The 1608th Air Transport Wing is a discontinued

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

Eastern Transport Air Force Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

Military Air Transport Service The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive United States Department of Defense, Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NA ...

(MATS) at

Charleston Air Force Base Charleston Air Force Base is a United States military facility located in the City of North Charleston, South Carolina. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force's 628th Air Base Wing (628 ABW), a subordinate elem ...

, South Carolina. It performed strategic

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of Materiel, supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material lo ...

missions until it was discontinued on 8 January 1966 and replaced by the

437th Military Airlift Wing The 437th Airlift Wing (437 AW) is an active unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to 18th Air Force, Air Mobility Command. It is the mission wing at Charleston Air Force Base, Joint Base Charleston, in the City of North Charleston, So ...

Military Airlift Command The Military Airlift Command (MAC) is an inactive United States Air Force major command (MAJCOM) that was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Established on 1 January 1966, MAC was the primary strategic airlift organization of ...

, which inherited its honors, but not its lineage or history.

History

The

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

was established in 1955 at

, South Carolina When

(MATS) expanded its operations there after assuming jurisdiction of the base from

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

three months earlier.Mueller, pp. 87–90 The 1608th was initially established as a

Douglas C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilia ...

medium transport unit, transporting cargo within the United States to other USAF stations. It was upgraded to heavy transport wing and re-equipped with long-range intercontinental

Douglas C-124 Globemaster II The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is a retired American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Forc ...

s for cargo transportation and

Lockheed C-121 Constellation The Lockheed C-121 Constellation is a military transport version of the Lockheed Constellation. A total of 332 aircraft were constructed for both the United States Air Force and United States Navy for various purposes. Numerous Lockheed EC-121 War ...

s for passenger overseas transportation. The wing established an aerial port in 1956 for embarkation to and from the United States as well as large air terminal for transshipment of cargo. The 1608th received Lockheed C-130E Hercules transports in 1962 to replace its C-121s. It added jet

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the ...

s in 1965 to replace the C-124s. In 1963, the wing supported

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze is the code name for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There was an init ...

, earning an

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force ...

for all wing elements deployed to support the operation.Air Force Pamphlet 900-2, p. 500 As the host for Charleston the wing supported

Air Weather Service An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

and

Air Rescue Service The United States Air Force Combat Rescue School (for most of its existence, either Air Rescue Service or Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service), was an organization of the United States Air Force. The school was established in 1946 as ''Air ...

squadrons and aircraft as well as

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

interceptor aircraft and other air defense units. The wing was discontinued on 8 January 1966. Its equipment and personnel were reassigned to the

the same date. Its history and honors (although not its lineage) were bestowed on the 437th to indicate that its replacement was only a conversion from a major command controlled (MAJCON) wing to an Air Force controlled (AFCON) wing. Its component units with the number 1608 were replaced by units with the new wing's number with the exception of the 1608th USAF Dispensary, which was reassigned to the 437th.

Lineage

: Designated as the 1608th Air Transport Wing, Medium : Organized on 1 March 1955 : Redesignated as 1608th Air Transport Wing, Heavy on 24 November 1957 : Discontinued on 8 January 1966

Assignments

* Atlantic Division, Military Air Transport Service (later Eastern Transport Air Force), 1 March 1965 – 8 January 1966

Components

Groups * 1608th Air Base Group, 1 July 1955 – 8 January 1966 * 1608th Air Transport Group, 1 March 1955 – 18 January 1963 * 1608th Maintenance Group, 1 July 1955 – 18 January 1963 Operational Squadrons *

3d Air Transport Squadron 3D, 3-D, 3d, or Three D may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics * A three-dimensional space in mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geome ...

, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 17th Air Transport Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 41st Air Transport Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 76th Air Transport Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 Support Squadrons * 1608th Air Base Squadron, 1 March 1955 – 1 July 1955 * 1608th Air Terminal Squadron (later 1608th Aerial Port Squadron), 1 March 1955 – 31 March 1955, 1 January 1957 – 8 January 1966 * 1608th Communications and Electronics Maintenance Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 1608th Field Maintenance Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 1608th Organizational Maintenance Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 1618th Organizational Maintenance Squadron, 18 January 1963 – 8 January 1966 * 1628th Organizational Maintenance Squadron, 1 July 1965 – 8 January 1966 Miscellaneous Units * Aerial Port of Embarkation, Charleston Air Force Base, 3 January 1956 – 8 January 1966 * 1608th USAF Dispensary, 1 March 1955 – 8 January 1966

Stations

* Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, 1 March 1955 – 8 January 1966

Aircraft

* VC-47D Skytrain, 1954–1966 * C-45G Expeditor, 1954–1955 * T-34A Mentor, 1954 * Douglas C-54 Skymaster, 1954–1955 * Lockheed C-121C Constellation, 1955–1963 * Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, 1957–1965 * Lockheed C-130E Hercules, 1962–1966 *

, 1965–1966 * H-19B Chickasaw, 1954–1960 * Kaman H-43 Huskie, 1960–1966

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{cite book, last=Mueller, first=Robert, title=Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, url= https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330255/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-026.pdf , year=1989, publisher=Office of Air Force History, location=Washington, DC, isbn=0-912799-53-6
USAFHRA search 1608th Air Transport
Air transport wings of the United States Air Force Military units and formations in South Carolina Major command controlled wings of the United States Air Force Military units and formations established in 1955 Military units and formations disestablished in 1966 1955 establishments in South Carolina