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With the end of the Vietnam War, the California National Guard bureau began to downsize the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing as part of the post-war drawdown. With C-130s units being transferred to Military Airlift Command, the junior 195th TAS was inactivated on 30 September 1974. The personnel, equipment and aircraft of the 195th TFS were reassigned to the 115th TAS.
With the end of the Vietnam War, the California National Guard bureau began to downsize the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing as part of the post-war drawdown. With C-130s units being transferred to Military Airlift Command, the junior 195th TAS was inactivated on 30 September 1974. The personnel, equipment and aircraft of the 195th TFS were reassigned to the 115th TAS.

In the early 1970's, USAF's "Total Force" policy brought the wing into full partnership with its Air Force counterparts by mandating co-operation and teamwork between Air Guard and active duty Air Force units in all phases of military airlift operations. As a result, in succeeding years the wing's C-130s traveled to all corners of the world, airlifting troops, passengers, and cargo during training missions, exercise deployments, and real-world military operations to support Federal and State military airlift requirements.

The 146th is one of only four C-130 Air Guard and AF Reserve units whose contribution to the nation's aerial fire fighting capability includes equipment and techniques for efficient, effective suppression of large wildland fires from the air. Since 1974, using the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) units supplied by the U.S. Forest Service and mounted in four C-130s, the wing's aerial fire fighting crews have been credited with saving many lives and countless millions of dollars worth of structures, forests, and brush land in California, and many other States and countries as well, taking part in over 5,000 aerial firefighting missions in California and across the Western United States saving valuable property, natural resources, and lives. The fire seasons of 1993 and 1994 were the worst on record. The Malibu fires of 1993 literally burned to the edge of the 146th AW's base. But it was in 1994, with over 55,000 wildfires raging throughout the western States, that the 146th, along with three other MAFFS-equipped guard and reserve units flew nearly 2,000 missions, dropping fifty-one million pounds of fire retardant.

The 146th TAW and its subordinate units participated in numerous Cold War military exercises such as Team Spirit, Volant Oak, Red Flag, and Reforger. Other Joint Chief of Staff exercises included "Ember Dawn IV" in Alaska and "Brave Shield" in Europe. In 1979, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve assumed full responsibility for airlift operations in Panama, which recently moved to Puerto Rico, a commitment still fulfilled.

In mid-December 1989, and continuing for several weeks, wing aircraft, air crews, and support personnel on deployment for exercise Volant Oak at Howard AFB, Canal Zone, Panama, flew combat airlift missions for U. S. Southern Command during Operation "Just Cause" in Panama. More than 100 combat sorties were flown by 146th aircraft and crews, with no casualties or damage to aircraft.

In December 1988, after more than six decades of Air National Guard flying tradition in the San Fernando Valley, the 146th Airlift Wing began moving from Van Nuys to a brand new facility, built on Federal land leased to the State of California, adjacent to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, an active duty Navy flying installation. The 146th operates from the military airfield at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, along with Navy and other Federal aviation activities. By March 1990, all but a small remnant of wing personnel had transferred operations to Channel Islands ANG Station. Shortly thereafter, the old Van Nuys facility was closed and turned over to the City of Los Angeles. On April 30, 1990, the flag at Van Nuys ANG Base was lowered for the last time during a special ceremony.


===Lineage===
===Lineage===

Revision as of 17:59, 19 September 2012

146th Airlift Wing
146th Airlift Wing emblem
Active(1943–present)
CountryUnited States
BranchAir National Guard
TypeAirlift Wing
RoleTactical Airlift, Fire Suppression, Med-Evac
Part ofMississippi Air National Guard
Garrison/HQChannel Islands Air National Guard Station, Oxnard, California.
Commanders
Current
commander		Colonel Paul J. Hargrove
Member of the 146th Airlift Wing prepare to send off aircraft 1862 and 1833 December 2 from Channel Island Air National Guard Station, Calif. Wing Airmen flew their last two C-130E model Hercules for the final time. The aircraft were delivered to the Air Force in the early 1960s and came to the 146th in 1974.
A C-130 is reloaded with Phos-Chek fire retardant to be dropped on the Simi Fire in Southern California on 28 October 2007

The 146th Airlift Wing (146 AW) is a unit of the California Air National Guard, stationed at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, Oxnard, California. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.

