63d Air Expeditionary Wing
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63d Wing C-141 Starlifter
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Active | 1949–1951; 1953–1994 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Role | Command of air expeditionary units |
Part of | Air Mobility Command |
Motto(s) | Omnia, Ubique, Semper Latin Anything, Anywhere, Anytime |
Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
Insignia | |
63d Air Expeditionary Wing emblem (approved 2 October 1953) |
The 63d Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed. No publicly available information indicates it has been active as an expeditionary unit. The wing was last active as the 63d Airlift Wing at Norton Air Force Base, California, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1994.
The wing was first activated as the 63d Troop Carrier Wing in the Air Force Reserve in June 1949, when Continental Air Command reorganized its units under the wing base organizational model. It was ordered into active duty for the Korean War in May 1951 and, after its personnel were used as fillers for other units, inactivated a week later.
The wing was activated as a heavy troop carrier unit in 1953 under Tactical Air Command. In 1957, heavy troop carrier units in the United States, including the wing, were transferred to Military Air Transport Service. The unit continued to fly the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II until 1967, when it moved to Norton Air Force Base and began to operate the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter. The wing served as a strategic airlift unit until it was inactivated in 1994.
Related history at 63d Operations Group
The wing was first activated in June 1949 as the 63d Troop Carrier Wing, when Continental Air Command reorganized its flying units under the wing base organization system. The formation of the wing also responded to the reduction in Air Force units required by President Truman’s 1949 defense budget. Although the wing was a new unit, the 91st Air Division and 66th Reconnaissance Group at Newark Municipal Airport and the 320th Bombardment Group at Mitchel Air Force Base, all reserve units in the New York City area, were simultaneously inactivated. The new wing was manned at only 25% of normal strength but its 63d Troop Carrier Group was authorized four squadrons rather than the three of active duty units.