123rd Airlift Wing

123d Airlift Wing
123d Airlift Wing emblem
Active	1943-Present
Country	United States
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Airlift Wing
Part of	Kentucky Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Louisville Air National Guard Base, Kentucky
Motto(s)	Fortune Assists The Brave

Deployed U.S. Air Force members of the 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky Air National Guard, pose with their Lockheed C-130H Hercules aircraft (s/n 91-1232, 91-1233) on a flightline in Afghanistan, 22 April 2009.

The 123d Airlift Wing (123 AW) is a unit of the Kentucky Air National Guard, stationed at Louisville Air National Guard Base, Kentucky. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.

Overview

The Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Airlift Wing mission is to provide worldwide theater airlift for U.S. military and humanitarian operations. The wing is equipped with eight C-130H model aircraft. Multiple groups, squadrons and flights carry out the unit's mission by providing administrative and logistical support, including airlift operations, combat control, pararescue, maintenance, supply, transportation, contracting, communications, civil engineering, personnel, base services, security forces and medical functions.

Units

The 123d Airlift Wing consists of the following units:

• 123d Operations Group

165th Airlift Squadron

• 123d Maintenance Group
• 123d Mission Support Group
• 123d Medical Group
• 123d Contingency Response Group

History

World War II

Republic P-47D-5-RE Thunderbolts of the 359th Fighter Group. Foreground is Serial 42-8596 (CV-P) "Marryin' Sam" of the 368th Fighter Squadron. Flown by Lt William R. Simmons, the aircraft was named from the Al Capp cartoon strip.

North American P-51D-5-NA Mustang Serial 44-13404 (CV-Z) of the 368th Fighter Squadron painted in D-Day Invasion markings, June 1944. The pilot of this aircraft, Lt. Louis E. Barnett was killed on 12 September 1944.

Established in January 1943, the 359th Fighter Group flew 346 combat missions over continental Europe and claimed 373 enemy aircraft in aerial duels and strafing attacks; probable destruction of 23; and damage to 185. It flew its last mission on 20 April 1945. On the ground-support team were the 448th Air Service Group, the 824th Air Engineering Squadron, the 648th Air Material Squadron, and the Third Gunnery and Tow-Target Flight.

The group was organized and trained at the fields of Grenier, Bedford, Farmingdale, and Mitchel in the East, and embarked on its overseas assignment from Westover Field, MA on 2 October 1943, with the main body of troops and flying personnel leaving Westover by train and arriving at Camp Kilmer, NJ that afternoon. On 7 October 1943, the group boarded transports in NY Harbor, arriving in England on 19 October, being assigned to VIII Fighter Command.

The 359th FG entered combat in mid-December 1943 after five 359th FG pilots flew combat missions with the 78th Fighter Group. Began operations with P-47s, later converting to P-51s in April 1944. The role of the station in the general air war strategy was to operate and maintain its fighter aircraft against the enemy for a three-fold purpose: to provide escort and support to the U.S. bombers , to destroy the German Air Forces, both in aerial engagements and by low-level attacks on enemy airdromes, and to furnish close support to advancing Allied troops by strafing and dive-bombing enemy rail and motor transport, equipment and personnel and by flying offensive patrols over the battle lines. At first, the group engaged primarily in escort activities to cover B-17/B-24 bombers that attacked airfields in France, and later expanded their area of operations to provide escort for bombers that struck rail centers in Germany and oil targets in Poland.

The group supported the invasion of Normandy during June 1944 by patrolling the English Channel, escorting bombardment formations to the French coast, and dive-bombing and strafing bridges, locomotives, and rail lines near the battle area.

During the period July 1944 – February 1945, the group engaged chiefly in escorting bombers to oil refineries, marshalling yards, and other targets in such cities as Ludwigshafen, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Berlin, Merseburg, and Brux. The 359th FG received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations over Germany on 11 September 1944 when the group protected a formation of heavy bombers against large numbers of enemy fighters.

In addition to its escort duties, the 359th supported campaigns in France during July and August 1944, bombed enemy positions to support the airborne invasion of Holland in September, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945). The group flew missions to support the assault across the Rhine in March 1945, and escorted medium bombers that attacked various communications targets, February–April 1945.

The 359th Fighter Group returned to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and was inactivated on 10 November 1945.

Lineage

Legacy 359th Fighter Group emblem

• Constituted as 359th Fighter Group on 20 December 1942

Activated on 5 January 1943

Inactivated on 10 November 1945

• Re-designated: 123d Fighter Group and allocated to Kentucky ANG on 24 May 1946

Extended federal recognition on 20 Sep 1947

Federalized and ordered to active service on: 10 October 1950

Re-designated: 123d Fighter-Bomber Group, 1 November 1951

Released from: active duty and returned to Kentucky state control, 10 July 1952

Re-designated: 123d Fighter-Interceptor Group, on 10 Jul 1952

Re-designated: 123d Fighter-Bomber Group on 1 January 1953

Re-designated: 123d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 1 June 1957

Federalized and ordered to active service on: 26 January 1968

Status changed from Group to Wing, 26 January 1968

Re-designated: 123d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 26 January 1968

