The 145th Airlift Wing is a unit of the

North Carolina Air National Guard The North Carolina Air National Guard (NCANG) is the aerial militia of the State of North Carolina, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the North Carolina Army National Guard an element of the ...

. It is assigned to

Charlotte Air National Guard Base Charlotte Douglas International Airport is an international airport serving Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, located roughly west of the city's central business district. Charlotte Douglas is the primary airport for commercial and m ...

, North Carolina and is equipped with the

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previ ...

aircraft. If activated to federal service in the

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 ...

, the 145th is gained by

Air Mobility Command The Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, ...

Units

The 145th Airlift Wing consists of the following major units: *145th Operations Group : 156th Airlift Squadron -

C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previ ...

: 156th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron : 145th Operations Support Flight *145th Mission Support Group *145th Maintenance Group :145th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron *145th Medical Group *GSU :118th Air Support Operations Squadron *145th Security Forces Squadron

History

North Carolina Air National Guard

The 145th Fighter Group was constituted and allotted to the

, at

Morris Field Charlotte Douglas International Airport is an international airport serving Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, located roughly west of the city's central business district. Charlotte Douglas is the primary airport for commercial and m ...

, North Carolina on 28 May 1957. Its 156th Fighter Squadron began trading their

North American F-86A Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

s, for the more capable F-86E. The 145th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was assigned to the

126th Air Defense Wing 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Illinois Air National Guard, Chicago On 1 February 1961, the

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

was redesignated the 145th Aeromedical Transport Group, and converted to

Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (Navy and Marine Corps designation R4Q) is an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, Litter (rescue basket), litte ...

s. The group was gained by the 1st Aeromedical Transport Group and

Western Transport Air Force Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

, Travis AFB, CA, for training and flying evacuation missions. It transited to

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 ...

transports during 1962–1965. On 25 January 1964 the 145th was redesignated 145th Air Transport Group (Heavy). The unit began to convert to

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 ...

transports during 1965. From 1966 to 1971 the 145th deployed crews and aircraft to Vietnam, flying over 20 million km without an aircraft accident. It was redesignated 145th Tactical Airlift Group on 15 May 1971 and re-equipped with

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

transport aircraft. In 1990 saw the unit mobilized for

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, followed by Operation Desert Storm in 1991. 15 Mar 1992, brought about another name change with the group becoming the 145th Airlift Group. During 1993 the group started to replace their elderly C-130Bs and take delivery of the more modern C-130H3. On 1 Oct 1995, it was redesignated the 145th Airlift Wing. On 7 September 2016 saw the end of its aerial firefighting mission using MAFFS (Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System) when it was transferred to the

152nd Airlift Wing The 152nd Airlift Wing (152 AW) is a unit of the Nevada Air National Guard, stationed at Nevada Air National Guard Base, Nevada. If activated to federal service with the United States Air Force, the Wing is operationally gained by the 18th Air ...

Nevada Air National Guard The Nevada Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the State of Nevada, United States of America. Along with the Nevada Army National Guard, it is an element of the Nevada National Guard of the larger United States National Guard Bureau. I ...

. There are two other C-130

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

MAFFS trained units,

153rd Airlift Wing The 153d Airlift Wing (153d AW) is a unit of the Wyoming Air National Guard, stationed at Cheyenne Air National Guard Base, Wyoming. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. Overv ...

Wyoming Air National Guard The Wyoming Air National Guard (WY ANG) is the aerial militia of the Wyoming, State of Wyoming, United States, United States of America. It is, along with the Wyoming Army National Guard, an element of the Wyoming National Guard, National Guard (U ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

; the

146th Airlift Wing The 146th Airlift Wing (146 AW) is a unit of the California Air National Guard, stationed at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station, Oxnard, California. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air ...

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the Californi ...

, Channel Islands, CA; and one Air Force Reserve unit,

302nd Airlift Wing The 302d Airlift Wing is an Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. The wing's mission is tactical airlift ...

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

Peterson Air Force Base Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a United States Space Force base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home t ...

, CO. The wing's last C-130 departed on 22 December 2017 before the wing received its first C-17 Globemaster III on Saturday 7 April 2018.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 145th Fighter Group (Air Defense) : Activated on 28 May 1957 : Redesignated 145th Aeromedical Transport Group on 1 February 1961 : Redesignated 145th Air Transport Group (Heavy) on 25 January 1964 : Redesignated 145th Military Airlift Group on 1 January 1966 : Redesignated 145th Tactical Airlift Group on 15 May 1971 : Redesignated 145th Airlift Group on 16 March 1992 : Redesignated 145th Airlift Wing on 1 October 1995

Assignments

Stations

* Morris Field (later Douglas International Airport, Charlotte Air National Guard Base), North Carolina, 28 May 1957 – present

Aircraft

* North American F-86A Sabre, 1957 * North American F-86E Sabre, 1957–1959 * North American F-86L Sabre Interceptor, 1959–1961 * Fairchild C-119C Flying Boxcar, 1961–1962 * Lockheed C-121 Constellation, 1962–1971 * Lockheed C-130 Hercules, 1971–2017 * Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, 2018–present

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

af.mil

AF Portal – 156th Weather Flight
{{North Carolina Wings of the United States Air National Guard Military units and formations established in 1957 Military units and formations in North Carolina