner to the Learjet C-21. From August 1990 to May 1991, it conducted airlift in Southwest Asia. In December 1991, the two squadrons were consolidated as the 458th Airlift Squadron.

From 1997 until 2005, the squadron was assigned airlift flights at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; and Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. These flights had been formed in 1993, or replaced flights formed in 1993, when the Air Force decentralized administrative airlift, but were assigned to the squadron when control of administrative airlift was returned to Air Mobility Command.

In 2011, the squadron assumed responsibility for training C-21 pilots and instructors for the Air Force. This mission had been performed at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi since 1990.

Lineage

458th Airlift Squadron

• Constituted as the 458th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 July 1942

Activated on 6 July 1942

Inactivated on 1 April 1944

• Redesignated 458th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy and activated on 1 April 1944

Inactivated on 27 December 1945

• Redesignated 458th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 26 May 1952

Activated in the reserve on 14 June 1952

Inactivated on 14 July 1952

• Redesignated 458th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated on 12 October 1966 (not organized)

Organized on 1 January 1967

Redesignated 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 August 1967

Inactivated on 1 March 1972

• Consolidated with the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron as the 458th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991

1401st Military Airlift Squadron

• Designated as the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron and activated on 1 April 1975.
• Consolidated with the 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron as the 458th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991

Assignments

• 330th Bombardment Group, 6 July 1952 – 1 April 1944
• 330th Bombardment Group, 1 April 1944 – 27 December 1945
• 330th Troop Carrier Group, 14 June–14 July 1952
• Pacific Air Forces, 12 October 1966 (not organized)
• 483d Troop Carrier Wing (later 483d Tactical Airlift Wing), 1 January 1967 – 1 March 1972
• 89th Military Airlift Wing (later 89th Military Airlift Group), 1 April 1975
• 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing (later 375th Military Airlift Wing), 15 March 1978
• 375th Operations Group, 1 December 1991 – present

Components

• 84th Airlift Flight, 1 April 1997 – 15 June 2005 (Peterson Air Force Base)
• 311th Airlift Flight, 1 April 1997 – 15 June 2005 (Offutt Air Force Base)
• 332d Airlift Flight, 1 April 1997 – 15 September 2004 (Randolph Air Force Base)

Stations

Aircraft

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1942, 1944)
• Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1942–1944)
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress (1944–1945)
• de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou (1967–1972)
• North American T-39 Sabreliner (1975–1984)
• Beechcraft C-12 Huron (1976–1977, 1984 – unknown)
• Learjet C-21 (1984 – present)

Awards and campaigns

Award streamer	Award	Dates	Notes
	Distinguished Unit Citation	3–9 July 1945	Japan, 458th Bombardment Squadron
	Distinguished Unit Citation	8 August 1945	Tokyo, 458th Bombardment Squadron
	Presidential Unit Citation	21 January – 12 May 1968	Southeast Asia, 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Presidential Unit Citation	1 April – 30 June 1970	Southeast Asia, 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	1 January – 30 April 1967	458th Troop Carrier Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	1 May 1967 – 30 April 1968	458th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron)
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device	1 July 1970 – 31 December 1971	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 July – 31 December 1975	1401st Military Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 January 1976 – 31 January 1977	1401st Military Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 July 1981 – 30 une 1983	1401st Military Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 July 1986 – 31 July 1988	1401st Military Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 June 1994 – 30 June 1996	458th Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 June 1998 – 31 May 2000	458th Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 June 2003 – 31 May 2005	458th Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 June 2006 – 31 May 2008	458th Airlift Squadron
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	1 Oct 2019 – 31 August 2021	458th Airlift Squadron
	Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm	1 January 1967 – 30 April 1972	458th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron)

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
	American Theater without inscription	6 July 1942–1 April 1944, 1 April 1944–7 January 1945	458th Bombardment Squadron
	Air Offensive, Japan	18 February 1945–2 September 1945	458th Bombardment Squadron
	Western Pacific	17 April 1945–2 September 1945	458th Bombardment Squadron
	Vietnam Air Offensive	1 January 1966–8 March 1967	458th Troop Carrier Squadron
	Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase II	9 March 1967–31 March 1968	458th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron)
	Vietnam Air/Ground 1968	22 January 1968–7 July 1968	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase III	1 April 1968–31 October 1968	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase IV	1 November 1968–22 February 1969	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Tet 1969/Counteroffensive	23 February 1969–8 June 1969	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969	9 June 1969–31 October 1969	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970	3 November 1969–30 April 1970	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Sanctuary Counteroffensive	1 May 1970–30 June 1970	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Southwest Monsoon	1 July 1970–30 November 1970	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Commando Hunt V	1 December 1970–14 May 1971	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Commando Hunt VI	15 May 1971–31 July 1971	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron
	Commando Hunt VII	1 November 1971–29 March 1972	458th Tactical Airlift Squadron

