| 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing | |
|---|---|
 Tong 725, aC-7A Caribou of the535th Tactical Airlift Squadron, October 1971 | |
| Active | 1953–1960, 1966–1972 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Airlift |
| Motto | Efficient Airlift Support |
| Engagements | Korean Service Vietnam Service |
| Decorations | Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award withCombat "V" Device Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Korean Presidential Unit Citation Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm |
| Insignia | |
| Patch with 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing emblem[a][1] |  |
The483rd Tactical Airlift Wing was a tacticalairlift and compositewing assigned toPacific Air Forces during theVietnam War. It was the host organization atCam Ranh Bay Air Base South Vietnam from 1970 to 1972.
The Wing was first organized as the483rd Troop Carrier Wing during theKorean War, as an airlift organization assigned to Far East Air Forces (laterPacific Air Forces).
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The wing was activated atAshiya Air Base, Japan as the483rd Troop Carrier Wing on 1 January 1953 and replaced the403rd Troop Carrier Wing, Medium and absorbed the 403rd's mission, personnel and equipment.[1] It was assigned to the315th Air Division ofFar East Air Forces for duty in theKorean War.
The wing was equipped withFairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars and performed troop carrier and air transport operations in the Far East, including landing of troops and cargo in forward areas of the combat zone, air transportation of airborne troops and equipment, and air evacuation of casualties.[1] In June 1953, as the Korean war neared an armistice, all wingC-119s airlifted the entire187th Regimental Combat Team (Airborne) fromKyushu, Japan toSeoul and Chunch'on, South Korea, to preclude enemy breakthroughs.[2] This was the largest mass movement of personnel in the history of combat cargo to that time.[1] For is actions in the Korean War, the wing received theKorean Presidential Unit Citation.
Between April 1953 and September 1954, the wing aided theFrench Air Force in Indochina by training aircrews, evacuating wounded, and maintaining aircraft.[1] For these actions, the wing became one of the first units in the Air Force to receive theAir Force Outstanding Unit Award. In 1958, the wing began to reequip withLockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.[3] Its transition was complete by 1959. It performed theater transport duties and participated in jointexercises withArmy units[2] until inactivated in Japan on 23 June 1960. Its squadrons were transferred to the direct control of the 315th Air Division and relocated toNaha Air Base andTachikawa Air Base, Japan as Ashiya closed.[4][5]
In August 1966, the Air Force and theArmy began implementing Project Red Leaf, which would transfer responsibility for thede Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou from the Army to the Air Force following theJohnson-McConnell agreement of 1966. Air Force personnel began being assigned to the Army aviation companies flying the Caribou. Starting in late October personnel to form thecadre for the483rd Troop Carrier Wing began to arrive atCam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Viet Nam. The cadre began planning to move squadron level operations from the small Army camps they were operating from to permanent sites when the Air Force units were activated. Although removal of Caribous from theMekong Delta andAn Khe was particularly controversial, theDepartment of Defense ordered that the wing's squadrons be located on Air Force installations, not Army posts. On 1 January 1967, the wing was organized and took over Caribou operations. Two squadrons each were located at Cam Ranh Bay,Vung Tau Air Base, andPhu Cat Air Base,[1][6][7] although detachments were maintained at an additional six locations.[b] In December 1967, aViet Cong mortar attack onCan Tho Airfield damaged two wing C-7s. As a result wing planes were no longer stationed at Can Tho,Nha Trang Air Base, orPleiku Air Base.[8]
The 483rd was assigned the mission of providing intra-theater airlift in support of United States military civic actions, combat support and civic assistance throughout the Republic of Vietnam.[9][1] The wing's Caribou proved especially valuable in resupplyingspecial forces camps, and largely supplanted theFairchild C-123 Providers in performing this mission.[10] Initially, the wing's537th Troop Carrier Squadron was dedicated to supporting the1st Cavalry Division. This arrangement continued until late 1968, when the division moved to the southern provinces and was more efficiently supported by the squadrons at Cam Ranh Bay and Vung Tau.[11]
The C-7s provided the light load-short haul transport to rough landing strips in South Vietnam. The unique capabilities of the C-7 for short landing and takeoff made Caribou transports vital to the war effort. On many occasions the C-7A's flew emergency airlift missions to airstrips and combat areas that no other aircraft could reach. Most notable were those in support of special forces camps in theCentral Highlands.
