927th Air Refueling Wing - History

History

Following the mobilizations in 1961 and 1962 for the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Continental Air Command (ConAC) realized that it was unwieldy to mobilize an entire wing unless absolutely necessary. Their original Table of Organization for each Wing was a wing headquarters, a troop carrier group, an Air Base Group, a maintenance and supply group, and a medical group. In 1957, the troop carrier group and maintenance and supply groups were inactivated, with their squadrons reassigned directly to the wing headquarters - despite the fact that many wings had squadrons spread out over several bases due to the Detached Squadron Concept dispersing Reserve units over centers of population.

To resolve this, in late 1962 and early 1963, ConAC reorganized the structure of its reserve Troop Carrier Wings by establishing fully deployable Troop Carrier Groups and inserting them into the chain of command between the Wing and its squadrons at every base that held a ConAC troop carrier squadron. At each base, the group was composed of a material squadron, a troop carrier squadron, a tactical hospital or dispensary, and a combat support squadron. Each troop carrier wing consisted of 3 or 4 of these groups. By doing so, ConAC could facilitate the mobilization of either aircraft and aircrews alone, aircraft and minimum support personnel (one troop carrier group), or the entire troop carrier wing. This also gave ConAC the flexibility to expand each Wing by attaching additional squadrons, if necessary from other Reserve wings to the deployable groups for deployments.

As a result, the 927th Troop Carrier Group was established with a mission to organize, recruit and train Air Force Reserve personnel in the tactical airlift of airborne forces, their equipment and supplies and delivery of these forces and materials by airdrop, landing or cargo extraction systems. The group was equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars for Tactical Air Command airlift operations.

The group was one of three C-119 groups assigned to the 403d TCW in 1963, the others being the 928th Troop Carrier Group, at O'Hare International Airport, Illinois and the 929th Troop Carrier Group at Davis Field, Oklahoma.

The 927 TCG was re-designated the 927th Tactical Airlift Group in 1967 and flew the C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft until 1969. The 927 TAG was re-designated the 927th Tactical Air Support Group (927 TASG) on 18 June 1969, and flew U-3 Administrator ("Blue Canoe") aircraft until 1971. The 927 TASG was re-designated the 927th Tactical Airlift Group (927 TAG) on 29 June 1971, and converted to the C-130 Hercules aircraft. During 1992, the unit converted to KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft and was re-designated the 927th Air Refueling Group (927 ARG) until 1 October 1994, when the unit was re-designated as the 927th Air Refueling Wing (927 ARW).

The 927 ARW's flying and non-flying units have demonstrated professionalism throughout many years of service. For example, during the Vietnam War, the flying squadron ferried aircraft and delivered equipment and supplies to South Vietnam. From a humanitarian perspective, unit personnel offered assistance when the need arose. They supported relief efforts such as the 1973 New York and Pennsylvania floods as well as hurricane disaster relief to Honduras in 1974 and for Hurricane Hugo victims in 1989.

During 1990, the 927 TAG deployed more than 400 airmen, aircraft and supplies for six months to the Middle East in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.