The 53d Fighter Wing (53 FW) is a disbanded unit of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, last stationed at

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

, Pennsylvania. It was withdrawn from the

Pennsylvania Air National Guard The Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is, along with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, an element of the Pennsylvania National Guard. As commonwe ...

(PA ANG) and inactivated on 31 October 1950. The wing was first formed as the 53d Troop Carrier Wing during World War II for command of glider and troop carrier units and its components were heavily involved in airborne operations in North-West Europe from the Normandy Landings to the crossing of the River Rhine. This wing is not related to the

53d Wing The 53d Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The wing reports to the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, which in turn reports to Headquarters Air Combat Comman ...

located at

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida Panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing (formerly the 96th Air Base Wing). The ...

, Florida or that wing's predecessor units, the 53d Fighter Group and the USAF Tactical Air Warfare Center.

History

World War II

The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

was formed as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

command and control organization for newly organized troop carrier groups and glider units being trained for overseas deployment to combat theaters. It deployed to England in 1944 and its units subsequently engaged in combat operations, carrying Army parachutists and towing gliders during

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

and Operation Varsity. The 53d was also engaged in aerial resupply and casualty evacuation of wounded personnel as well as theater troop transport operations. It operated until

V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

, then supported occupation units in Germany until fall 1945.

Pennsylvania Air National Guard

The wing was redesignated as a fighter wing and reactivated in 1947 as part of the PA ANG. It was a command and control organization, controlling one Bombardment Group at

and two Fighter Groups at

Greater Pittsburgh International Airport Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, is a civil–military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Located about 10 miles (15 km) west of downtown Pittsbu ...

and

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

, Maryland as its operational components. It was also the

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

for an Aircraft Control & Warning Group (AC&W Gp)located at Harrisburg State Airport and three Air Service Groups, which were colocated with its flying groups and had flights located with each of the squadrons assigned to the flying groups. Shortly before the wing was inactivated, its 113th Fighter Group was federalized for the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. At the end of October 1950, the ANG converted to the wing-base ( Hobson Plan) organization. As a result, the wing was withdrawn from the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

and inactivated on 31 October 1950. Its personnel and those of its 211th Air Service Group formed the cadre for the

111th Composite Wing 111th may refer to: *111th Delaware General Assembly, a meeting of the legislative branch of the state government *111th Engineer Brigade (United States), a combat engineer brigade of the United States Army *111th Field Artillery Regiment (United S ...

, while its elements in Pittsburgh formed the cadre for the

112th Fighter Wing Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

, which were simultaneously allotted to the ANG and activated. The 153d AC&W Gp was transferred directly to the PA ANG.

Lineage

* Constituted as 53d Troop Carrier Wing On 27 July 1942 : Activated on 1 August 1942 : Inactivated on 11 October 1945 * Redesignated 53d Fighter Wing, and allotted to the National Guard, on 24 May 1946 : Extended federal recognition on 17 January 1947 : Inactivated and allotment to the Air National Guard withdrawn on 31 October 1950 * Disbanded on 15 June 1983

Assignments

I Troop Carrier Command The I Troop Carrier Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Continental Air Forces, at Stout Field, Indiana, where it was disbanded in November 1945, and its resources transferred to IX Troop Carrier Com ...

, 1 August 1942 *

IX Troop Carrier Command The IX Troop Carrier Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946. As a component command of the Ninth ...

, 11 March 1944 – 12 August 1945 *

, 17 January 1947 – 31 October 1950

Components

World War II

* 61st Troop Carrier Group: 3 November 1942 – 15 February 1943 *

63rd Troop Carrier Group The 63d Troop Carrier Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 63d Troop Carrier Wing, Eastern Transport Air Force (MATS), stationed at Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia. It was inactivated on 18 January 19 ...

: April 1942 – July 1943 * 89th Troop Carrier Group: 3 November 1942 – 24 December 1942 * 313th Troop Carrier Group: 2 March 1942 – 24 April 1943 * 314th Troop Carrier Group: 30 August – 3 November 1942 * 316th Troop Carrier Group: 14 February – 12 November 1942 * 433rd Troop Carrier Group: 15 April – 2 June 1943 *

434th Troop Carrier Group 434th may refer to: *434th Air Refueling Wing, one of the key refueling units in the US Air Force Reserve *434th Bombardment Squadron, an inactive United States Air Force unit *434th Fighter Training Squadron (434 FTS), part of the 47th Flying Trai ...

