81st Training Wing

81st Training Wing
Official crest of the 81st Training Wing
Active	15 April 1948
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	education / training
Part of	Air Education and Training Command Second Air Force
Garrison/HQ	Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi
Equipment	see "Aerospace vehicles" section below
Decorations	see "Lineage and honors" section below
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Gregory Touhill
Vice-Commander	Colonel Richard Pierce
Command Chief	Chief Master Sergeant Ronald S. Owens

The 81st Training Wing (81 TRW) is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. The 81st Training Wing has the Air Force’s largest Technical Training Group and trains more than 40,000 students annually. Training includes weather, basic electronics, communications electronic systems, communications computer systems, air traffic control, airfield management, command post, air weapons control, precision measurement, education and training, financial management and comptroller, information management, manpower and personnel. But above all, radar, ground radio, and network controlers are trained here, whose average time in training is at least 2X-3X longer than any other of the 81st TRW.

Mission

The 81st Training Wing is in a constant state of transition as it seeks excellence in all we do. It is comprised of several Wing Staff agencies and 3 large Groups of Squadrons. The Groups are...: 81st Training Group, 81st Medical Group, and the 81st Mission Support Group.

The 81st Training Wing is an important link in the chain through Second Air Force established by Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Our largest training mission is to take young men and women, many fresh from basic military training, and teach them skills to benefit the nation and the Air Force as well as our sister services and foreign countries.

Keesler also does advanced training for pilots in C-21 aircraft, and doctors, nurses, and technicians in medical specialties.

Units

• 81st Training Group
• 81st Medical Group
• 81st Mission Support Group

History

Lineage

• Established as 81 Fighter Wing on 15 April 1948
• Activated on 1 May 1948
• Redesignated: 81 Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 20 January 1950; 81 Fighter-Bomber Wing on 1 April 1954; 81 Tactical Fighter Wing on 8 July 1958
• Inactivated on 1 July 1993
• Redesignated 81 Training Wing, and activated, on 1 July 1993

Bestowed Honors: Authorized to display honors earned by the 81st Fighter Group prior to 1 May 1948.

Assignments

• 7th Air Division, 1 May 1948;
• Pacific Air Command, 3 September 1948;
• Twelfth Air Force, 21 May 1949 (attached to Western Air Defense Force, 10 November 1949);
• Fourth Air Force, 1 April 1950 (remained attached to Western Air Defense Force to 1 August 1950);
• Western Air Defense Force, 1 August 1950 (attached to Third Air Force, 5 September 1951–8 September 1951);
• Third Air Force, 9 September 1951 (attached to 49 Air Division, Operational [later, 49th Air Division (Operational)], 1 March 1954–1 July 1956);
• Seventeenth Air Force, 1 July 1961;
• Third Air Force, 1 September 1963–1 July 1993.
• Second Air Force, 1 July 1993–present

Stations

• Wheeler Air Force Base (later, Wheeler Army Airfield), Territory of Hawaii, 1 May 1948–21 May 1949;
• Camp Stoneman, California, 27 May 1949
• Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, 5 June 1949
• Moses Lake Air Force Base (later, Larson Air Force Base, Grant County International Airport), Washington, 2 May 1950–16 August 1951
• Bentwaters RAF Station (later, RAF Bentwaters), England, 6 September 1951–1 July 1993; (RAF Woodbridge, England ["Twin Base" with RAF Bentwaters], 8 July 1958–1 February 1980)
• Keesler AFB, Mississippi, 1 July 1993–present

Components

Groups:

• 81 Fighter (later, 81 Fighter-Interceptor; 81 Fighter-Bomber) 1 May 1948–8 February 1955.

Squadrons:

• 78 Fighter-Bomber (later, 78 Tactical Fighter): attached c.22 April 1954–7 February 1955, assigned 8 February 1955–1 May 1992.
• 91 Fighter-Bomber (later, 91 Tactical Fighter): attached c.22 April 1954–7 February 1955, assigned 8 February 1955–14 August 1992.
• 92 Fighter-Bomber (later, 92 Tactical Fighter): attached c.22 April 1954–7 February 1955, assigned 8 February 1955–31 March 1993.
• 116 Fighter (later, 116 Fighter-Interceptor): attached 10 February 1951–9 August 1951 (further attached to 81 Fighter-Interceptor Group).
• 509 Tactical Fighter: 1 October 1979–1 June 1988.
• 510 Tactical Fighter: 1 October 1978–1 October 1992.
• 511 Tactical Fighter: 1 January 1980–1 September 1988.
• 527 Aggressor: 14 July 1988–30 September 1990.

