902d Troop Carrier Group

902d Troop Carrier Group
300px 902d TCG Kaiser-Frazer C-119F-KM Flying Boxcar 51-8156
Active	1963-1966
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force Reserve
Role	Airlift

The 902d Troop Carrier Group is an inactive United States Air Force Reserve unit. It was last active with the 94th Troop Carrier Wing, based at Grenier Air Force Base, Massachusetts. It was inactivated on 25 January 1966.

History

Following the mobilizations in 1961 and 1962 for the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Continental Air Command (ConAC) realized that it was unwieldy to mobilize an entire wing unless absolutely necessary. Their original Table of Organization for each Wing was a wing headquarters, a troop carrier group, an Air Base Group, a maintenance and supply group, and a medical group. In 1957, the troop carrier group and maintenance and supply groups were inactivated, with their squadrons reassigned directly to the wing headquarters - despite the fact that many wings had squadrons spread out over several bases due to the Detached Squadron Concept dispersing Reserve units over centers of population.

To resolve this, in late 1962 and early 1963, ConAC reorganized the structure of its reserve Troop Carrier Wings by establishing fully deployable Troop Carrier Groups and inserting them into the chain of command between the Wing and its squadrons at every base that held a ConAC troop carrier squadron. At each base, the group was composed of a material squadron, a troop carrier squadron, a tactical hospital or dispensary, and a combat support squadron. Each troop carrier wing consisted of 3 or 4 of these groups. By doing so, ConAC could facilitate the mobilization of either aircraft and aircrews alone, aircraft and minimum support personnel (one troop carrier group), or the entire troop carrier wing. This also gave ConAC the flexibility to expand each Wing by attaching additional squadrons, if necessary from other Reserve wings to the deployable groups for deployments.

As a result, the 902d Troop Carrier Group was established with a mission to organize, recruit and train Air Force Reserve personnel in the tactical airlift of airborne forces, their equipment and supplies and delivery of these forces and materials by airdrop, landing or cargo extraction systems. The group was equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars for Tactical Air Command airlift operations.

The 902d TCG was one of two C-119 Flying Boxcar groups assigned to the 94th TCW in 1963, the other being the 901st Troop Carrier Group at Hanscom Field, Massachusetts.

Inactivated in January 1966 with the closure of Grenier Air Force Base.

Lineage

• Established as 902d Troop Carrier Group, Medium and activated on 15 January 1963 (not organized)

Organized in the Reserve on 11 February 1963

Inactivated on 25 January 1966

• Redesignated 902d Military Airlift Group on 31 July 1985

Assignments

• Continental Air Command, 15 Jan 1963
• 94th Troop Carrier Wing, 11 February 1963 – 25 January 1966

Components

• 732d Troop Carrier Squadron, 11 February 1963 – 25 January 1966

Stations

• Grenier Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 11 February 1963 – 25 January 1966

Aircraft

• C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1963-1966

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• AFHRA history 902d Troop Carrier Group
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• The Air Force Reserve at Grenier AFB, NH 1955-1966