463d Tactical Airlift Wing
| 463d Airlift Group | |
|---|---|
A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules from Little Rock, Air Force Base, Ark., lands at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., for Rodeo 2007 on 21 July 2007
|
|
| Active | 1953-1971; 1972-1993; 1997-2008 |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Branch |
 United States Air Force
|
| Role | Airlift |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Engagements |
 Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada) Operation Just Cause (Panama) |
| Decorations |
|
| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the 463d Airlift Group (Approved 30 August 1954) |  |
The United States Air Force's 463d Airlift Group was a theater airlift unit last stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It was inactivated on 1 October 2008.
The 463d was a unit with over 1,200 Airmen. The unit employed 30 C-130 aircraft that perform airlift missions worldwide. It provided direct support to warfighting combatant commanders with theater combat aerial delivery of personnel and their resupply worldwide.
The unit comprised eight squadrons: five flying, two maintenance, and one support.
When active, the 463d Airlift Group is entitled to display the awards earned by the 463d Bombardment Group prior to 16 January 1953, unless that group is assigned to another headquarters.
The group was first constituted as the 463d Troop Carrier Wing, Medium and activated at Memphis Airport, Tennessee on 16 January 1953, when it assumed the mission, equipment and personnel of the 516th Troop Carrier Wing, a reserve unit called to active duty for the Korean War, which was simultaneously inactivated. Assigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC) and equipped with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars. On 1 September, the wing moved to Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma. In December 1957, it began replacing its C-119s with the new Lockheed C-130A Hercules turboprop transport. In 1959 Ardmore closed and the 463rd transferred to Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee to join the 314th TCW, making Sewart the only US C-130 troop carrier base. The wing moved again in 1964, this time to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia where it replaced a TAC refueling wing that was being discontinued.
The 463d airlifted and airdropped troops and cargo to support operations and exercises worldwide, supporting deployments during the following crises: Lebanon (July 1958), Taiwan (August 1958), Berlin (September 1961), Cuba (October–November 1962), the Gulf of Tonkin (August–December 1964), Southeast Asia (February and April–November 1965), and the Dominican Republic (April–September 1965).
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