23rd Wing


The 23rd Wing is a United States Air Force Air Combat Command wing currently stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia

Mission

The mission of the 23rd Wing is to organize, train and employ combat-ready Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, HC-130J and HH-60W, as well as pararescuemen and force protection assets. It consists of approximately 5,000 military and civilian personnel, including a geographically separated unit at Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida.

Units

The 23rd Wing consists of the following groups:

Postwar era

The 23rd Fighter Wing was activated on 10 August 1948 at Northwest Guam Air Force Base, Guam as part of the Wing-Base organization plan, which prescribed a standard organizational setup for all USAF bases worldwide. The plan called for the creation of a wing headquarters that established policy and supervised four functional groups: an operational group, an air base group, a maintenance and supply group, and a medical group. The 23rd Fighter Group was assigned as the operational group under the new 23rd Fighter Wing. The wing was assigned to Twentieth Air Force.
The 23rd's mission on Guam was to provide air defense of the island. The 23rd Fighter Group was assigned the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter Squadrons, being equipped with Republic F-47 Thunderbolts.
The 23rd Fighter Wing moved to Howard Air Force Base, Panama Canal Zone, in April 1949, where it also acquired a squadron of Lockheed RF-80 Shooting Stars. The 23rd Fighter Wing conducted air defense of the Canal Zone under the Caribbean Air Command until it was again inactivated on 24 September 1949.

Air Defense Command

Reactivated on 12 January 1951, at Presque Isle Air Force Base, Maine, the wing was redesignated the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing with the 74th and 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons assigned, as part of the Air Defense Command. Equipped with North American F-86 Sabre, North American F-51 Mustang, Northrop F-89D Scorpion and F-80 Shooting Star aircraft, its mission was to provide air defense for the northeastern United States during the Korean War and conduct basic training for about 500 Air Force recruits. The 23rd was inactivated 6 February 1952 along with the 23rd Fighter-Interceptor Group. The Wing's equipment and personnel were transferred to the 4711th Defense Wing, which had been organized at Presque Isle on 1 February 1952.

Tactical Air Command

McConnell Air Force Base

Following its longest period of inactivation, the wing was organized as the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing on 8 February 1964, at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, under Tactical Air Command and Twelfth Air Force. The wing was activated to replace the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at McConnell after the 388th deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. The 23rd assumed command of the 388th's squadrons at McConnell:
Flying the Republic F-105 Thunderchief aircraft, the mission of the 23d at McConnell was to provide training for "Thud" pilots prior to their deployment to Southeast Asia. The 560th acted as a combat training squadron, while the other three squadrons began rotational TDY deployments to Southeast Asia beginning in November 1964.
In February 1965, when the 23d deployed three squadrons to Southeast Asia for combat, these units were initially under the control of the 2nd Air Division. Later, the 6441 Tactical Fighter Wing was organized at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in July 1965, taking control of the 23rd's squadrons deployed there. It was during this five-month tour that the 563rd lost 10 of its 18 F-105's deployed and was awarded two Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with Combat "V". In addition to the deployments to Thailand, detachments of the 561 TFS also deployed to Da Nang Air Base Viet Nam for operations within the borders of the Republic of Vietnam.
On 1 August 1967, the 4519th Combat Crew Training squadron was added to the 23rd, and the 560th Tactical Fighter Squadron was inactivated on 25 September 1968.
The wing maintained proficiency in tactical fighter operations, and later also functioned as an F-105 replacement training unit and assisted Air National Guard units in their conversion to the F-105 when the Thunderchief left first-line service. For the dual role it played from June 1970 to June 1971 as both an operational and a training unit, the wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in March 1971. Two of its squadrons, the 562nd and 563rd, also received the same award for their duty in Vietnam during 1965, but with the combat "V" added, the 563rd receiving two such awards in a five-month period. For its participation in Linebacker I and Linebacker II during 1972 the 561st received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V".
During combat operations in Southeast Asia, the 562d lost three aircraft, while the 563d lost eleven aircraft.
On 1 July 1972 the 23d move to England Air Force Base Louisiana and the wing's squadrons were assigned to the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at George Air Force Base California.

