403rd Wing

403d Wing
403d Wing emblem
Active	27 June 1949 - present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Airlift & Weather Reconnaissance
Part of	Air Force Reserve Command 22nd Air Force
Garrison/HQ	Keesler Air Force Base
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1942-1945) Korean Service (1952-1953)
Decorations	DUC AFOUA PPUC ROK PUC RVGC w/ Palm
Commanders
Current commander	James J. Muscatell, Jr.

403d Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command. It is located at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, and employs a military manning authorization of more than 1,400 reservists, including some 250 full-time air reserve technicians.

403d Wing performs dual missions: tactical airlift support during peace- and war-time contingencies, and aerial weather reconnaissance in support of the Department of Commerce.

Units

• 403d Operations Group

403d Operations Support Flight

53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters"

815th Airlift Squadron "Flying Jennies"

• 403d Maintenance Group

403d Maintenance Squadron

403d Maintenance Operations Flight

403d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron

403d Aeromedical Staging Squadron

• 403d Mission Support Group

403d Mission Support Squadron

403d Civil Engineer Squadron

403d Logistics Readiness Squadron

403d Security Forces Squadron

403d Communications Flight

403d Services Flight

• 41st Aerial Port Squadron
• 96th Aerial Port Squadron (Little Rock AFB)

History

403d Wing's history dates to World War II, when it was activated as a troop carrier group. The wing was inactivated after the war and reactivated in the Air Force Reserve in 1949. The unit has been called to active duty twice: in support of the war effort in Korea and in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Its most memorable accomplishments, however, have been while flying reserve-status humanitarian airlift missions such as those flown during Operation Provide Relief, rescue missions supporting the space shuttle program, providing airlift support to U.S. Southern Command and U.S. embassies within Central and South America, and participating in real-world war contingencies such as Operations Just Cause, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Provide Promise, Provide Comfort, Uphold Democracy, and Provide Relief.

Lineage

• Established as 403 Troop Carrier Wing, Medium on 10 May 1949

Activated in the Reserve on 27 Jun 1949

Ordered to active duty on 1 Apr 1951

Inactivated on 1 Jan 1953

• Activated in the Reserve on 1 Jan 1953

Ordered to active duty on 28 Oct 1962

Relieved from active duty on 28 Nov 1962

Re-designated: 403 Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 Jul 1967

Re-designated: 403 Composite Wing on 31 Dec 1969

Re-designated: 403 Tactical Airlift Wing on 29 Jul 1971

Re-designated: 403 Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing on 15 Mar 1976

Re-designated: 403 Rescue and Weather Reconnaissance Wing on 1 Jan 1977

Re-designated: 403 Tactical Airlift Wing on 31 Dec 1987

Re-designated: 403 Airlift Wing on 1 Feb 1992

Re-designated: 403 Wing on 1 Jul 1994.

Assignments

• Fourth Air Force (1949–1951)
• Tactical Air Command (1951)
• Eighteenth Air Force (1951–1953)
  • Attached: 315th Air Division (14 April 1952-1 January 1953)
• Fourth Air Force (1953–1957)
• Tenth Air Force (1957–1960)
• Fifth Air Force Reserve Region (1960–1969)
• Central Air Force Reserve Region (1969–1971)

• Eastern Air Force Reserve Region (1971–1976)
• Western Air Force Reserve Region (1976)
• Fourth Air Force (1976–1992)
• Fourteenth Air Force (1992–1993)
• Twenty-Second Air Force (1993–1994)
• Tenth Air Force (1994–1997)
• Twenty-Second Air Force (1997–present)

Stations

• Bowman Field, Kentucky, 12 December 1942
• Alliance AAF, Nebraska, 18 December 1942
• Pope Field, North Carolina, 3 May 1943
• Baer Field, Indiana, 20 June-c. 15 July 1943
• Luganville Airfield, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 15 September 1943
• Momote Airfield, Los Negros Island, Admiralty Islands, 30 August 1944
• Mokmer Airfield, Biak, Netherlands East Indies, 4 October 1944
• Nielson Field, Luzon, Philippines, 25 June 1945
• Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, January 1946
• Manila, Philippines, c. June-15 October 1946
• Portland Army Air Base, Oregon, 27 June 1949-29 March 1952
• Ashiya AB, Japan, 14 April 1952-1 January 1953
• Portland International Airport, Washington, 1 January 1953
• Selfridge AFB (later, AGB), Michigan, 16 November 1957
• Keesler AFB, Mississippi, 1 November 1983–present

Aircraft

• T-7 Navigator (1949–1951)
• T-11 Kansan (1949–1951)
• C/TC-46 Commando (1949–1952, 1953–1957)
• C/VC-47 Skytrain (1952, 1957 - Unknown)
• C-54 Skymaster (1952)
• C-119 Flying Boxcar (1952, 1957–1969, 1970)
• U-3 Blue Canoe (1969, 1970–1971)
• O-2 Skymaster (1970–1971)
• A-37 Dragonfly (1970–1971)
• C-130 Hercules (1971–1976, 1977, 1987)

• HH-1 Huey (1976–1987)
• HH-3 Jolly Green Giant (1976–1987)
• CH-3 Jolly Green Giant (1976–1977)
• UH-1 Iroquois (1979–1987)
• HC-130 Hercules (1976–1987)
• C-130E Hercules (1983–1998)
• C-130J Super Hercules (1998 – present)
• WC-130A/B/E/H Hercules, (1965–2005)
• WC-130J Super Hercules, (1998–present)

See also

• Thirteenth Air Force
• United States Air Force In South Korea

References

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

• Fletcher, Harry R., Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1989. ISBN 0-16-002261-4.
• Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1961 (republished 1983). ISBN 0-912799-02-1.
• Mueller, Robert. Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1989. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories, 1947-1977. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1984. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• Rogers, Brian, United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Midland Publications, 2006. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
• Uncredited. Two Years Pacific Sandman, 403d Troop Carrier Group. Public Relations Staff, 1945.

External links

• Official website
• Official fact sheet