911th Airlift Wing

911th Airlift Wing
Lockheed C-130 Hercules 78-0807 showing the wing's Pittsburgh tail flash
Active	1963—present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Airlift
Size	1,200 Personnel
Part of	Air Force Reserve Command
Garrison/HQ	Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Jeffrey A. Van Dootingh
Insignia
911th Airlift Wing emblem (approved 22 March 1995)
911th Tactical Airlift Group emblem

The 911th Airlift Wing is an Air Mobility Command-gained unit of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), based out of Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station at the Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania.

The 911th Airlift Wing's mission is to organize, recruit and train Air Force Reserve personnel to provide tactical airlift of airborne forces, their equipment and supplies and delivery of these forces and materials by airdrop, landing or cargo extraction systems.

During the first half of 1955, the Air Force began detaching Air Force Reserve squadrons from their parent wing locations to separate sites. The concept offered several advantages. Communities were more likely to accept the smaller squadrons than the large wings and the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning. Continental Air Command (ConAC)'s plan called for placing Air Force Reserve units at fifty-nine installations located throughout the United States. When these relocations were completed in 1959, reserve wing headquarters and wing support elements would typically be on one base, along with one (or in some cases two) of the wing's flying squadrons, while the remaining flying squadrons were spread over thirty-five Air Force, Navy and civilian airfields under what was called the Detached Squadron Concept.

Although this dispersal was not a problem when the entire wing was called to active service, mobilizing a single flying squadron and elements to support it proved difficult. This weakness was demonstrated in the partial mobilization of reserve units during the Berlin Crisis of 1961 To resolve this, at the start of 1962, Continental Air Command, (ConAC) determined to reorganize its reserve wings by establishing groups with support elements for each of its troop carrier squadrons. This reorganization would facilitate mobilization of elements of wings in various combinations when needed. However, as this plan was entering its implementation phase, another partial mobilization occurred for the Cuban Missile Crisis, with the units being released on 22 November 1962. The formation of troop carrier groups occurred in January 1963 for units that had not been mobilized, but was delayed until February for those that had been.