The wing was reactivated in April 1953. In 1968, it lost its aircraft and became an associate unit, flying and maintaining aircraft of the regular 438th Military Airlift Wing, and later of the 305th Air Mobility Wing.
At Mitchel, the wing trained under the supervision of the 2233d Air Reserve Training Center until it was mobilized for the Korean War in May 1951. The wing was one of six Curtiss C-46 Commando wings mobilized for Tactical Air Command. These wings formed the basis for the formation of Eighteenth Air Force[3] It served on active duty at Mitchel until inactivated in February 1953.[2]
Troop carrier operations
The wing was again activated in the reserves in April 1953 and, again, trained under the 2233d Center, initially with Commandos but with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars by August 1954. 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 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.[4]
In 1958, the 2233d Center was inactivated and some of its personnel were absorbed by the wing. In place of active duty support[note 1] for reserve units, ConAC adopted the Air Reserve Technician program, in which a cadre of the unit consisted of full-time personnel who were simultaneously civilian employees of the Air Force and also held military rank as members of the reserves.[5] After 1958, the wing increasingly participated in humanitarian and other airlift missions. By the mid-1960s, it was augmenting Military Air Transport Service airlift operations on a regular basis.
Dispersed squadrons
Starting in late 1955, Continental Air Command (ConAC) began to disperse some of its reserve flying squadrons to separate bases in order to improve recruiting and avoid public objection to entire wings of aircraft being stationed near large population centers under what was called the Detached Squadron Concept.[6] The wing's 337th Troop Carrier Squadron was activated at Bradley Field, Connecticut in July 1958 and its 336th Troop Carrier Squadron moved to Stewart Air Force Base, New York in April 1961 as part of this program.
In April 1959, the wing reorganized under the Dual Deputy system. Its 514th Troop Carrier Group was inactivated[citation needed] and the 335th, 336th and 337th Troop Carrier Squadrons were assigned directly to the wing.[1]
Activation of groups under 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, ConAC 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 occurred for the Cuban Missile Crisis. The formation of troop carrier groups was delayed until January for wings that had not been mobilized.[7] The 903d Troop Carrier Group at McGuire, the 904th Troop Carrier Group at Stewart, and the 905th Troop Carrier Group at Bradley were all assigned to the wing on 17 January.[1]
By 1968 regular air force military airlift squadrons were operating the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, while the reserves still flew the obsolete Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. As the Globemaster was retired, Air Force Reserve formed associate units. In this program reserve units flew and maintained aircraft owned by an associated regular unit.[8] In September 1968, the wing gave up its own aircraft and became an associate of the 438th Military Airlift Wing at McGuire.[1]
In Jul 1973, its groups at Dover and Charleston were replaced by new reserve wings, and the 514th Wing absorbed all of the squadrons of what had been its 903d Group at McGuire. Continuing to use C-141 aircraft of the active wing at McGuire Air Force Base (first the 438th and later the 305th Air Mobility Wing), the wing's crews augmented Military Airlift Command units for strategic airlift missions worldwide, including contingency and humanitarian operations and took part in strategic mobility exercises for training.
Operations in which crews participated were Urgent Fury to Grenada in 1983, Operation Just Cause to Panama in 1989, and Operation Restore Hope to Somalia in 1992. In 1993 the wing added aerial refueling to its airlift mission. Since then the wing has been a part of every major conflict including Operations Desert Storm/Shield, Operation Uphold Democracy, Southern Watch, Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Its members deployed in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
