The 61st Air Base Wing is an inactive

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 e ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, 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 ...

, last stationed at

Los Angeles Air Force Base Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB) is a United States Space Force Base located in El Segundo, California. Los Angeles Air Force Base houses and supports the headquarters of the United States Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC), which w ...

, El Segundo, California. The 61st was the host unit at

, and commanded all the Air Force support groups and units assigned to the base. When active. the wing is entitled to temporary bestowal of the history and honors stems of the 61st Troop Carrier Group. Its mission was to provide base operating support to Los Angeles Air Force Base customers.

History

The wing was first activated as the 61st Troop Carrier Wing by the

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

in 1948 to control

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

and

C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...

units. The wing was the host organization at

Rhein-Main Air Base Rhein-Main Air Base (located at ) was a United States Air Force air base near the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was a Military Airlift Command (MAC) and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) installation, occupying the south side ...

, West Germany. It also operated Tempelhof Air Base, in

Occupied Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

until 5 November 1948 and

Tulln Air Base Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The C ...

in the American Occupation Zone of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

until 10 December 1948. Its initial mission was to coordinate

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, roa ...

operations for USAFE in conjunction with units deployed from the United States and the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. With the end of Berlin Airlift operations in 1949, flew theater airlift missions within USAFE and participated in numerous exercises. With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, wing deployed its operational component, the 61st Troop Carrier Group to Ashiya Air Base, Japan on 21 July 1950 to reinforce

Far East Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (fo ...

transport units and perform combat transport operations within

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and Japan. With the group deployed to Japan, the wing was inactivated in West Germany in June 1951. The wing was reactivated as the 61st Military Airlift Wing at

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

, Hawaii in 1966 under

Military Airlift Command The Military Airlift Command (MAC) is an inactive United States Air Force major command (MAJCOM) that was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Established on 1 January 1966, MAC was the primary strategic airlift organization of th ...

, replacing the discontinued Military Air Transport Service

1502d Air Transport Wing The 1502d Air Transport Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force unit, last assigned to Western Transport Air Force in January 1966. The 1502d ATW was a heavy cargo transport wing of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), formed at ...

in January 1966. It "provided air transport and support functions for airlift operations in the entire Pacific Ocean area,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

, and the United States to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

. Supported airlift, primarily in support of United States military forces in Southeast Asia during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. The Hickam Aerial Port was a primary destination for United States military personnel on Rest and Recreation leave from South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, the 61st MAW operating the aerial port and coordinating flights by civilian contract airlines to and from bases in South Vietnam. The wing's assigned airlift squadrons were inactivated in 1968 and 1969, after which became the 61st Military Airlift Support Wing for Military Airlift Command flights within

Pacific Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (f ...

as well as Naval and Marine Transports supporting their respective organizations in Hawaii. Inactivated 1 April 1980 and is equipment and most personnel being reassigned to the 834th Airlift Division. On 1 August 2006, it was reactivated as the 61st Air Base Wing, a non-flying unit at

under

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. It supported the

Space and Missile Systems Center Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California and manages the United States' space launch ...

from 2006 to 2010, when it was inactivated and base support assigned to the 61st Air Base Group.

Lineage

* Established as the 61st Troop Carrier Wing, Medium and activated on 1 July 1948 : Redesignated 61st Troop Carrier Wing, Heavy on 15 August 1948 : Inactivated on 2 June 1951 * Redesignated 61st Military Airlift Wing and activated on 27 December 1965 (not organized) : Organized on 8 January 1966 : Redesignated 61st Military Airlift Support Wing on 22 December 1969 : Inactivated 1 April 1980 * Redesignated 61st Air Base Wing on 20 June 2006 : Activated on 1 August 2006 : Inactivated on 30 July 2010

Assignments

, 1 July 1948 : Attached to: Berlin Airlift Task Force until 29 July 1948 : Attached to: Airlift Task Force (Provisional), 22 July - 4 November 1948 : Attached to: 1st Air Lift Task Force, 5 November 1948 – 9 July 1949 * 1st Air Lift Task Force, 10 July 1949 * United States Air Forces in Europe, 26 September 1949 *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

, 21 January-2 June 1951 * Military Air Transport Service, 27 December 1965 (not organized) *

Twenty-Second Air Force Twenty-Second Air Force (22 AF) is a Numbered Air Force component of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It was activated on 1 July 1993 and is headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia. In the event of mobilization, some of the Twenty ...

, 8 January 1966 – 1 April 1980 *

, 1 August 2006 - 30 July 2010

Components

Groups *

60th Troop Carrier Group 060 may refer to: * Motorola 68060 microprocessor * 0-6-0, wheel arrangement for railway locomotives * emergency telephone number in Mexico, "060" * Bermuda, country code "060" (ISO 3166-1 numeric) * 060, the area code for Chimay in the Belgian tel ...

: attached 26 September 1949 – 2 June 1951 * 61st Air Base Group: 1 July 1948 - 2 June 1951This group is not related to the 61st Air Base Group (originally 61st Troop Carrier Group). * 61st Maintenance & Supply Group: 1 July 1948 – 2 June 1951 * 61st Station Medical Group (later 61st Medical Group): 1 July 1948 – 2 June 1951, 1 August 2006 – 30 July 2010 * 61st Troop Carrier Group (later 61st Military Airlift Group, 61st Air Base Group, 61st Mission Support Group): 1 July 1948 – 1 January 1951 (attached to 1st Airlift Task Force 5 November 1948, Airlift Wing (Provisional) 20 November 1948, 7497th Airlift Wing 10 January 1949 – 9 July 1949, Military Air Transport Service 21 July 1950, North Pacific Wing (Provisional) 26 July 1950, 1705th Air Transport Wing 24 August 1950, Far East Air Force Combat Cargo Command (Provisional) 10 December 1950 – 1 January 1951); 1 August 2006 – 30 July 2010 *

65th Military Airlift Group The 65th Air Base Group is a group of the United States Air Force based at Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal. The group provides base and en route support for the U.S. Department of Defense, allied nations and other authorized aircraft in transit, ...

