309th Maintenance Wing

The 309th Maintenance Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force last based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. On July 12, 2012 it was inactivated and its function became part of the newly formed Ogden Air Logistics Complex.

309th Maintenance Wing
309th Troop Carrier Group C-123[note 1]
Active1942–1944, 1949-1951, 1955-1957, 2005-2012
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeEquipment Support
Part ofAir Force Materiel Command
DecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
309th Maintenance Wing emblem (Approved 5 July 2005[1]

History

World War II
A B-25 at Issaqueena Bombing Range near Columbia SC in 1942[note 2]

The wing was first activated in the early expansion of the Army Air Forces during World War II as the 309th Bombardment Group at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona.[2] Its initial components were the 376th,[3] 377th,[4] and 378th Bombardment Squadrons,[5] and the 37th Reconnaissance Squadron.[6] The group was an Operational Training Unit (OTU), which trained bombardment groups until January 1943.[7] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups."[8] It then became a Replacement Training Unit and trained replacement aircrews, using B-25 Mitchell aircraft in both training programs.[2] In addition, the group operated specialist training schools, with as many as eight in operation at once.[7] However, the AAF was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to performing the mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[9] As a result, in 1944, the group was disbanded and replaced by the 329th Army Air Force Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Medium, Bombardment), which absorbed the mission, material, and personnel of the group.[10] The group's four squadrons became Sections A through D of the Base Unit.

Reserve Airlift Operations

Postwar the group was reconstituted and redesignated as the Continental Air Command reserve 309th Troop Carrier Group. The 309th used the aircraft of the active duty 314th Troop Carrier Wing, to which it was attached for training.[1] The group was transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1950, after which it apparently ceased flying operations.[1] It was inactivated in 1951 and its personnel deployed to Far East Air Forces to support 315th Air Division transport units during the Korean War.

Assault Airlift Operations

The unit was reactivated at Ardmore AFB in 1955. It replaced the 16th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was flying the Air Force's fleet of YC-122 Avitrucs. The group became the first fixed wing assault airlift group in the Air Force and was the first to fly the C-123B.[11] The 309th trained to airlift troops, equipment, and supplies for assault landings.[2] After training with the 463d Troop Carrier Wing, the group deployed to Europe. Less than a year later, the group was inactivated and its squadrons transferred to the 60th Troop Carrier Wing.

Maintenance Wing
F-16 Fighting Falcon restoration by the 309th AMARG

The wing remained inactive until Air Force Material Command (AFMC) replaced many of its traditional subordinate command staff agencies with wings, groups, and squadrons in the Air Force Material Command Transformation Initiative. The 309th became the 309th Maintenance Wing and provided depot repair, modification and maintenance for the F-22A Raptor, F-16 Fighting Falcon, A-10 Thunderbolt, C-130 Hercules, and the Peacekeeper and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.[12] In 2012, AFMC reversed this action in the process of reducing its number of centers and inactivated the wing.[13] On 12 July 2012, all wing components at Hill were absorbed by the Ogden Air Logistics Complex and the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group was reassigned as the wing was inactivated on 1 October.

Lineage
  • Constituted as the 309th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 28 January 1942[2]
Activated on 15 March 1942
Disbanded on 1 May 1944
  • Reconstituted, redesignated 309th Troop Carrier Group, Medium and allotted to the reserve, on 16 May 1949
Activated on 26 June 1949
Inactivated on 20 February 1951.
  • Redesignated 309th Troop Carrier Group, Assault, Fixed Wing on 14 April 1955
Activated on 8 July 1955[14]
Inactivated on 12 March 1957[1]
  • Redesignated 309th Tactical Airlift Group on 31 July 1985[1] (remained inactive)
  • Redesignated 309th Maintenance Wing on 31 January 2005[1]
Activated on 18 February 2005[1]
Inactivated on 1 October 2012

Assignments

Components

Groups

  • 309th Commodities Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012
  • 309th Electronics Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012
  • 309th Maintenance & Supply Group (later 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group), 26 June 1949 - 20 February 1951 (attached); 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012
  • 309th Maintenance Support Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012
  • 309th Missile Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012
  • 309th Software Maintenance Group, 24 February 2005 - 12 July 2012
  • 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, 2 May 2007 - 12 July 2012

Squadrons

  • 37th Reconnaissance Squadron (later 426th Bombardment Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944
  • 376th Bombardment Squadron (later 376th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944; 26 June 1949 – 20 February 1951; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957
  • 377th Bombardment Squadron (later 377th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944; 26 June 1949 – 28 January 1950; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957
  • 378th Bombardment Squadron (later 378th Troop Carrier Squadron): 15 March 1942 –1 May 1944; 8 July 1955 – 12 March 1957

Stations

Aircraft
  • B-25 Mitchell, 1942–1944
  • C-47 Skytrain, 1949-1950
  • C-82 Packet, 1949–1950
  • C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1949–1950
  • C-122 Avitruc, 1955–1956
  • C-123 Provider, 1955–1958

Awards and campaigns
Award streamerAwardDatesNotes
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award1 January 2004-31 December 2005309th Maintenance Wing[1]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award1 January 2009-31 December 2009309th Maintenance Wing[15]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award1 January 2011-27 May 2011309th Maintenance Wing (staff agencies)[15]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
American Theater without inscription15 March 1942 – 1 May 1944309th Bombardment Group[1]

References

Notes
  1. Aircraft is Fairchild C-123B-2-FA Provider serial 54-555
  2. Unit not identified, but possibly from the 309th. A number of groups were formed at Columbia, but the 309th was the only one that remained on the base for more than a few months.

Notes
  1. Kane, Robert B. (December 20, 2010). "Factsheet 309 Maintenance Wing (AFMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  2. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 184
  3. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 465
  4. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 466
  5. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 467
  6. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 522-523
  7. "Abstract, History 309 Bomb Group". Air Force History Index. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  8. Craven & Cate, Vol. VI, Men & Planes, Introduction, p. xxxvi
  9. Goss, p. 75
  10. "Abstract, History of Columbia AAB Apr-Jun 1944". Air Force History Index. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  11. Parkes, G. "Ardmore Army Airbase - Ardmore, OK - Oklahoma Historical Markers". Waymarking.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  12. "309th Maintenance Wing". Hill AFB Public Affairs. August 22, 2007. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  13. Day, Col Allan (June 7, 2012). "Commentary: 309 MXW to inactivate; members to be part of OO-Air Logistics Complex". Hilltop Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  14. Lineage information through 1955 is in Maurer, Combat Units, p. 184
  15. Air Force Recognition Programs (accessed 19 Oct, 2012)

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  • Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). "Introduction". The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. xxxvi. LCCN 48-3657.
Goss, William A (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158.
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