482nd Fighter Wing

All reserve combat organizations had been mobilized for the Korean War,[3] and it was not until the summer of 1952 that reserve units again began receiving aircraft.[4] The wing was first activated as the 482d Troop Carrier Wing in the reserve with Curtiss C-46 Commandos in June 1952 at Miami International Airport, Florida. The wing replaced the 906th Reserve Training Wing, which had been activated following the mobilization of the 435th Troop Carrier Wing for the Korean War, as reserve flying operations resumed under the supervision of the 2585th Air Force Reserve Training Center. In December, the 435th was released from active duty and assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 482d, which was inactivated.[5][note 2]

In the early 1950s, the Air Force determined that all reserve units be designed to augment the regular forces in the event of a national emergency. Six reserve pilot training wings had no mobilization mission. On 18 May 1955, they were discontinued and replaced by three troop carrier wings and two fighter-bomber wings.[6] In this reorganization, the 94th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia moved on paper to Scott Air Force Base to replace the 8711th Pilot Training Wing.[7][8] The 482d, now designated the 482d Fighter-Bomber Wing took over the 94th's personnel and equipment at Dobbins as one of the new reserve fighter units.[9]

The wing began training for the fighter mission, initially using Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star fighters, plus North American T-28 Trojan and Lockheed T-33 T-Bird trainers that it inherited from the 94th Wing.[7] Later that year, it began to equip with the Republic F-84 Thunderjet.[9] Despite its fighter bomber designation, the wing was gained by Air Defense Command (ADC) upon mobilization. ADC required the wing's squadrons to be designed to augment active duty squadrons capable of performing air defense missions for an indefinite period after mobilization independently of their parent wing.[10]

In 1957, the wing began to replace its Thunderjets with North American F-86 Sabres. However, The Joint Chiefs of Staff were pressuring the Air Force to provide more wartime airlift. At the same time, about 150 Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars became available from the active force. Consequently, in November 1956 the Air Force directed Continental Air Command to convert three reserve fighter bomber wings to troop carrier units in 1957.[11] Sabre training ended, and instead C-119s arrived in October 1957. In November the wing was inactivated and its troop carrier assets were transferred to the 445th Troop Carrier Wing.[1][12]

The wing was reactivated in Florida and replaced the 915th Tactical Fighter Group in April 1981. The new base was Homestead Air Force Base, located near the southern end of the Florida peninsula, about 25 miles south of Miami. The wing controlled two McDonnell F-4 Phantom II-equipped tactical fighter groups at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas (1981–1982) and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (1982–1994). Following massive damage caused to Homestead Air Force Base by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, the wing's flying operations were conducted from Wright-Patterson from September to December 1992 and from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, from February 1993 until March 1994.[1]

The 482d became host wing at the now renamed Homestead Air Reserve Base on 1 April 1994 and provided weapons training support for Air Force units beginning in October 1994. From 1997, the 482d periodically deployed personnel and aircraft to Turkey to help enforce Operation Northern Watch, the no-fly zone over Northern Iraq.[1]

• Fourteenth Air Force, 14 June – 1 December 1952
• Fourteenth Air Force, 18 May 1955 – 16 November 1957
• Tenth Air Force, 1 April 1981 – present[1]

Groups

• 414th Fighter Group: 15 July 2010 – 1 October 2012[13]
• 482d Troop Carrier Group (later 482d Fighter-Bomber Group, 482d Operations Group): 14 June – 1 December 1952; 18 May 1955 – 16 November 1957; 1 August 1992 – present[1]
• 906th Tactical Fighter Group: 1 July 1982 – 30 September 1994[1]

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

• 924th Tactical Fighter Group: 1 July 1981 – 1 October 1982[1]

Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas

• 482nd Maintenance Group
• 482nd Mission Support Group

Squadrons

• 93rd Fighter Squadron: 1 April 1981 – 1 August 1992[1]
• 482nd Medical Squadron

• Miami International Airport, Florida, 14 June – 1 December 1952
• Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia, 18 May 1955 – November 1957
• Homestead Air Force Base (later Homestead Air Reserve Base), Florida, 1 April 1981 – present[1]

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Cantwell, Gerald T. (1997). Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946–1994. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBN 0-16049-269-6. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
• 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.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.