834th Airlift Division | |
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C-123 Provider landing at Bien Hoa AB
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Active | 1957–1959; 1964–1971; 1972–1974; 1978–1992 |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Role | Command of airlift forces |
Part of | Military Airlift Command |
Engagements | Vietnam War |
Decorations |
Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat V Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
Gen William G. Moore Jr. Lt Gen Robert F. Coverdale |
Insignia | |
834th Airlift Division emblem (Approved 30 March 1965) |
The 834th Airlift Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1992.
The division was first activated in September 1957 at England Air Force Base, Louisiana to command the two fighter-bomber wings stationed there and act as the host organization for England, providing support for all units on the station. It was inactivated in April 1959 when the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing was also inactivated, leaving only a single wing at England. Its support organizations were replaced by organizations assigned to the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing.
The division was activated again in 1964, when England once again supported two fighter wings. However, by 1966, the division's units had deployed overseas, primarily to support the War in Vietnam. By the summer of 1966, the division was stripped of its manning. In October, the 834th transferred on paper to Tan Son Nhut Airport, where it assumed responsibility for controlling all airlift in South Viet Nam.
The 834th was assigned two wings flying Fairchild C-123 Providers and de Havilland Canada C-7 Caribous and controlled Lockheed C-130 Hercules rotated to Vietnam from wings stationed elsewhere. The division earned two Presidential Unit Citations and an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device for its actions, as well as being decorated by the Government of the Republic of Viet Nam. One member of the division, Lt Col Joe M. Jackson, was awarded the Medal of Honor for rescuing a combat control team left behind when an airfield being overrun by the Viet Cong was evacuated.