: 15 April −16 October 1943, 3 March 1944 – July 1945 *

435th Troop Carrier Group 435th may refer to: *435th Air Ground Operations Wing, the first USAFE wing solely dedicated to supporting battlefield Airmen *435th Bombardment Squadron, an inactive United States Air Force unit * 435th Fighter Training Squadron (435 FTS), part of ...

: 3 November 1943 – 5 August 1945 *

436th Troop Carrier Group 436th may refer to: *436th Airlift Wing, an active United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force based at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware *436th Operations Group, an active United States Air Force unit, the f ...

: 15 April – 19 July 1943, 3 March 1944 – August 1945 * 437th Troop Carrier Group: 17 February 1944 – 10 July 1945 *

438th Troop Carrier Group 438th may refer to: * 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group (438 AEAG), assigned to the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing of USAFCENT, stationed at Kabul Airport, Afghanistan *438th Air Expeditionary Group, provisional unit assigned to United States Ai ...

: February 1944-18 July 1945 *

440th Troop Carrier Group 44 may refer to: * 44 (number) * one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military *44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II *44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas t ...

: July 1943

Air National Guard

111th Bombardment Group The 111th Attack Wing (111 ATKW) is a unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, headquartered at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pennsylvania. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air C ...

, 20 December 1948 – 31 October 1950 *

112th Fighter Group Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

, 23 April 1949 – 31 October 1950 * 113th Fighter Group, 17 January 1947 – 31 October 1950 (District of Columbia ANG) * 153d Aircraft Control and Warning Group, ''ca''. Feb 1949 – 31 October 1950 * 211th Air Service Group, 17 Jan 1947 – 31 October 1950 * 212th Air Service Group (Group headquarters apparently not organized, only constituent flights) * 213th Air Service Group, 17 Jan 1947 – 16 October 1950 *

104th Fighter Squadron The 104th Fighter Squadron (104th FS), nicknamed ''the Fightin' O's'', is a unit of the Maryland Air National Guard 175th Wing stationed at Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland. The 104th is equipped with the Fairchild Repub ...

, 17 January 1947 – 31 October 1950 (Maryland ANG) *

142d Fighter Squadron Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

, 17 January 1947 – 31 October 1950 (Delaware ANG)

Stations

General Billy Mitchell Field Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is a civil–military airport south of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States., effective May 21, 2020. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Ai ...

, Wisconsin, 1 August 1942 * Pope Field, North Carolina, 26 August 1942 * Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 15 September 1942 * Bergstrom AAF, Texas, 5 November 1942 * Sedalia AAF, Missouri, 15 April 1943 * Alliance AAF, Nebraska, 25 July 1943 * Laurinburg-Maxton AAB, North Carolina, 19 September 1943 * Pope Field, North Carolina, 20 December 1943 – 19 January 1944 *

RAF Greenham Common Royal Air Force Greenham Common or RAF Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the English county of Berkshire. The airfield was southeast of Newbury, about west of London. Opened ...

(AAF-486), England, 11 March 1944 * Voisenon, France, 20 February–October 1945 * Camp Shanks, New York, 10–11 October 1945. *

, 17 January 1947 – 31 October 1950

Awards

* *

American Theater of World War II The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean. Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of ...

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer

European Theater of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

* Campaigns : Normandy : Northern France : Southern France : Rhineland : Ardennes-Alsace : Central Europe * * World War II Army of Occupation

References

Notes

Bibliography

* . * {{Navboxes , list = {{USAAF 9th Air Force UK {{USAAF 1st Air Force World War II

053 53 may refer to: * 53 (number) * one of the years 53 BC, AD 53, 1953, 2053 * FiftyThree, an American privately held technology company that specializes in tools for mobile creation and visual thinking * 53rd Regiment Alabama Cavalry * 53rd Regiment ...