(later 65th Military Airlift Support Group): 8 January 1966 – 1 January 1972 *

513th Troop Carrier Group 513th may refer to: *513th Air Control Group, United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma *513th Electronic Warfare Squadron, United States Air Force unit assigned to the 53d Electronic Warfare Group at Eglin Air Force Bas ...

: attached 10 July - 16 October 1949 * 1422d Air Transport Group, Provisional: attached 2 August - 5 November 1948 * 7350th Air Base Group: 1 July 1948 – 5 November 1948 : Tempelhof Central Airport, Berlin * 7360th Air Base Group: 1 July 1948 – 10 December 1948 : Tulln Air Base, Austria * C-54 Troop Carrier Group, Provisional: attached 1 July - 2 August 1948 Squadrons *

6th Military Airlift Squadron The 6th Airlift Squadron is part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at the McGuire AFB section of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. It operates the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III supporting the United States Air Force global reach missio ...

: 8 January 1966 – 8 June 1968 (not operational after 16 May 1968) *

50th Military Airlift Squadron The 50th Military Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the 1502d Air Transport Wing, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 8 Januar ...

: 8 January 1966 – 22 December 1969 (not operational after 1 December 1969) * 6th Aerial Port Squadron: 1 March 1975 – 1 June 1975 * 61st Aerial Port Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 22 December 1969 * 602d Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 1 November 1975 :

Elmendorf Air Force Base Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command (AL ...

, Alaska * 603d Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966, 1 January 1972 – 1 April 1980 :

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...

, Okinawa * 604th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966, 1 January 1972 – 1 June 1975 : Clark Air Base, Philippines * 605th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966, 1 August 1972 – 1 April 1980 : Andersen Air Force Base, Guam * 606th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966 : Mactan Island Airfield, Philippines * 607th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 1 October 1980 : Naval Air Facility Midway * 608th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966, 1 January 1972 – 30 April 1972 :

Cam Ranh Air Base Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bind ...

, South Vietnam * 610th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 1 January 1972 – 1 October 1978 :

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 perso ...

, Japan * 611th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 1 January 1972 – 1 October 1978 :

Osan Air Base Hanja:) , partof = , location = , nearest_town = Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province , country = South Korea , image = Osan Air Base 51 FW F-16 A-10 Flyby.jpg , alt = US Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon and A ...

, South Korea * 616th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966, 1 January 1972 – 26 March 1973 :

Tan Son Nhut Air Base Tan Son Nhut Air Base ( vi, Căn cứ không quân Tân Sơn Nhứt) (1955–1975) was a Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility. It was located near the city of Saigon in southern Vietnam. The United States used it as a major base duri ...

, South Vietnam : Detachment 1

Phu Cat Air Base Phu or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Phủ, prefecture in 15th–19th century Vietnam People Given name *Phu Dorjee (died 1987), first Indian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen * Phu Dorjee Sherpa (died 1969), first Nepali to climb Mou ...

, South Vietnam : Detachment 2 Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam * 617th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1966, 1 January 1972 – 1 October 1972 : Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam : Detachment 1

Pleiku Air Base Pleiku Air Base is a former air force base in Vietnam. It was established by the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) in 1962 at an undeveloped airstrip, and was used by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War in the II Corps Tact ...

, South Vietnam * 618th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 1 January 1972 – 1 June 1975 :

U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานอู่ตะเภา ระยอง–พัทยา; ) also spelled ''Utapao'' and ''U-Taphao'', is a joint civil–military public airport serving ...

, Thailand * 619th Military Airlift Support Squadron: 22 December 1969 – 30 April 1972 :Det D, later Det 2,

Christchurch International Airport Christchurch Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zea ...

, New Zealand Military Airlift Support Squadrons were support units that had no aircraft of its own, but rather supported the forward operations of aircraft from other MAC units, principally from the CONUS. Furthermore, the support squadron was a consolidation of all the operations and maintenance functions that state-side airlift wings had organized as separate units.

Stations

* Rhein-Main Air Force Base (later Rhein-Main Air Base), Germany (later West Germany), 1 July 1948 – 2 June 1951 * Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, 8 January 1966 – 1 April 1980 * Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, 1 August 2006 – 30 July 2010

Aircraft

* Primarily C-47, 1948, C-54, 1948, 1949–1950; and C-82, 1949–1951; but also flew (in single or small numbers) B-17, 1948–1949 *

, 1949–1951 *

C-119 Flying Boxcar The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechani ...

, August 1950 *

, 1951 *

C-121 Constellation The Lockheed C-121 Constellation is a military transport version of the Lockheed Constellation. A total of 332 aircraft were constructed for both the United States Air Force and United States Navy for various purposes. Numerous airborne early wa ...

, 1966 * C-124 Globemaster II, 1966–1969

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

A History and Memory of the 610th Military Airlift Support Squadron (610 MASS)

Los Angeles Air Force Base Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:61 0061 Military units and formations established in 2006 Military units and formations in California