The 115th Airlift Squadron assigned to the Wings 143d Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the 115th Observation Squadron, established on 16 June 1924. It is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. It is the oldest unit in the California Air National Guard, having almost 90 years of service to the state and nation.

Mission

The 146th AW's primary mission is to provide global military airlift capability to a full spectrum of state and federal agencies. Flying the Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, the 146th has provided humanitarian relief in the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other disasters, in California, the United States and internationally.

The 146th is one of four C-130 ANG units whose contribution to the United States' aerial fire fighting capability includes equipment and techniques for efficient, effective suppression of large wildland fires from the air. Since 1974, using the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) units supplied by the US Forest Service and mounted in four C-130s, the wing’s aerial fire fighting crews have been credited with saving many lives and countless millions of dollars worth of structures, forests, and brush land in California and other states and countries.

MAFFS II was used for the first time on a fire in July 2010,[1] using the latest generation Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.[2] The 146th Airlift Wing was the first to transition to the MAFFS 2 system in 2008, and it remains the only unit flying the new system on the C-130J aircraft[3]

Units

The 146th Airlift Wing consists of the following units:

  • 146th Operations Group
115th Airlift Squadron
146th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
  • 146th Mission Support Group
  • 146th Maintenance Group
  • 146th Medical Group

History

World War II

see: 373d Fighter Group for expanded World War II history

Formed at Westover Field, Massachusetts in August 1943. During World War II the 373d Fighter Group was assigned to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), Ninth Air Force in Western Europe. It was equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts.

The Group flew its first combat mission on 8 May 1944, a fighter sweep over Normandy. It then took part in preinvasion activities, e.g., escorting B-26 Marauders to attack airdromes, bridges and railroads in Occupied France. The Group patrolled the air over the beachhead when the Allies launched the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, and hit troops, tanks, roads, fuel depots and other targets in the assault area until the end of the month.

The Group moved to the Continent in July 1944 where it struck railroads, hangars, boxcars, warehouses and other objectives to prevent reinforcements from reaching the front at St. Lo, where the Allies broke though on 25 July 1944. The Group bombed such targets as troops in the Falaise-Argentan area in August 1944. During the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 - January 1945, the Group concentrated on the destruction of bridges, marshalling yards and highways. It flew reconnaissance missions to support ground operations in the Rhine Valley in March 1945, hitting airfields, motor transports, etc. The Group continued tactical air operations until 4 May 1945.

Returned to the United States and prepared for transfer to the Pacific Theater during the Summer of 1945, the Japanese Capitulation in August led to the Group's inactivation in November 1945.

California Air National Guard

The wartime 373d Fighter Group was re-activated and re-designated as the 146th Fighter Group, and was allotted to the California Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles, California and was extended federal recognition on 16 September. The 146th Fighter Group was entitled to the history, honors, and colors of the 373d.

The new group consisted of the 115th Bombardment Squadron (Light), equipped with A-26 Invader twin-engine light bombers. A second squadron was the 195th Fighter Squadron, equipped with F-51D Mustang fighters. Other components were the 146th Headquarters, 146th Material Squadron (Maintenance), 146th Combat Support Squadron, and the 1146th USAF Dispensary. During World War II, Van Nuys Airport was used as an Army Airfield and the organization moved into several buildings and hangars vacated just a few months previously by the 441st Army Air Force Base Unit. The group was placed under the CA ANG 62d Fighter Wing, which was also headquartered at Van Nuys Airport. The 62d was a Fifteenth Air Force fighter wing in Italy during the war, and was allocated to the California ANG after the war as a command and control organization.

As part of the Continental Air Command Fourth Air Force, the unit trained for tactical bombing missions and air to air combat. In October 1950, the 62d Fighter Wing was disbanded in a budget and organizational restructuring and the 146th was changed from a Group to a Wing, inheriting the mission of the 62d and assuming its personnel. With the change in status, the 146th was re-designated as the 146th Composite Wing.