Aerospace vehicles

• P-47 (later, F-47 Thunderbolt), 1948–1949
• F-80 Shooting Star, 1949
• F-86 Sabre, 1949–1955
• F-51 Mustang, 1951
• F-84 Thunderjet, 1954–1959
• F-101 Voodoo, 1958–1966
• F-4 Phantom II, 1965–1979
• A-10 Thunderbolt II, 1978–1993
• F-16 Fighting Falcon, 1988–1990

Operational History

World War II

The unit was constituted as the 81st Pursuit Group (Intercepter) on 13 Jan 1942, and activated on 9 Feb 1942. Redesignated 81st Fighter Group in May 1942. Trained with P-39's.

Moved overseas, Oct 1942-Feb 1943, the ground echelon arriving in French Morocco with the force that invaded North Africa on 8 Nov, and the air echelon, which had trained for a time in England, arriving in North Africa between late Dec 1942 and early Feb 1943.

Began combat with Twelfth Air Force in Jan 1943. Supported ground operations during the Allied drive against Axis forces in Tunisia. Patrolled the coast of North Africa and protected Allied shipping in the Mediterranean Sea, Apr - Jul 1943. Provided cover for the convoys that landed troops on Pantelleria on 11 Jun and on Sicily on 10 Jul 1943. Supported the landings at Anzio on 22 Jan 1944 and flew patrols in that area for a short time.

Moved to India, Feb-Mar 1944, and began training with P-40 and P-47 aircraft. Moved to [[China] in May and became part of Fourteenth Air Force. Continued training and on occasion flew patrol and escort missions before returning to full-time combat duty in Jan 1945. Attacked enemy airfields and installations, flew escort missions, and aided the operations of Chinese ground forces by attacking troop concentrations, ammunition dumps, lines of communications, and other targets to hinder Japanese efforts to move men and materiel to the front.

Inactivated in China on 27 Dec 1945.

Cold War

The 81st Fighter Wing conducted air defense of Hawaii, December 1948–May 1949, then became part of Western Air Defense Force's air defense structure in November 1949. From 1951 to mid-1954, it worked with Royal Air Force Fighter Command to provide air defense in England. The wing changed in 1954 from fighter-interceptor to fighter-bomber operations, carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons. Charged with tactical operations in support of USAFE and NATO, with air defense as a secondary mission, 1954–1979 and 1988–1990. Also operated out of RAF Woodbridge, 1958–1993. The 81st began conversion to A-10s in late 1978, as its mission changed to close air support and battlefield air interdiction in support of NATO ground forces. It conducted joint operations with US and British ground forces and participated in rotational deployments to specified wartime operating locations throughout Europe. It won the A-10 category of the 1987 USAF Gunsmoke Gunnery meet. It added the 527th Aggressor Squadron, flying F-16s in 1988, to provide the only Dissimilar Aircraft Combat Tactics training for USAFE and NATO pilots in Europe, from July 1988 to September 1990. The wing conducted escort missions with A-10s for Coalition airlift forces during relief efforts in Turkey and northern Iraq, 6 April 1991–8 December 1992. Began preparation for base closure in December 1992, ending flying operations on 1 April 1993.

Air Education and Training Command

The 81st Training Wing replaced Keesler Training Center in July 1993, taking on the mission of specialized technical training in electronics, avionics, computers, operations, maintenance, and personnel and information management for Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, other Department of Defense agencies, and foreign nations.

Hurricane Katrina

29 August 2005 tested the resolve of the 81st Training Wing in as drastic a manner as imaginable. When Hurricane Katrina barrelled into the gulf coast as a category 4 storm, the eye was only approximately 30 miles off a head-on hit with Keesler Air Force Base. Because of the hurricane, all students and non-essential personnel of the 81st were evacuated to other Air Force bases, effectively shutting down the training wing. Operation Dragon Comeback, the monumental relief and recovery mission the Air Force initiated, saw over $950 million in damage just to the base, but some 8,500 volunteers from Keesler helped not only the air base but also the surrounding communities get back to some semblance of normalcy after this disaster. The title "Operation Dragon Comeback" was coined by Master Sergeant Terence J. Scott (Retired Firefighter from the 81st Civil Engineer Squadron).

It only took until 16 September 2005 for students to start coming back to Kessler to train for their Air Force careers. In less than a month, Keesler managed to clean up, pump out, dig through, and resuscitate the ailing training wing and bring it back to full mission readiness.

References

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

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
• Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.

External links

• Bentwaters Cold War Museum

{* Keesler Air Force Base Factsheet: 81st Training Wing

• Air Force Historical Research Agency: 81st Training Wing