In June 1968 the wing flew a record 2,420 combat troops in three days betweenDak Pek,Ben Het andDak To. In August 1968 pinpoint night airdrops were accomplished at Duc Lap, Ha Thanh andTonle Cham special forces camps. Ammunition and medical supplies were parachuted into 75-foot-square drop zones while the camps were under attack. In June 1969 during the siege of Ben Het more than 200 tons of ammunition, POL, rations, water and medical supplies were airdropped into a 100 x 200-foot zone with every load on target and 100 per cent recovered.
In March 1969, a provisional group was established atVung Tau Airfield to exercise command and control over the wing's units located there.[12] In June 1970, the group was discontinued[1] when the Caribou squadrons at Vung Tau moved to Cam Ranh Bay.[13] With the inactivation of the459th Tactical Airlift Squadron that month, all but one C-7 squadron was located with the wing.
In March 1970, when the12th Tactical Fighter Wing moved toPhu Cat Air Base,[14] the 483rd Wing became the host wing at Cam Ranh Bay. As a corollary to assuming the support mission for the base, support organizations assigned to the wing carried out a number of civic actions, including construction of housing, providing support for orphanages and educational institutions and improvement of water supply systems.[15]
In April 1970, the wing, designated the483rd Tactical Airlift Wing since August 1967,[1] helped break the siege ofDak Seang Special Forces Camp.[15] North Vietnamese forces had surrounded the camp, and learning from the success of air resupply during their 1969 attack on theBen Het Camp, also establishedanti-aircraft artillery positions along likely air resupply corridors. On the first day of the siege, two wing C-7s were diverted from their scheduled missions and staged out of Pleiku to make the first airdrops to the camp. The following day, a C-7 was lost shortly after releasing its load. Resupply of the camp was so urgent that all drop-qualified crews of the wing were ordered to Pleiku to support the operation and eleven sorties were flown that day with cover fromDouglas A-1 Skyraiders. Crews approached the camp from the north or south to use terrain to mask their approaches from enemyflak. Loss of the third Caribou in five days prompted a move to resupply the camp with night drops, with cover and illumination provided byFairchild AC-119 Stinger gunships. The majority of the missions were flown by the 537th Squadron, although all wing squadrons participated[16] The wing flew 100 air-drop sorties under heavy hostile fire in ten days delivering some 400,000 pounds of vital supplies.[15] The wing earned a secondPresidential Unit Citation for this action, evacuation of over 2000 refugees from Cambodia, and transportation of the Presidential Southeast Asia Investigation Team to various remote locations in South Vietnam.[17]
On 31 August 1971 the remaining unit at Phu Cat Air Base, the 537th Tactical Airlift Squadron, inactivated, followed shortly thereafter by the536th Tactical Airlift Squadron. During their five years' flying for the 483rd, the C-7A Caribous carried more than 4.7 million passengers, averaging more than one million a year during 1967–1969. At the same time the wing averaged more than 100,000 tons of cargo each year.[citation needed]
On 31 August 1971, threeelectronic warfare squadrons from the inactivating460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, stationed at various bases in Viet Nam, were assigned to the 483rd TAW. The following day, twospecial operations squadrons were transferred from the inactivating14th Special Operations Wing. The electronic warfare squadrons were inactivated or assigned to other wings within six months.[citation needed]
The three remaining C-7 squadrons inactivated in early 1972 (535th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 24 January,458th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 March, and457th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 30 April). Most of the C-7 Caribous were transferred to the VNAF.[citation needed]No. 35 Squadron RAAF at Vung Tau flew its last mission on 13 February 1972 and departed South Vietnam forRAAF Base Richmond in Australia on 19 February 1972; it was the last RAAF unit to leave following the decision to withdraw.[18] The mixture of reassigned squadrons from other wings were all inactivated or reassigned by the end of May. The 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing was inactivated on 31 May 1972.[1] For its service in Vietnam, the 483rd was awarded twoPresidential Unit Citations, threeAir Force Outstanding Unit Awards withCombat "V" Device and threeRepublic of Viet Nam Gallantry Crosses with Palm.[1]
483rd Tactical Airlift Wing
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Further Reading
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