Military unit
The
370th Air Expeditionary Wing
(AEW) is a provisional
United States Air Force
unit assigned to
United States Air Forces Central
, which may activate or inactivate it at any time. The unit was last stationed in
Iraq
, and was likely inactivated in 2011 as part of the United States pullout of forces.
History
[
edit
]
Pre World War II
[
edit
]
The
370th Air Expeditionary Wing
was originally constituted as the 1st Transport Group in 1933.
[1]
As a Regular Army Inactive unit, it was assigned reserve personnel in early 1934 only for training purposes.
[2]
From February to May 1934, the
group
was provisionally organized at
Columbus, Ohio
.
[2]
In 1937, the group was consolidated with the
10th Observation Group
, also constituted in 1933 but never activated. The consolidated group was designated the
10th Transport Group
and activated on 20 May 1937.
[1]
Its original
squadrons
were the 1st,
[3]
2d
,
[4]
3d,
[5]
and
4th Transport Squadrons
.
[6]
It provided a single headquarters for these squadrons, which had been assigned to the various Air Depots in the United States.
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
The group headquarters and one of its squadrons were located at what is now
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
, Ohio. It operated single-engine
Bellanca C-27 Airbus
and twin-engine
Douglas C-33
transports as part of the
logistics
organization of the
Air Corps
on routes in the US and to Alaska and the Canal Zone, transporting supplies, materiel, and personnel.
[1]
In May 1941, two of the group's squadrons were reassigned to provide
cadres
for newly forming transport groups as the Air Corps expanded. The 3d Transport Squadron was reassigned to the
63d Transport Group
,
[5]
while the 4th Transport Squadron was reassigned to the
62d Transport Group
[6]
This left the group with two of its original squadrons, plus the
5th Transport Squadron
, which had activated under the group in 1939.
[7]
World War II
[
edit
]
On 30 April 1942, the group transferred to the
Air Transport Command (later I Troop Carrier Command)
(I TCC) and was redesignated as the
10th Troop Carrier Group
two months later.
[1]
It converted primarily to
Douglas C-47 Skytrain
aircraft, but also flew other military models of the Douglas DC-3.
[8]
After its transfer the group acted as an Operational Training Unit (OTU), OTUs were oversized units that trained cadres for "satellite" troop carrier groups.
[9]
In 1943 the group was given the additional duty of acting as a Replacement Training Unit training replacement
aircrews
.
[1]
In February 1943, the last of the group's original squadrons, the 1st and 2d Troop Carrier Squadrons (TCS) deployed to the CBI Theater and were assigned to
Tenth Air Force
.
[3]
[4]
The following month, they were replaced by the
307th
and
308th TCSs
.
[10]
During the next two years, the group moved frequently to various I TCC stations, while its squadrons were frequently located elsewhere.
[7]
All squadrons except for the
38th TCS
, located at
Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base
, North Carolina
[11]
were colocated with group headquarters by early 1944.
[1]
[7]
[10]
The
Army Air Forces
found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to performing the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.
[12]
As a result, the 10th was disbanded in April 1944
[1]
and its mission, personnel, and equipment were combined with the support organizations at
Alliance Army Air Field
and transferred to the 805th AAF Base Unit (Replacement Training Unit, Troop Carrier),
[13]
while that of the 38th TCS was transferred to the 810th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Troop Carrier).
Expeditionary Service
[
edit
]
The
370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group
(AEAG) was activated during the
Iraq War
on 29 March 2007. Its activation ceremony at
New Al Muthana Air Base
was delayed until late April.
[14]
The mission of the 370 AEAG was to restart the
Iraqi Air Force
by training Iraqi Air Force aircrews how to operate, employ and maintain
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
and
Mil Mi-17
[15]
aircraft, and to maintain and operate as a self-sufficient
air base
. This mission was known as "CAFTT" for Coalition Air Forces Training Team.
[15]
The group included personnel from a variety of career specialties
[15]
and it was assigned to
Second Air Force
as part of
Air Education and Training Command
.
[
citation needed
]
The group included the
52nd Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron
, inactivated in December 2011 with the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
Lineage
[
edit
]
10th Observation Group
- Constituted on the inactive list as
10th Observation Group
on 1 October 1933 (never active)
- Consolidated with the
1st Transport Group
as the
10th Transport Group
on 20 May 1937
370th Air Expeditionary Wing
- Constituted on the inactive list as
1st Transport Group
on 1 October 1933
[16]
- Organized provisionally on 14 February 1934
- Discontinued as a provisional organization on 11 May 1934
- Consolidated with the
10th Observation Group
as the
10th Transport Group
, and activated, on 20 May 1937
[17]
- Re-designated as:
10th Troop Carrier Group
in July 1942.
- Disbanded on 14 April 1944.