Released from active duty and returned to Kentucky state control, 9 June 1969

Re-designated: 123d Tactical Airlift Wing, 8 January 1989

Re-designated: 123d Airlift Wing, 16 March 1992

Assignments

• I Fighter Command, 15 January 1943

Attached to: New York Fighter Wing, 11 July – 23 August 1943

Attached to: Boston Fighter Wing, 23 August – 2 October 1943

• 66th Fighter Wing, 20 October 1943
• 67th Fighter Wing, 1 November 1943

Attached to: 1st Bombardment (later Air) Division, 15 September 1944 – 2 November 1945

• Army Service Forces (for inactivation), 9–10 November 1945
• Kentucky Air National Guard, 16 February 1947

Gained by: Tenth Air Force, Continental Air Command

• 123d Fighter Wing*, 10 October 1950
• 123d Fighter-Bomber Wing*, 1 November 1951
• Kentucky Air National Guard, 16 February 1947

Gained by: Tactical Air Command

• Tactical Air Command, 26 January 1968
• Kentucky Air National Guard, 9 June 1969-Present

Gained by: Tactical Air Command

Gained by: Military Airlift Command, 8 January 1989

Gained by: Air Mobility Command, 1 June 1992

Gained by: Air Combat Command, 1 October 1993

Gained by: Air Mobility Command, 1 April 1997

*Note: The 123d Fighter Wing was established and activated by Tactical Air Command when the unit was federalized on 10 October 1950; the 123d Fighter Group becoming a subordinate unit of the Wing. It was assigned to Ninth Air Force, Tactical Air Command on 26 October 1950. Re-designated 123d Fighter-Bomber Wing on 1 November 1951 when the unit received F-84E Thunderjets and was attached to Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe. Inactivated 10 July 1952 when the unit was returned to Kentucky state control. There is no lineage or history to the 123d Airlift Wing beyond the period of the Korean War federalization.

Components

• 123d Operations Group, 16 March 1992-Present
• 165th Fighter (later Fighter-Bomber, Fighter-Interceptor, Tactical Reconnaissance, Tactical Airlift, Airlift) Squadron, 16 February 1947-Present

• 368th Fighter Squadron (CV) 15 January 1943 – 10 November 1945
• 369th Fighter Squadron (IV) 15 January 1943 – 10 November 1945
• 370th Fighter Squadron (CR) 15 January 1943 - mid-March 1944 then (CS) - 10 November 1945

Stations

• Westover Field, Massachusetts, 15 Jan 1943
• Grenier Field, New Hampshire, 7 Apr 1943
• Republic Field, New York, 26 May 1943
• Westover Field, Massachusetts, 24 Aug-2 Oct 1943
• RAF East Wretham (AAF-133), England, c. 19 Oct 1943-c. 4 Nov 1945
• Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 9-10 Nov 1945

• Standiford Field, Louisville, Kentucky, 16 February 1947

Operated from: Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky, 10 October 1950

Operated from: RAF Manston, England, 30 November 1951-9 July 1952

• Standiford Airport, Louisville, Kentucky, 10 July 1952

Operated from: Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, Missouri, 26 January 1968-9 June 1969

• Louisville International Airport, Louisville, Kentucky, 1985

Designated: Louisville Air National Guard Base, 1991-Present

Aircraft

• P-47D Thunderbolt, 1943–1944
• P-51 Mustang (B/C/D/K variants), 1944–1945
• F-51D Mustang, 1946-1951; 1952-1956
• F-84E Thunderjet, 1951-1952
• F-86A Sabre, 1956-1957
• RB-57A Canberra, 1957-1965

• RF-101G Voodoo, 1965-1971
• RF-101H Voodoo, 1971-1976
• RF-4C Phantom II, 1976-1989
• C-130B Hercules, 1989-1992
• C-130H Hercules, 1992-Present

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Fogg, Richard & Janet, Fogg in the Cockpit: Howard Fogg-Master Railroad Artist, World War II Fighter Pilot. Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, 2011 ISBN 978-1-61200-004-6
• Freeman, Roger A. Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle, 1978. ISBN 0-900913-09-6.
• Freeman, Roger A. The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record. Cassell & Company, 1991. ISBN 0-304-35708-1.
• Maurer, Maurer, Air Force Combat Units of World War II, Office of Air Force history (1961). ISBN 0-405-12194-6
• Maurer, Maurer, Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Office of Air Force history (1982). ISBN 0-8317-1501-4
• Miller, Kent D. Jigger, Tinplate and Redcross: the 359th Fighter Group in World War II. Fort Wayne, Indiana: Academy Publishing Corporation, 1987.
• Smith, Jack H. Mustangs and Unicorns: A History of the 359th Fighter Group. Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-57510-029-0.
• Smith, Jack H. 359th Fighter Group. Oxford: Osprey, 2002. ISBN 978-1-84176-440-5.

External links

• 123d Airlift Wing Official Website
• Global Security
• Kentucky National Guard eMuseum
• https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/359th-Fighter-Group-1943-1945/120987634620533
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONu4qpfvQug&feature=channel&list=UL
• http://fogginthecockpit.blogspot.com/p/359th-fighter-group.html
• usaaf.com 359th Fighter Group
• littlefriends.co.uk 359th Fighter Group
• USAF Aircraft Serial Number Search