The Wing was federalized in March 1951 and the elevation to active duty dispersed most components of the organization. Assigned to Tactical Air Command, the 115th Bomb Squadron was moved to Langley AFB, Virginia, where it became a training unit for B-45A Tornado jet bomber crews. The 146th Fighter Wing was moved to Moody AFB, Georgia, where it was assigned two federalized ANG squadrons from Idaho and Montana and became a F-51D Fighter-Bomber training unit. The 195th Fighter Squadron remained at Van Nuys however it was placed under the Air Defense Command 28th Air Division. It was re-equipped with long-range F-51H Mustangs and became part of the air defense forces for Southern California. The units were returned to California State control in November 1952 and on 1 January 1953, the 146th Fighter Wing was reformed at Van Nuys Airport.

After the Korean War activation, the 115th was designated as a fighter squadron, also being equipped with the long-range F-51H Mustangs. The Wing was assigned to Air Defense Command in February 1954 and it began to receive F-86A Sabre et interceptors. By July 1955 the transition from the F-51H Mustang to the F-86A Sabre was complete. The squadron was re-designated a Fighter Interceptor unit with an air defense mission for the Los Angeles area. During the 1950s, the squadron received newer F-86F Sabres in 1957 and later F-86H Sabre day interceptors in 1959.

In 1961, the 146th FIW was reassigned to Military Air Transport Service, trading in its Sabre interceptors for 4-engined C-97 Stratofreighter transports. With air transportation recognized as a critical wartime need, the 146th was re-designated the 146th Air Transport Wing (Heavy). During the Berlin Crisis of 1961, both the Wing and squadrons were federalized on 1 October 1961. From Van Nuys, the wing augmented MATS airlift capability world-wide in support of the Air Force’s needs. It returned again to California state control on 31 August 1962. Throughout the 1960s, the unit flew long-distance transport missions in support of Air Force requirements, frequently sending aircraft to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, and during the Vietnam War, to both South Vietnam, Okinawa and Thailand.

The C-97s were retired in 1970 and the unit was transferred to Tactical Air Command. It transitioned to the C-130A Hercules theater transport, flying missions in support of TAC throughout the United States and Alaska. In 1973 the C-130A models were transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force and they were replaced by the C-130B. During this period, both the 115th and 195th shared the same pool of aircraft.

The C-97s were retired in 1970 and the unit was transferred to Tactical Air Command. It transitioned to the C-130A Hercules theater transport, flying missions in support of TAC throughout the United States and Alaska. In 1973 the C-130A models were transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force and they were replaced by the C-130B. During this period, both the 115th and its sister squadron, the 195th Tactical Airlift Squadron shared the same pool of aircraft.

With the end of the Vietnam War, the California National Guard bureau began to downsize the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing as part of the post-war drawdown. With C-130s units being transferred to Military Airlift Command, the junior 195th TAS was inactivated on 30 September 1974. The personnel, equipment and aircraft of the 195th TFS were reassigned to the 115th TAS.

In the early 1970's, USAF's "Total Force" policy brought the wing into full partnership with its Air Force counterparts by mandating co-operation and teamwork between Air Guard and active duty Air Force units in all phases of military airlift operations. As a result, in succeeding years the wing's C-130s traveled to all corners of the world, airlifting troops, passengers, and cargo during training missions, exercise deployments, and real-world military operations to support Federal and State military airlift requirements.

The 146th is one of only four C-130 Air Guard and AF Reserve units whose contribution to the nation's aerial fire fighting capability includes equipment and techniques for efficient, effective suppression of large wildland fires from the air. Since 1974, using the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) units supplied by the U.S. Forest Service and mounted in four C-130s, the wing's aerial fire fighting crews have been credited with saving many lives and countless millions of dollars worth of structures, forests, and brush land in California, and many other States and countries as well, taking part in over 5,000 aerial firefighting missions in California and across the Western United States saving valuable property, natural resources, and lives. The fire seasons of 1993 and 1994 were the worst on record. The Malibu fires of 1993 literally burned to the edge of the 146th AW's base. But it was in 1994, with over 55,000 wildfires raging throughout the western States, that the 146th, along with three other MAFFS-equipped guard and reserve units flew nearly 2,000 missions, dropping fifty-one million pounds of fire retardant.

The 146th TAW and its subordinate units participated in numerous Cold War military exercises such as Team Spirit, Volant Oak, Red Flag, and Reforger. Other Joint Chief of Staff exercises included "Ember Dawn IV" in Alaska and "Brave Shield" in Europe. In 1979, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve assumed full responsibility for airlift operations in Panama, which recently moved to Puerto Rico, a commitment still fulfilled.

