910th Airlift Wing

910th Airlift Wing
Active	28 December 1962 — present
Country	United States
Branch	Air Force
Type	Airlift
Size	1,400 Personnel
Part of	Air Force Reserve Command
Garrison/HQ	Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station
Decorations	AFOUA RVGC w/ Palm
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Stephen J. "Fritz" Linsenmeyer

Lockheed C-130H Hercules 89-9105

Legacy 910th Tactical Airlift Group emblem, 1967

The 910th Airlift Wing (910 AW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based at Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station, Ohio.

Overview

910th Airlift Wing's mission is to deliver, deploy and defend.

The 910th Airlift Wing is an Operational Force for Rapid Global Mobility with integrated and sustainable capabilities supporting our National Security.

In wartime, the 910th Airlift Wing mission is to employ the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft in combat operations of tactical airlift. These operations include low-level infiltration into a combat environment, where aircrews can deliver personnel and materials by airdrop and air-land techniques.

The 910th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) unit located at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio. It is under the command of Twenty-Second Air Force, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, and Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.

In the event of mobilization, the unit would be assigned to the Air Mobility Command, headquartered at Scott AFB, IL.

The 910th Airlift Wing is composed of three groups and one medical unit, the 910th Medical Squadron. The 910th Operations Group is composed of one flying squadron and one support unit, the 910th Operations Support Squadron. The flying squadron is the 757th Airlift Squadron, which includes the only large-area, fixed-wing aerial spray mission in the Department of Defense.The 910th Maintenance Group is assigned two squadrons, the 910th Maintenance Squadron and the 910th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. The 910th Mission Support Group is assigned seven units: the 910th Mission Support Flight, 910th Civil Engineer Squadron, 910th Security Forces Squadron, 910th Force Support Squadron, 910th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 76th Aerial Port Squadron and 910th Communications Squadron.

Units

• 910th Airlift Wing
• 910th Operations Group (910 OG)
  • 757th Airlift Squadron
  • 910th Operations Support Squadron
• up (910 MXG)
  • 910th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
  • 910th Maintenance Squadron
• 910th Mission Support Group (910 MSG)
  • 910th Civil Engineer Squadron
  • 910th Security Forces Squadron
  • 910th Communications Squadron
  • 910th Logistics Readiness Squadron
  • 76th Aerial Port Squadron
  • 910th Force Support Squadron
• 910th Medical Squadron (910 MDS)

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 910th 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 910th TCG was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 459th TCW in 1963, the others being the 909th Troop Carrier Group at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, and the 911th Troop Carrier Group at Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania.

The 910th participated in tactical exercises, airlift operations, and joint operations with Army airborne forces in U.S. and overseas, 1963-1969. The group trained as a forward air control unit, 1970–1971; as a special operations group, 1971–1973; and as a fighter group, 1973-1981. It converted again to an airlift mission in 1981 and received its first C-130 aircraft on 27 March 1981.

The 910th periodically deployed to Panama to support Air Force missions in Central and South America, beginning in 1983. It has trained to airdrop and airland personnel and materiel and added the only full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray in the Department of Defense in January 1992. It has deployed personnel and equipment worldwide to support contingency operations, exercises, and humanitarian missions.

In May, 1995, the 910th Airlift Group was re-designated the 910th Airlift Wing, with 16 permanently assigned and authorized aircraft. Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS) was also named as the site for a regional maintenance facility.

Nov. 2003, the 910th transferred four C-130 aircraft to the 934th Airlift Wing at Minneapolis Air Reserve Station. The transfer left the 910th with 12 permanently assigned C-130H2 aircraft.

The 910th Airlift Wing, home of the Department of Defense (DOD)’s only large-area, fixed-wing aerial spray unit was tasked from Sept. to Oct. 2005 to combat the potential deadly spread of infectious diseases from insect bites due to the flooding in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in late August and in September 2005. When the mission concluded, the 910th helped the people of Louisiana and Texas by spraying more than 2.8 million acres. This equates to 4,501 square miles, or approximately an area the size of Connecticut. This was the largest aerial spray tasking since the mission's conception in 1973.

From May to June 2003, The 910th’s 757th Airlift Squadron conducted aerial spray for Operation Deep Water Horizon. The aerial spray mission used dispersing agents to neutralize the oil spill caused by the April 2010 sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. This mission marked the first real world application of oil spill dispersants by the 910th.

From Nov. 2011 to March 2014, Air Force structure changes reduced the 910th’s Primary Assigned Aircraft from 12 to eight, with one Back-up Inventory Aircraft. The reduction in aircraft resulted in the deactivation of the 773rd Airlift Squadron, which was activated as a unit of the 910th in 1995.

From June 2014 to Sept. 2014, more than 110 members from the 910th Airlift Wing’s flying and maintenance squadrons supported airlift operations to various military installations throughout the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) Area of Operations (AOR). During their deployment, the 910th service members and aircraft completed 1,275 flying hours during the course of 300 missions. During these missions, the aircrews moved 4,311 passengers, hauled 1813 tons of cargo and transported 36 patients for a mission effectiveness rate of 100%.

Lineage

• Established as the 910th Troop Carrier Group, Medium and activated on 28 December 1962 (not organized)

Organized in the Reserve on 17 January 1963

Redesignated 910th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 July 1967

Redesignated 910th Tactical Air Support Group on 25 January 1970

Redesignated 910th Special Operations Group on 29 June 1971

Redesignated 910th Tactical Fighter Group on 1 October 1973

Redesignated 910th Tactical Airlift Group on 1 July 1981

Redesignated 910th Airlift Group on 1 February 1992

Redesignated 910th Airlift Wing on 1 October 1994

Assignments

• Continental Air Command, 28 Dec 1962
• 459th Troop Carrier Wing, 17 Jan 1963
• 302d Troop Carrier (later, 302d Tactical Airlift) Wing, 1 Jul 1966
• Eastern Air Force Reserve Region, 15 Feb 1970
• 434th Special Operations (later, 434th Tactical Fighter) Wing, 21 Apr 1971
• 459th Tactical (later, 459th Military) Airlift Wing, 1 Apr 1981
• 94th Tactical Airlift (later, 94th Airlift) Wing, 1 Oct 1989
• 440th Airlift Wing, 1 Aug 1992
• Tenth Air Force, 1 Oct 1994
• Twenty-Second Air Force, 1 Apr 1997–Present

Components

• 910th Operations Group: 1 Aug 1992–Present
• 757th Airlift Squadron: 17 Jan 1963-1 Aug 1992.

Stations

• Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, 17 Jan 1963–Present

Aircraft

• C-119 Flying Boxcar (1963–1969)
• U-3 Blue Canoe (1969–1971)
• A-37 Dragonfly (1971–1981)
• C-130 Hercules (1981 – Present)

References

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

• Youngstown Air Reserve Station
• AFHRA 910th Airlift Wing factsheet