| Unit Name: | 427th Aircraft Sustainment Group |
| Dates: | 1942–1945; 2008–2010 |
| Country: |  United States |
| Role: | Logistics support |
| Command Structure: | Air Force Materiel Command |
| Battles: | European Theater of Operations |
The 427th Aircraft Sustainment Group is an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) organization. Its last assignment was with the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, where it was inactivated in 2010.
The group was first activated during World War II as the 27th Air Transport Group at RAF Hendon in 1943 as a logistics support organization for Eighth Air Force. The group provided intra-theater airlift services and ferried aircraft to combat units in the European Theater of Operations. One of its squadrons conducted aeromedical evacuation using single engine Noorduyn C-64 Norseman aircraft. The group moved from England to France in 1944. A detachment of the group conducted special operations in Sweden and Norway from December 1944 until V-E Day. The group was inactivated in France in October 1945. The 27th group was disbanded while inactive on 8 October 1948.
In 1985, USAF reconstituted the group as the 427th Tactical Airlift Group, but it was never active under that designation. It was activated in 2008 as the 427th Aircraft Sustainment Group and provided support for the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. In 2010, the group was inactivated as AFMC returned to its traditional use of staff offices, rather than military units, for logistics management.
The group was first activated in the spring of 1943 as the 27th Air Transport Group at RAF Hendon, England to provide air transportation for Eighth Air Force. The group was activated to give a formal organization to several airlift operations that were already serving VIII Air Force Service Command. The first was located at Prestwick Airport, acting as a center for the receipt of combat crews and aircraft arriving from the United States. The second, located at Heathrow Airport provided communications support for command headquarters, and also operated a passenger and freight operation at RAF Hendon. The third and fourth locations, RAF Warton and Portreath, were involved in receiving replacement aircraft and dispatching them to combat units. After Operation Torch in November 1942, Warton also managed shipments of freight from England to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. When the group was activated, the Hendon operation became the 86th Transport Squadron and that at Warton became the 87th Transport Squadron. Prestwick operations fell under the 519th Service Squadron, while the 520th Service Squadron was activated at Portreath.[1]
Five additional ferrying and transport squadrons were assigned to the group in the winter of 1943. The 310th Ferrying Squadron was located at Warton and took over the ferrying mission formerly performed by the 87th Squadron. The 87th then augmented the services of Air Transport Command in moving priority freight and passengers. This mission occasionally involved the operation of Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express aircraft on flights across the Atlantic. The 325th Ferrying Squadron at Heston operated a series of air traffic detachments at locations throughout the United Kingdom.[2]
In the fall of 1944, the group was transferred to the 302d Transport Wing along with the 31st Transport Group of Ninth Air Force.[3] It lost its group commander, Col. Arnold, and most of its staff to the new wing. The group began to taper off its operations in the United Kingdom and transfer its operations to the continent of Europe, although the 325th squadron remained in the United Kingdom to operate its ferrying detachments. The group's squadrons, which had been spread over several bases in the United Kingdom, assembled at RAF Grove and moved in sequence to Le Bourget Airport. near Paris. France, led by the 320th Transport Squadron.[4] In November, one of the group's original squadrons, the 87th was transferred from the group to the Base Air Depot Area. The 87th was heavily involved in transporting fuel to General Patton's rapidly advancing Third Army.[5]
Despite their designation, three of the group's four ferrying squadrons did not operate as such. The 310th was, in effect, an additional transport squadron, while the 311th and 312th began to operate a theater school to train radio operators in the fall of 1944.[5] One of the group's transport units, the 320th Transport Squadron, was equipped with Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman aircraft for medical evacuation missions.[6]
In November 1944, ten Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft and their crews were withdrawn from the group and attached to the 302d wing for what was termed Project A. They were further detached the next month to the European Division of Air Transport Command's 1409th AAF Base Unit, becoming Operating Location 1409-1J. These aircraft moved to Luleå Airport in northern Sweden, near the Norwegian border. The operation, under the command of Colonel Bernt Balchen, was also known as Operation Where and When. For the remainder of the war, they supported Norwegian "police" units, transporting hospital equipment, paratroops and supplies for Norwegian resistance forces.[7]
Air transportation was the only means of communication in the area because of the mountains. Normally available sea transport to the area's fjords was prevented by German mining operations. The C-47s airlifted over 1000 troops to Kirkenes Airport, Norway, a former Luftwaffe field, that had been occupied by Soviet forces. Operations were typically flown under radio silence at low altitudes, using the mountainous terrain to shield the aircraft from detection. As the Norwegian troops advanced, operations began to be flown to Banak. Operations became easier following V-E Day, when the flights could operate openly, even receiving weather information from stations still being operated by the Luftwaffe.[8] [9]
The group remained in the theater after the end of the war and was inactivated at Villacoublay Airfield near Paris on 15 October 1945.[10]
In 1985 the group was reconstituted and redesignated the 427th Tactical Airlift Group.[11] However, the group remained inactive until January 2008, when it was activated at Tinker Air Force Base as the 427th Aircraft Sustainment Group and assigned to the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing. Its mission was logistical support for the Rockwell B-1 Lancer bomber, acting as the Systems Program Office for the Lancer. The group refurbished approximately thirteen Lancers a year and implemented programs to reduce the time the aircraft spent in depots and to improve the availability of engines for forward deployed expeditionary units.[12] It also managed the installation of laser "sniper pods" on the B-1 to enable it to target and engage in real time and perform instant bomb damage assessment.[13]
In 2010, Air Force Materiel Command returned to its traditional organizational structure and the group was inactivated and replaced by the B-1 Sustainment Division of Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. Its three squadrons became the division's Production Support, Logistics Support, and Modification Support Branches.[14]
Activated on 15 April 1943[15]
Inactivated on 15 October 1945[10]
Activated on 11 January 2008[16]
Inactivated on 30 June 2010[17]