See also

• List of United States Air Force airlift squadrons
• List of B-29 Superfortress operators
• B-24 Liberator units of the United States Army Air Forces

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

1. Approved 18 May 1983. Description: "On a Blue disc edged with a narrow Yellow border, in chief a sword palewise with the point up White detailed Blue and issuing from the edges of the sword eight Yellow rays rising from the base a red trapezoid terminating below the silhouette of a white aircraft bendwise all between four White five-pointed stars two each in pale at dexter and sinister"
2. Approved 27 March 1968.
3. Approved 27 June 1945. Description: "Over and through a light blue disc, a gray fortress in a large white cloud formation, having three, jagged, yellow lightning flashes striking toward base, over the top segment of an ultramarine blue globe, marked with white lines of longitude and latitude"
4. Aircraft is Ford Motors built Consolidated B-24H-10-FO Liberator, serial 42-52161. It later deployed to Europe and was shot down on 22 February 1944. Missing Aircrew Report 2832.
5. Aircraft is Boeing B-29-75-BW Superfortress, serial 44-70016, Sentimental Journey, Quaker City. After the war this aircraft served as a TB-29 radar evaluation plane, Dopey. Transferred to storage in June 1959, this plane is now on display at the Pima Air Museum on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Baugher, Joe (9 October 2023). "1944 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
6. 75% of Twentieth Air Force's missions in April and May 1945 were flown to support Operation Iceberg. Cate & Olson p. 631.
7. Per AFHRA Factsheet. The AF Personnel Center lists two awards of the Gallantry Cross.

Citations

1. ^ No byline (8 April 2008). "Factsheet 458 Airlift Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
2. "458th Airlift Squadron" (PDF). USAFunithistory.com. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
3. Endicott, p. 821
4. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 564
5. Garcia, SRA Daniel (31 January 2019). "C-21 community celebrates 'Year of the Lear' with consolidation, avionics upgrades". 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
6. No byline (25 February 2019). "Scott trains C-21 pilots". AF Energy, Installations and Environment. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
7. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 210-11
8. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 563-67
9. ^ Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
10. Goss, p. 74
11. Greer, p. 601
12. Greer.p. 606
13. Goss, pp. 74-75
14. Goss, p. 75
15. See No byline (1 September 1944). "Abstract, Vol. 1 History 235 AAF Base Unit". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
16. Cate & Olson, pp. 612-614
17. Cate & Olson pp. 641
18. Cantwell, p. 139
19. ^ Ravenstein, p. 178
20. Ravenstein, p. 199
21. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 227-28
22. Bowers, pp. 353-355
23. ^ "458th Tactical Airlift Squadron". C-7A Caribou Association. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
24. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 268-70
25. ^ Bowers, p. 364
26. Bowers, p. 376
27. Bowers, pp. 374, 377
28. Bowers, pp. 373-74
29. Bowers, p. 375
30. No byline. "Abstract, History 483d Tactical Airlift Wing, Apr–Jun 1970". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
31. Bowers, pp. 527-32
32. See Robertson, Patsy (12 April 2014). "Factsheet 535 Airlift Squadron (PACAF)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
33. Manning, et al., p. 202
34. ^ Haulman, Daniel (16 April 2007). "Factsheet 84 Airlift Flight (AFSPC/AMC o/a 16 April 1997)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
35. ^ Bailey, Carl E. (10 December 2007). "Factsheet 311 Airlift Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
36. ^ "332 Airlift Flight" (PDF). USAF Unit History Index. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
37. Clark, Bekah (8 April 2011). "Kingdom Lear". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
38. Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, June 2005, Maxwell AFB, AL
39. Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, September 2004, Maxwell AFB, AL
40. ^ "Air Force Personnel Services: Unit Awards". Air Force Personnel Center. Retrieved 1 August 2024. (search)

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Bowers, Ray L. (1999) . Tactical Airlift (PDF). The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ASIN B00DJU4SGA. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
• Cantwell, Gerald T. (1997). Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946-1994 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBN 0-16049-269-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1953). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. V, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

• Cate, James L.; Olson, James C. (1953). "Strategic Bombardment from Pacific Bases, Chapter 17, Precision Bombardment Campaign". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. V, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

• Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L., eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

• 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 (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Greer, Thomas H. (1955). "Recruitment and Training, Chapter 18 Combat Crew and Unit Training". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

• Endicott, Judy G. (1998). Active Air Force Wings as of 1 October 1995 and USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ASIN B000113MB2. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
• Manning, Thomas A.; Aschcroft, Bruce A.; Emmons, Richard H.; Hussey, Ann K.; Mason, Joseph L. (2005). History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002 (PDF). Randolph AFB, Texas: Office of History and Research, Headquarters, Air Education and Training Command. ASIN B000NYX3PC. ISBN 978-1376984057. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) . Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) . Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

v t e United States Air Force
Leadership	Department of the Air Force Secretary of the Air Force Under Secretary of the Air Force Air Staff Chief of Staff Vice Chief of Staff Director of Staff Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Four-star generals Three-star generals 1940–1959 2000–2009 2010–2019 2020–present House Armed Services Committee House Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Senate Committee on Armed Services Senate Subcommittee on Airland Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Structure	Commands Reserve Air National Guard Field Operating Agencies Installations Direct Reporting Units District of Washington Operational Test and Evaluation Center USAF Academy Major commands ACC AETC AFGSC AFMC AFRC AFSOC AMC PACAF USAFE–AFAFRICA Numbered Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Expeditionary Fifteenth Sixteenth Eighteenth Nineteenth Twentieth Twenty-Second Wings ANG Groups ANG Squadrons ANG Security Forces Civilian auxiliary: Civil Air Patrol
Personnel and training	Personnel Rank officers cadets enlisted Specialty Code Aeronautical ratings Judge Advocate General's Corps RED HORSE Security Forces Medical Service Chief of Chaplains Chief Scientist Training: Air Force Academy Officer Training School Reserve Officer Training Corps Basic Training Airman Leadership School SERE Fitness Assessment
Uniforms and equipment	Awards and decorations Badges Equipment Aircraft Uniforms
History and traditions	History Aeronautical Division / Aviation Section / Division of Military Aeronautics / Army Air Service / Army Air Corps / Army Air Forces "The U.S. Air Force" Air Force Band Airman's Creed Core Values Flag Symbol Memorial National Museum Women Airforce Service Pilots Air Force One / Air Force Two Honor Guard Thunderbirds Service numbers Air & Space Forces Association
Category

v t e Air Mobility Command (AMC)
Numbered Air Forces	Eighteenth (Transportation)
Command Organizations	618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center) USAF Expeditionary Center Special Air Mission
Bases	Andrews Charleston Dover Dyess Fairchild Hickam Little Rock MacDill McChord McConnell McGuire Pope Ramstein Scott Travis
Group	43d Air Mobility Operations 317th Airlift Group
Wings	Air Base 87th 628th Air Mobility 60th 305th 375th Air Refueling (Tanker) 6th 22d 92d Airlift 19th 62d 89th 436th 437th Air Mobility Operations 515th 521st Contingency Response 621st

v t e Military Airlift Command (MAC)
Air Forces	Twenty-First Twenty-Second Twenty-Third
Air Divisions Named Units	2d 76th 322d 834th Air Weather Service Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service Special Air Mission Air Photographic Service Aeromedical Transport
Wings	MAW 60th 62d 63d 436th 437th 438th 443d TAW 314th 316th 317th 433d 463d
Bases	Altus AFB Andrews AFB Charleston AFB Dover AFB Dyess AFB Hurlburt Field Kelly AFB Langley AFB Little Rock AFB McChord AFB McGuire AFB Norton AFB Pope AFB Scott AFB Sewart AFB Travis AFB
Aircraft	C-5 Galaxy C-9 Nightingale C-47 Skytrain C-54 Skymaster C-119 Flying Boxcar C-121 Constellation C-130 Hercules C-133 Cargomaster C-135 Stratolifter C-141 Starlifter VC-25

v t e Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)
Air Forces	Fifth Seventh (Air Forces Korea) Eleventh Thirteenth Expeditionary
Bases	Andersen Eielson Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (Elmendorf Air Force Base) Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (Hickam Air Force Base) Kadena Kunsan Misawa Osan Yokota
Wings	3rd 8th Fighter 15th 18th 35th Fighter 36th 51st Fighter 354th Fighter 374th Airlift