England Air Force Base

The 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing moved without personnel or equipment to England Air Force Base, Louisiana, 1 July 1972 and took over the assets and personnel of the 4403rd Tactical Fighter Wing. Assigned to the Ninth Air Force, the wing activated all three of its original World War II fighter units – the 74th, 75th and 76th Tactical Fighter Squadrons for the first time since 1949, and began operations with the Ling-Temco-Vought A-7D Corsair II aircraft.
On 5 July 1973, the 74th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on temporary duty with the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing from Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina. The 74th replaced the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona that had completed its temporary duty. For just over a month, until the cessation of all U.S. bombing on 15 August 1973, the 74th supported the air war activities in Cambodia, accounting for the destruction of 311 enemy structures, 25 ground artillery and missile sites, three bridges and 9,500 cubic meters of supplies. The 74th returned to England on 28 December 1973.
The 23d took part in a variety of operational exercises both in the United States and overseas, including tactical bombing competitions against the Royal Air Force at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland, during October 1977 and July 1978. In both events, A-7D teams captured the Sir John Mogg Team Trophy.
On 23 September 1980, the 74th Squadron received the wing's first operational Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. The 75 and 76 TFS received A-10s within the next few months, and the 23d took top honors in Ninth Air Force's tactical bombing competition in July, and advanced to TAC's worldwide Gunsmoke 1981 competition at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in September. The Flying Tigers won six of nine events, including top maintenance and munitions awards, and was the top A-10 unit in the competition. The wing's maintenance complex was also awarded the 1981 Daedalian runner-up trophy, and earned the 1984 Daedalian Aircraft Maintenance Trophy.
Eight of the 23rd's A-7Ds were transferred to the 4450th Tactical Group, based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in June 1981, during the transition to the A-10. The 4451st Tactical Squadron at Tonopah Test Range Airport used these aircraft to train F-117 Nighthawk pilots and to provide a cover story for F-117A development.
Operation Urgent Fury, Grenada, Oct/Nov 1983 the 76th Fighter Squadron deployed to Roosevelt Roads Naval station in Puerto Rico, from where it flew combat missions in support of this operation.
The wing set Air Force records for "mission capable" and "fully mission capable" rates during fiscal year 1985. The marks, 93.1 percent in MC and 92.8 percent in FMC, topped records set by the wing in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984. The wing earned its fourth Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for the period 1 April 1989, to 31 March 1991.

Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm

In response to the buildup of forces following the iraqi Invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the 74th and 76th Tactical Fighter Squadrons deployed with numerous support personnel, to include pilots and maintainers from the 75th Tactical Fighter Squadron to King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia, attached to the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing as part of Operation Desert Shield. The A-10 deployment was the largest ever fielded. A total of 144 A/OA-10 aircraft were deployed.
Using forward operating locations near the Kuwaiti border as well as King Fahd Air Base, A-10s made their combat debut in Operation Desert Storm on 17 January 1991. The 23 TFW flew more than 2,700 combat sorties over Iraq and Kuwait while maintaining a mission-capable rate of 95 percent. In addition to providing close air support for ground units, the A-10s performed combat search and rescue and SCUD-hunting missions. The combined efforts of the A-10 units resulted in the confirmed destruction of 987 tanks, 926 artillery pieces, 500 armored personnel carriers, 1,106 trucks, 112 military structures, 96 radars, 72 bunkers, 57 SCUD missile launchers, 50 anti-aircraft artillery batteries, 28 command posts, 11 FROG missiles, nine surface-to-air missile sites, eight fuel tanks and 12 aircraft.
Both squadrons returned to England Air Force Base at the end of March 1991. Support personnel continued to arrive for months after the aircraft redeployment. In October 1990, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission decided that England Air Force Base would be closed by September 1992. A draw down of equipment and personnel began almost immediately.
On 1 October 1991, as part of an Air Force-wide reorganization, the wing became 23rd Fighter Wing, and on 1 November 1991, the squadrons also dropped "tactical" from their designations. On 2 December 1991, the 75th Fighter Squadron was inactivated. The 74th was inactivated on 13 February 1992, and the 76th on 29 May. The 23rd Fighter Wing's A-10 aircraft were sent to Air National Guard units, and the wing was inactivated on 1 June 1992. England was closed the same day.