The 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group is an active duty air mobility unit a
Pope Army Airfield
(formerly Pope AFB),

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, North Carolina and is part of the

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, ...

(AMC) under the USAF Expeditionary Center. The unit is composed of eight squadrons, including one of the only two active Air Force aeromedical evacuation squadrons based in the United States. The group's primary mission focuses on providing enroute operations and enabling global response and airborne support for Fort Bragg's

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. The 43rd Operations Group was redesignated the 43rd Airlift Group (43 AG) on 1 March 2011 after the inactivation of the 43rd Airlift Wing and entered into an Active Associate arrangement with the

Air Force Reserve Command The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, 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 ...

's colocated 440th Airlift Wing (440 AW). In 2016, the 440 AW was inactivated due to funding issues and both the 440 AW and the 43 AG discontinued their airlift mission with C-130H Hercules aircraft. While the 440 AW was inactivated, the 43 AG was reorganized as a non-flying unit, later redesignated the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group (43 AMOG) on 14 June 2016.

Overview

As an AMC unit, the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group (43 AMOG) is part of the air force component of

United States Transportation Command The United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) is one of the eleven Unified combatant command, unified commands of the United States Department of Defense. In both times of peace and war, USTRANSCOM's role is to provide the Department of ...

(USTRANSCOM). It provides rapid strategic deployment of forces assigned to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is r ...

and

. It also provides combatant commanders with Airborne Joint Forcible Entry, combat airlift, aerial port, command and control, and other enabling capabilities. The 43 AMOG comprises eight squadrons: * 43rd Force Support Squadron * 43rd Air Mobility Squadron * 43rd Comptroller Squadron * 43rd Medical Squadron * 43rd Operations Support Squadron * 43rd Communications Squadron * 49th Combat Training Squadron * 34th Combat Training Squadron In the postwar era, the 43rd Bombardment Group was one of the first USAAF units assigned to the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

on 1 October 1946, prior to the establishment of 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 ...

as a redesignation of the 444th Bombardment Group due to the Air Force's policy of retaining only low-numbered groups on active duty after the war. It conducted long-range test missions, including the first nonstop flight around the world (26 February-2 March 1949), accomplished in "

Lucky Lady II ''Lucky Lady II'' is a United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress that became the first airplane to circumnavigate, circle the world nonstop. Its 1949 journey, assisted by in-flight refueling, lasted 94 hours and 1 minute. 1949: First cir ...

", a B-50A Superfortress (AF Ser. No. ''46–0010'') commanded by Capt James G Gallagher. The group became non-operational in February 1951 when its squadrons were attached to the 43rd Bombardment Wing headquarters. The group was inactivated in 1952 when the parent wing adopted the Tri-Deputate organization and assigned all of the group's squadrons directly to the wing. Redesignated as the 43rd Operations Group, and activated, in 1992 when the 43rd Air Refueling Wing adopted the USAF Objective organization plan. From 1994 to 1997 the group was inactive when the wing was reduced to group size. In 2011, the wing was inactivated, and the group received its previous designation, the 43rd Airlift Group. Later, in 2016, the 43rd Airlift Group transitioned to a non-flying mission and was redesignated the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group as it discontinued airlift operations and reorganized to inherit those non-flying responsibilities inherited from the 440th Airlift Wing following the latter's inactivation.

History

World War II

The 43rd Bombardment Group trained for bombardment operations during most of 1941. From December 1941 to February 1942, it flew antisubmarine patrols along the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

coast.

B-17F-25-BO Flying Fortress 41-24554 63rd BS 43rd BG 1943

It then moved to the Southwest Pacific via

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, from February to March 1942. It attacked Japanese shipping in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

and the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

from bases in Australia,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and Owi Airfield, Indonesia between August 1942 and November 1944. While there it earned a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed e ...

(DUC) for missions over Papua, New Guinea from August 1942 to January 1943. The unit used skip bombing to sink Japanese ships during the

Battle of the Bismarck Sea The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying tro ...

, 2–4 March 1943, for which the unit earned a second DUC. It also provided support for ground forces on New Guinea and attacked airfields and other enemy installations in New Guinea, the

Yap Yap (, sometimes written as , or ) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federate ...

, Palau, and the southern

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in 1943 and 1944. The group conducted long-range raids on oil refineries on Ceram and

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

late in the war. After moving to the Philippines in November 1944, the group attacked shipping along the Asiatic coast and struck factories, airfields, and other installations in China and on

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

. It also supported ground forces on

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. The unit moved to Ie Shima in July 1945, from which it conducted raids against airfields and railways in Japan and against shipping in the

Inland Sea An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea) is a continental body of water which is very large in area and is either completely surrounded by dry land (landlocked), or connected to an ocean by a river, strait or " arm of ...

and the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. It was moved, on paper, to the Philippines in December 1945 and inactivated in April 1946.

