464th Tactical Airlift Wing
| 464th Tactical Airlift Wing | |
|---|---|
464th Wing C-123B Provider
|
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| Active | 1953–1971 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | Tactical Airlift |
| Part of | Tactical Air Command |
| Motto(s) | Certissimus in Incertis Latin Most Certain in Uncertainties |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 464th Troop Carrier Wing emblem (Approved 15 April 1954) |  |
The 464th Tactical Airlift Wing was a theater airlift unit of the United States Air Force during the Cold War. It served in the United States under Tactical Air Command between 1953 and 1971. Its predecessor was the United States Army Air Forces 464th Bombardment Group of World War II.
The wing was constituted as the 464th Troop Carrier Wing and activated at Lawson Air Force Base, Georgia on 1 February 1953 and was assigned to Eighteenth Air Force. The wing replaced the 434th Troop Carrier Wing, a reserve unit that had been called to active duty for the Korean War. It took over the personnel and Curtiss C-46 Commando and Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft of the 434th.
The unit (redesignated 464th Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 March 1966) provided tactical airlift of troops and cargo, participated in joint airborne training with Army forces, and took part in tactical exercises in the United States and overseas. The wing provided aeromedical airlift and flew humanitarian missions as required.
From 1954 until it was inactivated, the 464th usually had two or more tactical squadrons deployed overseas at any one time, supporting airlift operations in Central America, Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, and Southeast Asia.
At Pope, the 464th received the Mackay Trophy for humanitarian operations in the Congo in 1964. It participated in contingency airlift operations in the Dominican Republic, from April 1965 until September 1966.
During its time at Pope, a major period of facility expansion occurred. The main runway, the taxiways, and the ramp were all expanded to support the 464th’s Fairchild C-119 "Flying Boxcar"s operations. During the 1950s and 1960s, aircraft upgrade was the primary trend at the North Carolina installation. The Fairchild C-123 Provider started replacing the C-119 in 1958, and in 1963, the first C-130 Hercules arrived, appropriately named “The North Carolina.” The 778th Tactical Airlift Squadron was tail coded "PG" and its C-130Es had a green tail stripe.
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