- Reconstituted and re-designated
370th Military Airlift Group
on 31 July 1985
[8]
- Re-designated
370th Air Expeditionary Group
and converted to provisional status on 24 October 2005
[8]
- Re-designated
370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group
on 23 March 2007
[8]
- Activated on 29 March 2007
[8]
- Inactivated on 1 November 2008
[18]
- Re-designated
370th Air Expeditionary Wing
on 25 February 2010
[19]
- Inactivated 2011
Assignments
[
edit
]
- 6th Transport Wing, 14 February 1934 ? 11 May 1934
- Office of Chief of the Air Corps, 20 May 1937
- 50th Transport Wing
4 January 1941
- 52d Troop Carrier Wing
, 4 October 1942
- I Troop Carrier Command, 13 February 1943 ? 14 April 1944
- Air Education and Training Command to activate or inactivate any time after 23 March 2007 (Attached to: United States Air Forces Central)
[
citation needed
]
- 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force
, 29 March 2007 ? 1 November 2008
Components
[
edit
]
Airlift Squadrons
[
edit
]
Support Units
[
edit
]
- 1st Service Squadron: 14 February 1934 ? 11 May 1934, 20 May 1937 ? 1 January 1938
[25]
- 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron: 29 March 2007 ? 1 November 2008
[18]
- New Al Muthana Air Base, Iraq
- 370th Expeditionary Training Squadron: unknown ? 1 November 2008
[18]
- Camp Taji
, Iraq
|
- 371st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron: 29 March 2007 ? unknown
- 770th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron: unknown ? 1 November 2008
[18]
- Camp Taji, Iraq
[15]
- 870th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron:
- Kirkuk
, Iraq, 29 March 2007 ? 1 November 2008
[18]
|
Stations
[
edit
]
- Columbus, Ohio, 14 February 1934 ? 11 May 1934
- Patterson Field
, Ohio, 20 May 1937
- Wright Field
, Ohio, 20 June 1938
- Patterson Field, Ohio, 17 January 1941
- Milwaukee County Airport (later General Billy Mitchell Field)
, Wisconsin, 25 May 1942
- Pope Field
, North Carolina, 4 October 1942
|
- Dunnellon Army Air Field
, Florida, 13 February 1943
- Lawson Field
, Georgia, 30 November 1943
- Grenada Army Air Field
, Mississippi, 21 January 1944
- Alliance Army Air Field, Nebraska, 8 March 1944 ? 14 April 1944
- Baghdad, Iraq, 29 March 2007 ? 1 November 2008
|
Aircraft
[
edit
]
Gliders
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961].
Air Force Combat Units of World War II
(PDF)
(reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 52?53.
ISBN
0-912799-02-1
.
- ^
a
b
Clay, Steven E. (2010).
U.S. Army Order of Battle, 1919?1941
(PDF)
. Vol. 3, The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops, 1919?41. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 1296.
ISBN
9780984190140
.
LCCN
2010022326
.
OCLC
637712205
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 27 September 2013
. Retrieved
27 November
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969].
Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II
(PDF)
(reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 9?10.
ISBN
0-405-12194-6
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, pp. 17?18
- ^
a
b
c
d
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, p. 25
- ^
a
b
c
d
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, pp. 31?32
- ^
a
b
c
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, p. 37
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
AFHRA Factsheet, 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group
Archived
23 February 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
(retrieved 27 November 2012)
- ^
Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). "Introduction".
The Army Air Forces in World War II
. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. xxxvi.
LCCN
48-3657
.
- ^
a
b
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, pp. 372?374
- ^
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, pp. 181?182
- ^
Goss, William A (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.).
The Army Air Forces in World War II
. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. 75.
LCCN
48-3657
.
- ^
Abstract, History of Alliance AAF Apr?Jun 1944
(retrieved 27 November 2012)
- ^
Air Force Print News Story: 370th Group and squadron stand up
, 22 April 2007 (retrieved 28 November 2012)
- ^
a
b
c
d
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Press Release,
Airmen help Iraqi air force become self-sustaining service
, 9 June 2008 (retrieved 28 November 2012)
- ^
Not related to the 1st Transport Group, which was activated as the 1st Ferrying Group and served in India during World War II
- ^
Not related to the 10th Transport Group, which was activated as the 10th Ferrying Group and served in the Caribbean during World War II
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Air Force Organization Status Change Report, November 2008 (available at Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)
- ^
Air Force Organization Status Change Report, February 2010 (available at Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
At various I TCC stations after 1942
- ^
AFHRA Factsheet, 2d Airlift Squadron
Archived
24 February 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
(retrieved 27 November 2012)
- ^
AFHRA Factsheet, 4th Airlift Squadron
Archived
24 February 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
(retrieved 27 November 2012)
- ^
Maurer,
Combat Squadrons
, pp. 140?141
- ^
AFHRA Factsheet, 38th Airlift Squadron
Archived
26 February 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
(retrieved 27 November 2012)
- ^
Clay, p. 1366
Bibliography
[
edit
]
This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Clay, Steven E. (2010).
U.S. Army Order of Battle, 1919?1941
(PDF)
. Vol. 3, The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops, 1919?41. Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press.
ISBN
9780984190140
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 27 September 2013
. Retrieved
27 November
2012
.
- Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955).
The Army Air Forces in World War II
. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
LCCN
48-3657
.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961].
Air Force Combat Units of World War II
(PDF)
(reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
ISBN
0-912799-02-1
.
LCCN
61060979
.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969].
Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II
(PDF)
(reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
ISBN
0-405-12194-6
.
LCCN
70605402
.
OCLC
72556
.
- Mueller, Robert (1989).
Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982
(PDF)
. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
ISBN
0-912799-53-6
.