434th Air Refueling Wing

434th Air Refueling Wing
434th Air Refueling Wing Emblem
Active	1943–Present
Country	United States
Branch	Air Force
Part of	Air Force Reserve Command
Garrison/HQ	Grissom Air Reserve Base
Decorations	DUC AFOUA FCdG w/ Palm File:GallantryCrossRibbon.jpg RVGC w/ Palm
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier General Brigadier General Dean J. Despinoy

A KC-135R Stratotanker from the 434th Air Refueling Wing refuels an F-22A from the 1st Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, Virginia

The 434th Air Refueling Wing, (434 ARW) is one of the key refueling units in the Air Force Reserve. The wing provides mid-air refueling with Boeing KC-135R Stratotankers to long-range bombers, fighters, and cargo aircraft.

The 434th Air Refueling Wing holds the record for most aerial refuelings in a one-week period when the unit performed 290 aerial refuelings, with over one million pounds of fuel offloaded. The unit also set a single day record of refueling 90 aircraft, with over 283,000 pounds of fuel offloaded. These records were established in 1981.

Mission

The mission of the 434th Air Refueling Wing is to develop and maintain the operational capability of its units and train reservists for worldwide duty. Training consists of flight operations, deployments and weekend training. It also has special taskings to generate aircraft and crews in support of the Air Mobility Command. Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and 4th Air Force, March Air Force Base, Ca., provide command and supervisory guidance prior to mobilization.

The 434th Air Refueling Wing regularly participates in exercises and front-line operations to support America's national interests. The Air Force Reserve Command provides a substantial portion of the Department of Defense's total aerial refueling capability. Hence, the 434th receives its share of taskings both during peacetime and times of crisis to support our nation's active duty military forces.

In addition to being a self-contained combat-ready unit, the 434th Air Refueling Wing also has the responsibility to operate and maintain Grissom Air Reserve Base. Grissom is one of only four Air Force Reserve Bases nationwide

Commanders

Wing	Unit	Commander
434th	Wing	Brigadier General Dean J. Despinoy
434th	Vice Wing	Colonel Timothy L. Cox
434th	Operations Group	Colonel Randall A. Ogden
434th	Maintenance Group	Colonel Stan A. Sheley
434th	Mission Support Group	Colonel Betty A. Bowen
434th	Command Chief Master Sergeant	Peri L. Rogowski

Units

• 434th Operations Group
  • 72d Air Refueling Squadron (KC-135R) (Blue tail stripe)
  • 74th Air Refueling Squadron (KC-135R) (Red tail stripe)
  • 434th Operations Support Squadron
• 434th Maintenance Group
  • 434th Maintenance Operations Squadron
  • 434th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
  • 434th Maintenance Squadron
• 434th Mission Support Group
  • 434th Mission Support Squadron
  • 434th Services Flight
  • 434th Security Forces Squadron
  • 434th Civil Engineer Squadron
  • 434th Communications Squadron
  • 434th Operational Contracting Flight
  • 434th Logistics Readiness Squadron
  • 49th Aerial Port Flight
  • 434th Aerospace Medicine Squadron

Included in these major organizations are such areas as flight operations, aircraft maintenance, plans and programs, safety, airfield management, security police, communications, medical support, information management, administration, and civil engineering.

History

For additional history and lineage, see 434th Operations Group

Lineage

• Established as 434 Troop Carrier Wing, Medium, and activated in the Reserve, on 1 Jul 1949

Ordered to Active Service on 1 May 1951

Inactivated on 1 Feb 1953

• Activated in the Reserve on 1 Feb 1953

Ordered to Active Service on 28 Oct 1962

Relieved from Active Duty on 28 Nov 1962

Redesignated 434 Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 Jul 1967

Inactivated on 31 Dec 1969

• Redesignated 434 Special Operations Wing on 12 Jan 1971

Activated in the Reserve on 15 Jan 1971

Redesignated: 434 Tactical Fighter Wing on 1 Oct 1973

Redesignated: 434 Air Refueling Wing, Heavy on 1 Jul 1987

Redesignated: 434 Air Refueling Wing on 1 Feb 1992

Redesignated: 434 Wing on 1 Aug 1992

Redesignated: 434 Air Refueling Wing on 1 Oct 1994.

Stations assigned

Aircraft

Operations

Cold War

Emblem of the 434th Troop Carrier Wing

Trained as a Reserve troop carrier wing under supervision of the 2466th Air Reserve Training Center, July 1949 – February 1951. Ordered to active service and flew airlift missions and participated in tactical exercises, May 1951 – January 1953. Also provided C-46 combat crew training in support of Far East requirements, September 1952 – January 1953.

Trained as a Reserve troop carrier wing, February 1953 – October 1958, using C-46s as primary training aircraft to January 1957 and C-119s thereafter. Began Air Reserve Technician (ART) program in October 1958 and soon began flying overseas missions.

Went on one-month active duty in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis.

The wing in June 1969 converted one group to U-3A aircraft with a forward air control training mission but for only six months.

Trained for special operations missions, 1971–1973 and for close air support missions, 1973–1987. The 45th TFS provided combat crew training in A-37 aircraft for USAF and friendly foreign nations until June 1980. The A-37s were then transferred to active-duty units with the squadron converting to A-10s in 1981 when the wing's mission changed to training forward air controllers (FACs).

At Grissom the 434th TFW provided A-10 tactical fighter training for reserve and guard pilots, October 1981 – June 1987. The A-10s were then transferred to the 930th TFG, and the wing was redesignated as the 434th Air Refueling Wing and absorbing the personnel, equipment, and worldwide air refueling mission of the inactivated 931st Air Refueling Group at Grissom AFB with KC-135A/Es

The wing deployed personnel and equipment to Southwest Asia and to locations within the U.S. in support of operations in the Persian Gulf, 1990–1991.

Modern era

On May 1, 1992 it was again reassigned to Air Mobility Command's Fifteenth Air Force. Because of the Persian Gulf War it was called back into active duty as the 434th Wing on June 1, 1992. It was once again redesignated as the 434th Air Refueling Wing in the early 1990s.

The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) directed realignment of Grissom AFB to the Air Force Reserve and the active-duty 305th Air Refueling Wing phased out operations there in 1994.

The 72d AR converted to the KC-135R concurrently with the drawdown of the 305th ARW. Transferred its older KC-135Es to the 63d ARS at Selfridge ARB, Michigan. The 74th AR was activated as the active-duty units withdrew from Grissom in 1994.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Some of the text in an early version of this article was taken from pages on the Grissom Air Reserve Base website, http://www.grissom.afrc.af.mil, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by:

• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
• Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.

External links

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/434arw.htm