The 33d Flying Training Wing is an inactive

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

Central Flying Training Command Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...

, and was disbanded on 13 October 1946 at

Randolph Field Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Bexar County, Texas, ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United ...

, Texas. There is no lineage link between the United States Air Force

33d Fighter Wing The 33rd Fighter Wing, sometimes written 33d Fighter Wing, (33 FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Education and Training Command's Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida where it is a tenant u ...

, established on 15 October 1947 at Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico, and this organization.

History

The wing was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Command and Control organization which supported Training Command Flight Schools in Central and Northern Texas and Oklahoma. The assigned schools provided phase III advanced two-engine flying training for Air Cadets, along with advanced B-25 Mitchell transition training for experienced pilots for reassignment to other flying units. Air Cadet graduates of the advanced schools were commissioned as Second Lieutenants, received their "wings" and were reassigned to Operational or Replacement Training Units operated by one of the four numbered air fores in the zone of interior. As training requirements changed during the war, schools were activated and inactivated or transferred to meet those requirements.Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas.

Lineage

* Established as 33d Flying Training Wing on 17 December 1942 : Activated on 16 January 1943 : Disbanded on 13 October 1946.33d Flying Training Wing, lineage and history document Air Force Historical Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Assignments

* AAF Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command), 16 January 1943 – 13 October 1946

Training aircraft

The schools of the wing used primarily the Beechcraft AT-7 and

Cessna AT-17 The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine combat aircraft. The ...

/UC-78 as their two-engine advanced trainer. * Curtiss-Wright AT-9 high performance two-engine trainers were also used for high-performance fighter training * Beechcraft AT-10s for two-engine bomber training. *

North American B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

s were used for two-engine transition training * L-2, L-3, L-4, TG-5 and TG-6s were used for glider and liaison pilot training

Assigned Schools

; Altus Army Airfield, Altus, Oklahoma : AAF Pilot School (Advanced Two-Engine) : 66th Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: June 1942, Closed: May 1945 (AT-9, AT-17, UC-78) : Base closed May 1945; reopened 1953, now Altus Air Force Base ; Blackland Army Airfield, Waco, Texas : AAF Pilot School (Advanced 2-Engine), also transition school : 73d Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: September 1942, Closed: October 1945 (AT-9, AT-10, AT-17, UC-78, B-25) : Conducted Glider Training August–October 1942; B-25 Transition school opened April 1944 ; Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas : AAF Pilot School (Advanced 2-Engine) : 67th Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: December 1940, Closed: January 1945 (AT-6, BC-1, O-52) : World War I training airfield, two-engine school opened December 1940; also flew advanced single-engine trainers; trained observation pilots; later Brooks Air Force Base, closed 2011 ;

Ellington Field Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the aegi ...

, Houston, Texas : AAF Pilot School (Advanced 2-Engine) : 68th Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: January 1942, Closed: November 1945 (AT-9, AT-10, AT-17, UC-78) : World War I training airfield, re-opened October 1941, later Ellington Air Force Base, closed 1976, now Ellington Air National Guard Base (TX ANG) ; Frederick Army Airfield, Frederick, Oklahoma : AAF Pilot School (Advanced 2-Engine), also transition school : 70th Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: March 1943, Closed: November 1945 (AT-9, UC-78, A-26, B-25) : B-25 Transition school opened January 1945 ;

Lubbock Army Airfield Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, Lubbock, Texas : AAF Pilot School (Advanced 2-Engine) : 71st Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: February 1942, Closed: January 1945 (AT-6, AT-9, AT-10, AT-17, UC-78) : Also Glider/Liaison pilot training (L-2, L-5, CG-4A) during 1943; became Advanced, Single-Engine, Jan-Oct 1945; reopened 1949 as Reese Air Force Base, closed 1997 ; Pampa Army Airfield, Pampa, Texas : AAF Pilot School (Advanced 2-Engine), also transition school : 74th Two-Engine Flying Training Group : Opened: October 1942, Closed: September 1945 (AT-9, AT-10, AT-17, UC-78, B-25) : B-25 Transition school opened October 1944

Stations

* Blackland Army Airfield, Texas, 16 January 1943 *

Waco Army Airfield James Connally Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located north of Waco, Texas. After its closure in 1968, the airport reopened as TSTC Waco Airport. History World War II The airport opened May 5, 1942 as Waco Army Air Field an ...

, Texas, 8 Jul 1944 *

, Texas, (temporary 31 October 1945) permanent 5 August – 13 October 1946

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Training wings of the United States Army Air Forces Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 1943 establishments in Texas 1946 disestablishments in Texas