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305th Air Mobility Wing | |
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 A wingKC-10A Extender taxis to a parking area during operations at Nashville Air National Guard Base | |
| Active | 1951–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Airlift andAir Refueling |
| Garrison/HQ | McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey |
| Motto | "Can Do" |
| Engagements | Operation Urgent Fury |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Col. Kathleen M. Hasson |
| Notable commanders | Lt GenGerald W. Johnson |
| Insignia | |
| 305th Air Mobility Wing emblem(approved 15 June 1994)[1] |  |
| Patch with 305th Air Refueling Wing emblem(approved 13 April 1978)[2] |  |
| 305th Air Refueling Wing emblem(approved 25 March 1970)[3] |  |
| Patch with 305th Bombardment Wing emblem(approved 23 April 1951)[4] |  |
The305th Air Mobility Wing is aUnited States Air Force strategic airlift and air refueling wing under the operational control of theAir Mobility Command. It generates, mobilizes and deploysC-17 Globemaster III andKC-46A Pegasus aircraft. The 305th AMW is a tenant unit at mostly theMcGuire AFB component ofJoint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in central New Jersey. It also controls one of the Air Force's busiest aerial ports, and the air operations at both McGuire Air Force Base and Naval Support Activity Lakehurst.
The wing's motto is "Can Do," a description formulated in World War II when its predecessor unit, the305th Bombardment Group, earned its reputation as courageous, innovative warriors. The legendary 305th Bomb Group was first commanded by then-Colonel Curtis E. LeMay. The wing is the only Air Force unit with twoMedal of Honor recipients – Lieutenants William Lawley and Edward Michael, who earned them on separate B-17 missions during World War II.[5]
The305th Bombardment Wing was established on 20 December 1950 and activated on 2 January 1951 atMacDill Air Force Base, Florida.[1] The wing took charge of the 305th Bombardment Group's former flying squadrons when the Air Force reorganized its wings into the tri-deputate system. Initially training with the BoeingB-29 andB-50 Superfortress, the 305th received its firstBoeing KC-97 Stratofreighter later that year. Following this, the group began training heavily in its new dual mission of strategic bombardment and aerial refueling.
In June 1952, the wing became the secondStrategic Air Command (SAC) wing to receive the BoeingB-47A Stratojet bomber. Operational squadrons of the wing were the 305th, 364th, 365th and 366th Bombardment Squadrons, while the 306th Bombardment Squadron was intended to act as a training unit to prepare futureB-47 crews. The B-47As were primarily training aircraft and were not considered as being combat-ready, since most of them were unarmed and were initially without almost any of their vital electronic components
In 1953, the 305th was upgraded to the B-47B production Stratojet and the wing began operational strategic bombardment and refueling missions from MacDill. The wing deployed overseas three times, once to England (September–December 1953) and twice toNorth Africa (November 1955 – January 1956 and January–March 1957), in keeping with its mission of global bombardment and air-refueling operations. The wing's deployments marked the first overseas deployment of the B-47B.
Two of the wing's B-47s set speed records on 28 July 1953 when one flew fromRCAF Goose Bay,Labrador, toRAF Fairford, England, in 4:14 hours and the other flew fromLimestone Air Force Base, Maine, to RAF Fairford in 4:45 hours.[1]
During this period, the 305th also figured prominently in the filming of the 1955James Stewart andJune Allyson film,Strategic Air Command, a portion of which was filmed in and around both the 305th Bombardment Wing and306th Bombardment Wing areas and their B-47 aircraft at MacDill.
In 1955, SAC upgraded the 305th to the B-47E, the major production version of the Stratojet.
A major tragedy struck the 305th on the evening of 10 October 1956, when 50 of its personnel returning from a 90-daytemporary duty assignment in England on aMilitary Air Transportation Service flight died when theUnited States NavyDouglas R6D-1 Liftmaster carrying themdisappeared over theAtlantic Ocean. A search discovered wreckage from the aircraft, but no survivors or bodies ever were found.[6][7][8]
In May 1959, the 305th Bomb Wing (with B-47s) was reassigned toBunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana and assumed responsibility for operating the base. Later that same year, the firstBoeing KC-135A Stratotankers were assigned to the unit, replacing the propeller-driven KC-97s that had difficulties keeping up with the B-47 jet aircraft. The 305th began transferring its Stratojets to other wings as replacement aircraft in early 1960 in a planned equipment change.
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In September 1960, the 305th became the second USAF wing selected to receive theConvair B-58A Hustler with the first aircraft received on 11 May 1961. Two months later, the first TB-58A trainer arrived. Three squadrons (364th, 365th and 366th) were equipped with B-58As, and, the wing was declared operationally ready in August 1962.
A wing B-58 set five records on 16 October 1963 by flying fromTokyo, Japan, toLondon, England (via Alaska and Greenland), in 8:35 hours at an average speed of approximately 938 mph (1,510 km/h).[9]
In a little-known attempt to increase the flexibility of the B-58 as a weapons system, experiments were carried out in April 1964 under a program known as Operation Bullseye to see if the B-58 could carry and deliver conventional bombs. In coordination withRepublic F-105Ds andMcDonnell F-4C/Ds, sorties were flown using B-58s as lead ships and pathfinders and as independent strike aircraft. It was demonstrated that the B-58 could carry iron bombs on the wing root bomb racks that had earlier been added to accommodate four Mk. 43 nuclear weapons. Iron bombs of varying weights up to 3.000 pounds were dropped, usually from low altitudes and at speeds of 600 knots. Almost all of the drops were visual, with the AN/ASQ-42 system rarely being used. However, the fear that the B-58's integral wing tanks would make it vulnerable to ground fire during low-altitude delivery lead to the abandonment of the program.
