| Unit Name: | 463rd Airlift Group |
| Dates: | 1953–1971; 1972–1993; 1997–2008 |
| Role: | Airlift |
| Command Structure: | Air Mobility Command |
| Battles: | Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada) Operation Just Cause (Panama) |
| Decorations: |
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| Identification Symbol Label: | Emblem of the 463rd Airlift Group (Approved 30 August 1954)[1] |
The United States Air Force's 463rd Airlift Group was a theater airlift unit last stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It was inactivated on October 1, 2008.
The 463rd was a unit with over 1,200 Airmen. The unit employed 30 C-130 aircraft that perform airlift missions worldwide. It provided direct support to warfighting combatant commanders with theater combat aerial delivery of personnel and their resupply worldwide.
The unit comprised eight squadrons: five flying, two maintenance, and one support.
When active, the 463rd Airlift Group is entitled to display the awards earned by the 463rd Bombardment Group prior to 16 January 1953, unless that group is assigned to another headquarters.[1]
The group was first constituted as the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing, Medium and activated at Memphis Airport, Tennessee, on 16 January 1953, when it assumed the mission, equipment and personnel of the 516th Troop Carrier Wing, a reserve unit called to active duty for the Korean War, which was simultaneously inactivated. Assigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC) and equipped with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars. On 1 September, the wing moved to Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma. In December 1957, it began replacing its C-119s with the new Lockheed C-130A Hercules turboprop transport. In 1959 Ardmore closed and the 463rd transferred to Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, to join the 314th TCW, making Sewart the only US C-130 troop carrier base. The wing moved again in 1964, this time to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where it replaced a TAC refueling wing that was being discontinued.
The 463rd airlifted and airdropped troops and cargo to support operations and exercises worldwide, supporting deployments during the following crises: Lebanon (July 1958), Taiwan (August 1958), Berlin (September 1961), Cuba (October–November 1962), the Gulf of Tonkin (August–December 1964), Southeast Asia (February and April–November 1965), and the Dominican Republic (April–September 1965).
The wing moved to Pacific Air Forces in November 1965 and was assigned to the 315th Air Division. Wing headquarters was at Mactan Air Base in Mactan Island in the Philippines and two squadrons were based at Clark until November 1968 when the wing and the two Mactan squadrons transferred to Clark. In PACAF, the wing initially provided airlift in Thailand then provided airplanes and crews to a 315th Air Division detachment at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam. In December 1965, began furnishing aircraft and crews to fly missions in Southeast Asia. The Tan Son Nhut operation was part of 315th Air Division until October 1966 when 834th Air Division activated. The 463rd was one of three C-130 wings that provided airplanes and crews to 834th Air Division detachments. In the spring of 1969 the 463rd detachment transferred from Tan Son Nhut to Cam Ranh Air Base, where it remained until the wing ceased aircraft operations in Southeast Asia on 25 October 1971. Redesignated as the 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing in August 1967. On 31 December 1971 the 463rd was inactivated.
Reactivated at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, in June 1972, the 463rd began participating in operations and exercises worldwide for TAC. In 1974, all tactical airlift was transferred to Military Airlift Command, then to Air Mobility Command (AMC) in 1992 when MAC was inactivated. The wing's tactical components deployed frequently to Europe, the Pacific, and the Canal Zone to provide air transportation as needed. On 1 November 1991, the wing implemented the Objective Wing organization and was redesignated as the 463rd Airlift Wing.
The wing was inactivated on 1 October 1993 and most of its personnel and equipment was absorbed by the incoming 7th Wing at Dyess. The 7th was a composite wing which incorporated Dyess' C-130s, which were transferred from Air Mobility Command to Air Combat Command (ACC).
When the US-based C-130 force was realigned in 1997 from ACC back to AMC, the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base was split into two pieces. The wing and training units went to Air Education and Training Command. AMC reactivated the 463rd as the 463rd Airlift Group on 1 April 1997 to control the two operational C-130 squadrons.
From Little Rock, the 463rd provided worldwide airlift, delivering combat, humanitarian, and other supplies. On 1 October 2008, the 463rd Airlift Group was inactivated and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 19th Airlift Wing.
Activated on 16 January 1953
Redesignated 463rd Troop Carrier Wing, Assault on 1 October 1962
Redesignated 463rd Troop Carrier Wing, Medium on 15 May 1965
Redesignated 463rd Troop Carrier Wing on 8 December 1965
Redesignated 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 August 1967
Inactivated on 31 December 1971
Redesignated 463rd Airlift Wing on 1 November 1991
Inactivated on 1 October 1993
Activated 1 April 1997[2]
Inactivated on 1 October 2008
Wings
Groups
Squadrons
C-130A (1956–1959)
C-130B (1959–1971)
C-130E (1972–1975, 1997–2008)
C-130H (1975–1993, 1997–2008)
DeHavilland Canada C-7A Caribou (1972)[2]