United States Air Force In South Vietnam
Air Bases	Bien Hoa Binh Thuy Cam Ranh Da Nang Nha Trang Phù Cát Pleiku Phan Rang Tan Son Nhut Tuy Hoa
Wings	3d TFW 12th TFW 14th ACW/SOW 31st TFW 35th TFW 37th TFW 315th TAW 366th TFW 377th ABW

v t e USAAF Twentieth Air Force in World War II
Airfields	China Hsinching Airfield (A-1) Kwanghan Airfield (A-3) Kuinglai Airfield (A-5) Pengshan Airfield (A-7) India Chakulia Airfield Dudhkundi Airfield Piardoba Airfield Kalaikunda Airfield Ceylon RAF China Bay Marianas Harmon Airfield (Guam) Isely Airfield (Saipan) North Airfield (Guam) North Airfield (Tinian) Northwest Airfield (Guam) West Airfield (Tinian)
Units	Commands VII Fighter XX Bomber XXI Bomber Wings 58th Bombardment 73d Bombardment 313th Bombardment 314th Bombardment 315th Bombardment 301st Fighter Groups Bombardment 6th Bombardment 9th Bombardment 16th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 29th Bombardment 39th Bombardment 40th Bombardment 330th Bombardment 331st Bombardment 444th Bombardment 462d Bombardment 468th Bombardment 497th Bombardment 498th Bombardment 499th Bombardment 500th Bombardment 501st Bombardment 502d Bombardment 504th Bombardment 505th Bombardment 509th Composite Fighter 15th Fighter 21st Fighter 413th Fighter 414th Fighter 506th Fighter 507th Fighter
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

v t e USAAF Second Air Force in World War II
Airfields	Airfields
Units	Commands II Air Support Command II Bomber Command II Fighter Command IV Air Support Command XX Bomber Command XXI Bomber Command XXII Bomber Command Wings 5th Bombardment 15th Bombardment Training 16th Bombardment Operational Training 17th Bombardment Training 18th Replacement 21st Bombardment 46th Bombardment Operational Training 58th Bombardment 73rd Bombardment 315th Bombardment 316th Bombardment Groups Bombardment 2nd Bombardment 6th Bombardment 7th Bombardment 9th Bombardment 12th Bombardment 16th Bombardment 17th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 25th Bombardment 29th Bombardment 34th Bombardment 39th Bombardment 40th Bombardment 42nd Bombardment 46th Bombardment 47th Bombardment 48th Bombardment 85th Bombardment 86th Bombardment 86th Bombardment 88th Bombardment 94th Bombardment 95th Bombardment 96th Bombardment 99th Bombardment 100th Bombardment 301st Bombardment 302nd Bombardment 303rd Bombardment 304th Bombardment 305th Bombardment 306th Bombardment 307th Bombardment 308th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 330th Bombardment 331st Bombardment 333rd Bombardment 346th Bombardment 351st Bombardment 376th Bombardment 379th Bombardment 381st Bombardment 382nd Bombardment 383rd Bombardment 384th Bombardment 385th Bombardment 388th Bombardment 390th Bombardment 393rd Bombardment 395th Bombardment 396th Bombardment 398th Bombardment 399th Bombardment 400th Bombardment 401st Bombardment 407th Bombardment 415th Bombardment 418th Bombardment 444th Bombardment 445th Bombardment 446th Bombardment 447th Bombardment 448th Bombardment 449th Bombardment 450th Bombardment 451st Bombardment 452nd Bombardment 453rd Bombardment 454th Bombardment 455th Bombardment 456th Bombardment 457th Bombardment 458th Bombardment 459th Bombardment 460th Bombardment 461st Bombardment 462nd Bombardment 464th Bombardment 467th Bombardment 468th Bombardment 469th Bombardment 470th Bombardment 471st Bombardment 472nd Bombardment 484th Bombardment 485th Bombardment 486th Bombardment 487th Bombardment 488th Bombardment 489th Bombardment 490th Bombardment 491st Bombardment 493rd Bombardment 494th Bombardment 497th Bombardment 498th Bombardment 499th Bombardment 500th Bombardment 501st Bombardment 502nd Bombardment 504th Bombardment 505th Bombardment 509th Composite Fighter 20th Fighter 54th Fighter 84th Fighter 85th Fighter 507th Fighter 508th Fighter Reconnaissance 2nd Reconnaissance 3rd Reconnaissance 4th Reconnaissance 5th Reconnaissance 6th Reconnaissance 7th Reconnaissance 8th Reconnaissance 71st Reconnaissance 77th Reconnaissance Troop Carrier 443nd Troop Carrier
United States Army Air Forces First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth Twentieth

• Military units and formations in Illinois
• Airlift squadrons of the United States Air Force