The wing operated a B-58 combat crew training school (CCTS), August 1965 – December 1969, and gained aBoeing EC-135 Post-Attack Command Control System (PACCS) mission with the 3d PACCS Squadron in mid-1966.
After 26 years of bearing the nameBunker Hill, the base was renamedGrissom Air Force Base on 12 May 1968 after Lieutenant ColonelVirgil I. "Gus" Grissom, USAF, a native of Mitchell, Indiana, who was one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. Having later commanded the Gemini 3 mission in 1965, Lieutenant Colonel Grissom was assigned as commander for the first crewed Apollo mission, but was killed with the rest of his crew during a fire in hisApollo 1 capsule during a pre-launch rehearsal on Pad 34 atCape Kennedy, Florida in January 1967.
The active service life of the B-58 was destined to be rather short. Phaseout of the B-58 fleet was ordered bySecretary of DefenseRobert McNamara in December 1965, since it was felt that the high-altitude performance of the B-58 could no longer guarantee success against increasingly sophisticated Soviet air defenses, particularly high-altitude surface-to-air missiles such as theSA-2 Guideline.
At that time, Secretary McNamara also announced that theF-111 would be built for both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. McNamara further proposed that a SAC variant of the new F-111, to be designated FB-111A, along with improvements in the Air ForceMinuteman and NavyPolaris missile systems and modernization of the subsonicBoeing B-52, would enhance strategic deterrence and make the B-58 superfluous to the needs of the USAF.
The first B-58 to go into long-term storage was B-58A (AF Serial No. 59-2446) which flew toDavis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona on 5 November 1969. Once underway, the B-58 retirement program moved relatively rapidly. The retirement was completed on 16 January 1970, when the 305th Bomb Wing's last two B-58s (AF Serial No. 55-0662 and 61-078) were flown to Davis-Monthan for storage.
With the loss of its bombardment squadrons, the 305th Bomb Wing was converted to an inflight-refueling wing using KC-135As, and, it was redesignated as the305th Air Refueling Wing on 1 January 1970. It was assigned to Strategic Air Command, Second Air Force, 42nd Air Division.[1]
From the early 1970s, the wing supported worldwide tanker task forces by deploying KC-135 aircraft to Europe, Alaska,Greenland, and the Pacific. In 1975, the 3d ACCS was inactivated and its specialized EC-135s were transferred to the70th Air Refueling Squadron for thePost-Attack Command and Control System mission. Also in 1975, the unit was transferred to theEighth Air Force.[1]
The unit was redesignated as the 305th Air Refueling Wing, Heavy on 1 February 1978.[1]
The wing provided tanker-refueling support to units involved in theInvasion of Grenada (October 1983) and therestoration of democracy in Panama (December 1989).[1]
From August 1990 to June 1991, the unit deployed personnel and aircraft to provide refueling support for air operations to and inSouthwest Asia. During the First Gulf War, aircraft and personnel from the 305th were primarily assigned to the 1703rd and 1709th Provisional Air Refueling Wings atKing Khalid Military City (KKMC) and at Royal Saudi Air Force Air Force Base Jeddah, respectively. The 305th Wing also delivered food to the Kurds in Northern Iraq, April–May 1991.
ThePost-Attack Command and Control System mission was inactivated, and, the EC-135 aircraft were retired in May 1992. The unit was redesignated the 305th Air Refueling Wing on 1 September 1991.[1]
On 1 June 1992,Strategic Air Command (SAC) was inactivated and the 305th realigned to the newly establishedAir Mobility Command (AMC), merging former SAC air refueling aircraft with strategic and tactical theater airlift aircraft operated by the formerMilitary Airlift Command (MAC), the latter also having been inactivated on the same date. The wing was also redesignated as the305th Air Mobility Wing (305 AMW) on 1 October 1994.
The1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed realignment of Grissom Air Force Base to theAir Force Reserve and the 305th Air Refueling Wing phased out operations there in 1994. The KC-135R-equipped 70th and 305th Air Refueling Squadrons were inactivated. In addition, the EC-135G/L radio-relay aircraft, as part of the PACCS system, were also retired.
The 305th Air Mobility Wing was moved without personnel or equipment toMcGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, replacing the438th Airlift Wing on 1 October 1994.[1] At McGuire, the wing controls three squadrons ofBoeing C-17A Globemaster III transports andBoeing KC-46A Pegasus air-refueling aircraft.
The 305th Air Mobility Wing is currently operational atJoint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey which has more than 55 years of service. It also operates in parallel with itsAir Force Reserve Command "Associate" wing, the514th Air Mobility Wing (514 AMW), which operates the sameC-17 aircraft. The 305th AMW also works with the108th Wing (108 WG), anAir Mobility Command-gained unit of theNew Jersey Air National Guard, operating theKC-46A Pegasus, also on McGuire AFB.
On 3 March 2009, the 305th Air Mobility Wing underwent significant changes due to BRAC 2005. The wing no longer provides installation support for McGuire – the87th Air Base Wing (87th ABW) now provides the installation support. When the two wings divided, the 305th Mission Support Group and 305th Medical Group transferred to the 87th ABW to become the 87th Mission Support Group and 87th Medical Group. The 305th Maintenance Group and 305th Operations Groups continue to provide a responsive, combat-ready mobility and expeditionary capability for United States. However, by virtue of the same BRAC 2005 legislation, the 305th Air Mobility Wing not only controls air operations at McGuire AFB, but also those atNaval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst (with the exception of the Naval Air Warfare Center test strip). In effect, this places the 305th AMW Commander as the single airfield authority at both McGuire AFB and Lakehurst.
The following squadrons make up the305th Operations Group (305 OG):
The following squadrons make up the 305th Maintenance Group (305 MXG):
Groups
Squadrons
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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