In mid-December 1989, and continuing for several weeks, wing aircraft, air crews, and support personnel on deployment for exercise Volant Oak at Howard AFB, Canal Zone, Panama, flew combat airlift missions for U. S. Southern Command during Operation "Just Cause" in Panama. More than 100 combat sorties were flown by 146th aircraft and crews, with no casualties or damage to aircraft.

In December 1988, after more than six decades of Air National Guard flying tradition in the San Fernando Valley, the 146th Airlift Wing began moving from Van Nuys to a brand new facility, built on Federal land leased to the State of California, adjacent to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, an active duty Navy flying installation. The 146th operates from the military airfield at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, along with Navy and other Federal aviation activities. By March 1990, all but a small remnant of wing personnel had transferred operations to Channel Islands ANG Station. Shortly thereafter, the old Van Nuys facility was closed and turned over to the City of Los Angeles. On April 30, 1990, the flag at Van Nuys ANG Base was lowered for the last time during a special ceremony.

Lineage

Legacy 146th Fighter-Bomber Wing Emblem
Unofficial 146th FIW patch
146th Air Transport Wing Legacy Emblem
  • Constituted as 373d Fighter Group on 25 May 1943
Activated on 15 August 1943
Inactivated on 7 November 1945
  • Re-designated 146th Fighter Group. Allotted to California ANG on 24 May 1946.
Extended federal recognition on 16 September 1946
Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 October 1950
Re-designated: 146th Composite Wing on 1 October 1950
Re-designated: 146th Fighter Wing on Feb 1951
Federalized and placed on active duty, 1 March 1951
Re-designated: 146th Fighter-Bomber Wing on 1 June 1951.
Released from active duty and returned to California state control, 11 December 1952
Re-designated: 146th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 1 July 1955
Re-designated: 146th Air Transport Wing, 1 October 1961
Federalized and placed on active duty, 1 October 1961
Released from active duty and returned to California state control, 31 August 1962
Re-designated: 146th Military Airlift Wing, 8 January 1966
Re-designated: 146th Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 April 1970
Re-designated: 146th Airlift Wing, 16 March 1992

Assignments

Attached to: New York Fighter Wing, 23 October 1943 – 15 March 1944
Attached to: XIX Tactical Air Command, 4 April 1944
Gained by: Fourth Air Force, Continental Air Command
Gained by: Tactical Air Command
Gained by: 27th Air Division, Air Defense Command, 1 July 1955
Gained by: Los Angeles Air Defense Sector, Air Defense Command, 1 July 1955
Gained by: Western Transport Air Force, Military Air Transport Service, 1 October 1961
Gained by: Twenty-Second Air Force, Military Airlift Command, 8 January 1966
Gained by: Tactical Air Command, 1 April 1970
Gained by: Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992
Gained by: Air Mobility Command, 1 April 1997

Components

  • 146th Operations Group, 16 March 1992-Present
Both squadrons assigned to 146 OG effective 16 March 1992

Stations

Aircraft

Decorations

  • Scenes of the 1965 episode "Ed the Pilot" of the television show Mister Ed were shot at Van Nuys Airport in front of the hangar of the 146th Air Transportation Wing.
  • C-97G 53-0356 of the 146th Air Transportation Wing, California Air National Guard can be see in the television show Mission Impossible in the 1967 Episode entitled "The Diamond" at 37 mins. The boarding ramp, when lowered, displays the numbers 1 4 6 followed by a 146th ATW wing emblem with a large X over it.
  • The Bionic Woman episode "The Vega Influence" was shot around the hanger for the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing in 1976.

References

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

  1. ^ http://wildfiretoday.com/2010/07/16/new-maffs-ii-used-for-first-time-on-a-fire/
  2. ^ http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/07/071610-Fires.aspx
  3. ^ http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/07/071610-Fires.aspx
  4. ^ Air Force Personnel Center Awards Search (Post-1991)
  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  • Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
  • Van Nuys Airport Army Air Force Base Unit and Air National Guard Site
  • Rogers, B. (2006). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. ISBN 1-85780-197-0
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