| Unit Name: | 64th Flying Training Wing |
| Dates: | 1952-1954; 1961–1963; 1966-1971; 1972-1997 |
| Role: | Pilot training |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 64th Flying Training Wing[1] [2] |
The 64th Flying Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, where it conducted pilot training for twenty-five years before it was inactivated in September 1997.
The wing was first activated in as the 64th Troop Carrier Wing in 1952 at Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina, but was inactivated within two years. It was again active twice as an airlift unit in the 1960s. In 1972, Air Training Command replaced its four digit Major Command controlled flying training units with units whose heritage could be continued and the wing was activated at Reese, where it conducted pilot training until it was inactivated.
The 64th Troop Carrier Wing was activated at Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina on 14 July 1952, taking over the personnel, mission and Fairchild C-82 Packets of the inactivating 375th Troop Carrier Wing, a reserve unit that had been called to active duty for the Korean War.[2] [3] It performed airlift and airdrop/airlanding of troops and cargo, routinely and during frequent maneuvers.[2] From January 1953, when the reserve 443d Troop Carrier Wing was relieved from active duty, until February 1953, when that wing's operational component, the 443rd Troop Carrier Group was inactivated, the 443rd Group was attached to the 64th Wing. The 443rd Group was replaced by the regular 465th Troop Carrier Group, which was attached to the wing until the fall of 1953, as the group prepared for movement to France.[4] The wing then began phasing down for inactivation in mid-October 1953, when it was attached to the 63d Troop Carrier Wing, which took over its tactical operations.[2] In February 1954, however, the wing began building up again with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars in preparation for an overseas movement, but the movement was cancelled and it was inactivated in July 1954 instead.[2]
The 64th was activated at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas on 8 February 1961 and began to organize with Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. Its primary mission was as a troop carrier/tactical airlift unit, but it also conducted resupply of Distant Early Warning Line sites on the Greenland ice cap, flying its first mission on 8 May. Elements of the wing deployed to the Indian Ocean area to support NASA space missions. It also provided airlift support for President Kennedy's 1962 visit to Mexico City. In the fall of 1962, the wing was engaged in developing procedures for C-130s for Project Skyhook, retrieving personnel or cargo by engaging a cable attached to a balloon.[5]
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the wing flew 107 missions to support American forces, mostly in Florida.[5] Shortly thereafter, on 1 January 1963, the wing was inactivated and transferred its mission, personnel and C-130s to the 516th Troop Carrier Wing, which was simultaneously activated.[2] [6]
On 1 December 1965, in anticipation of the forthcoming move of the 314th Troop Carrier Wing to Taiwan, Tactical Air Command activated the Troop Carrier Wing, Provisional, 4413th at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee. When the 314th Wing moved, it assumed control of squadrons already on Taiwan,[7] and two of its squadrons, the 61st and 62d Troop Carrier Squadrons remained at Sewart and were attached to the 4413th.[8] On 1 July 1966, the 64th was activated to replace the provisional unit and took command of the former 314th squadrons. The wing provided global airlift and aeromedical evacuation. It also provided C-130 Hercules combat crew training for other units while at Sewart, with crew training being the wing's primary activity from 9 August 1968 to 6 March 1970. On 1 May 1967, the wing was redesignated the 64th Tactical Airlift Wing. In March 1970, it moved to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, where, in May 1971, the wing inactivated and was replaced by the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing, which had returned from the Pacific on paper.[2] [7]
The United States Air Force reopened Reese Air Force Base, Texas as a pilot training base, moving the 3500th Flying Training Wing there on 1 October 1949 from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where it had been formed on 28 August 1948,[9] to make room for tactical flying units of Strategic Air Command, which assume control of Barksdale.[10] The 3500th initially conducted advanced multi-engine training using North American TB-25 Mitchells.[11] In 1957, the wing began using Lockheed T-33 T-Birds, graduating its last B-25 class in January 1959.[12] [13] When Air Training Command (ATC) discontinued its separate primary flying training units, it added Cessna T-37 Tweets.[14] In the late 1960s, the wing replaced its T-Birds with Northrop T-38 Talons.[15]
The 64th was renamed the 64th Flying Training Wing and replaced the 3500th Pilot Training Wing in October 1972, assuming the mission of undergraduate pilot training and operation and maintenance of Reese Air Force Base, Texas.[2] This was part of a program to preserve the lineage of units that had served in combat.[16] [17] In 1974, ATC let contracts for the installation of four instrument flight simulator complexes for the wing. It was intended that these simulators would replace instrument flying training missions with the exception of validation flights. The system became operational in 1978[18]
In 1988, ATC determined that the implementation of Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training could require reorganization of its flying training wings. Following a test at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, second squadrons were activated In 1990 for the wing's T-37s and its T-38s. At Reese, a fifth squadron provided operational support. At the same time, the wing inactivated its maintenance squadrons, and maintenance of its aircraft was performed by contractors. With the implementation of the Objective Wing organization in late 1991, the fifth squadron was replaced by an operations support squadron, and all were assigned to the newly activated 64th Operations Group.[19]
It supported Strategic Air Command's Accelerated Copilot Enrichment Program through operating locations at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota; Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota; and Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota from 1976 until 1991.
The 64th began specialized undergraduate pilot training in July 1992, using Beech T–1A Jayhawk to prepare students for airlift tanker/transport training and the Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft for students in fighter/bomber track. Earlier in 1992, a provisional flying training squadron had been formed and attached to the wing's operations group to develop training techniques and qualify the initial instructors for the new T-1. In September the provisional squadron was discontinued and the 52d Flying Training Squadron, one of the wing's T-38 squadrons, took over its T-1s.[20]
The requirements for new pilots in the Air Force dropped dramatically in the early 1990s. After a review, ATC decided to inactivate the 33d Flying Training Squadron, one of the wing's T-37 squadrons, leaving the wing with one squadron flying each of its three trainers.[21] With the implementation of Joint Specialized Undergraduate Piot Training in 1993, three naval instructor pilots were assigned to the wing in September, while three of the wing's instructors were assigned to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in December.[22] The first naval aviators to participate in the program began their training the following September.[23] In December 1993, the wing began the Introduction to Bomber Fundamentals course, training not only pilots, by also navigators and electronic warfare officers in crew coordination and low level flying procedures.[22] The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission announced that Reese would be closed in 1997.[24] The wing inactivated on 30 September 1997, the day before Reese Air Force Base closed.[25]
In 1978, Reza Pahlavi. the Crown Prince of Iran began pilot training with the 64th Wing. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, his training was accelerated and he graduated from pilot training in March 1979.[26] [27] While the new government in Iran cancelled further entries of Iranian military into training programs in the USA, those already enrolled were permitted to complete their training.[26] This included the Crown Prince, and he was able to remain in the United States after graduation.[27]
Activated on 14 July 1952
Inactivated on 21 July 1954
Activated on 24 October 1960 (not organized)
Organized on 8 February 1961
Discontinued and inactivated, on 1 January 1963
Organized on 1 July 1966
Redesignated 64th Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 May 1967
Inactivated on 31 May 1971
Activated on 1 October 1972[28]
Inactivated on 30 September 1997[25]