Cold War

The 43rd Bombardment Group was again activated in 1946, when it assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 444th Bombardment Group, which was inactivated. Until February 1951, the group trained and conducted long-range test missions, including the first nonstop flight around the world (26 February–2 March 1949), accomplished by Capt James G. Gallagher and his crew in a B-50 called ''

''. The group deployed to England for training, August to November 1949. It was not operational after 10 February 1951, and, the flying squadrons were attached directly to the 43rd Bomb Wing for operations. The group was inactivated on 16 June 1952.

Modern era

On 1 June 1992, the group was redesignated as the 43rd Operations Group, and was activated on the same day. Between June 1992 and 1 July 1994, the group flew

air refueling Aerial refueling (American English, en-us), or aerial refuelling (British English, en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from ...

missions in training exercises and was then inactivated. In 1997, it was reactivated and assumed an airlift mission. It cooperated with

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

airborne organizations at nearby Fort Bragg, North Carolina, taking part with them in joint training exercises. Crews and aircraft deployed to Europe, and later to Southwest Asia, to support contingency operations such as enforcement of

no-fly zone A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's terri ...

s over

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and for expeditionary force rotations. After terrorist attacks on the United States on

11 September 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, the group deployed resources in the Global War on Terror. The group was redesignated 43rd Airlift Group on 1 March 2011 and 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group on 14 June 2016.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 20 November 1940 : Activated on 15 January 1941 : Redesignated 43rd Bombardment Group, Heavy on 21 September 1943 : Inactivated on 29 April 1946 * Redesignated 43rd Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 1 October 1946 : Activated on 1 October 1946 : Redesignated 43rd Bombardment Group, Medium on 2 July 1948 : Inactivated on 16 June 1952 * Redesignated 43rd Operations Group and activated on 1 June 1992 : Inactivated on 1 July 1994 * Activated on 1 April 1997 : Redesignated 43rd Airlift Group on 1 March 2011 : Redesignated 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group on 14 June 2016

Assignments

* General Headquarters, Air Force (later, Air Force Combat Command), 15 January 1941 * Northeast Air District (later, 1 Air Force), January 1941 * I Bomber Command, c. 5 September 1941 * United States Army Forces in Australia, c. 28 March 1942 * Allied Air Forces, Southwest Pacific Areas, 18 April 1942 *

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...

, 3 September 1942 * V Bomber Command, 5 September 1942 * Far East Air Forces, 3 December 1945 – 29 April 1946 *

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Forc ...

, 1 October 1946 *

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

, 19 November 1946 *

43rd Bombardment Wing The 43rd Airlift Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit last stationed at Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where it was inactivated in March 2011. The wing performed en route operations support at Pope Field to include ...

, 17 November 1947 – 16 June 1952 : Attached to

3rd Air Division The 3rd Air Division (3d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 April 1992. T ...

, 16 August – 16 November 1949 * 43rd Air Refueling Wing, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994 * 43rd Airlift Wing, 1 April 1997 * USAF Expeditionary Center, 1 March 2011 – present

Components

* 2nd Airlift Squadron: 1 April 1997 – 14 June 2016 *

2nd Air Refueling Squadron The 2nd Air Refueling Squadron, sometimes written as 2d Air Refueling Squadron, is a unit of the United States Air Force. It is part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire Air Force Base, part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. ...

: attached 1 July 1949 – 16 September 1950 * 3rd Aerial Port Squadron: 1 April 1997 – 30 June 2015 * 13th Reconnaissance Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946 (became 403 BS on 22 April 1942) *

28th Air Refueling Squadron Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

: 1 June 1992 – 15 May 1994 * 41st Airlift Squadron: 1 April 1997 – 9 April 2007 * 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron: 1 April 1997 – present * 43rd Air Base Squadron: 1 July 2015 – present * 43rd Air Mobility Squadron: 1 July 2015 – present * 43rd Air Refueling Squadron: 19 July 1948 – 16 June 1952 (detached after 10 February 1951) * 43rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron: 1 April 1997 – 30 June 2015 * 63rd Bombardment Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946; 1 October 1946 – 16 June 1952 (detached after 10 February 1951) * 64th Bombardment Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946; 1 October 1946 – 16 June 1952 (detached after 10 February 1951) * 65th Bombardment Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946; 1 October 1946 – 16 June 1952 (detached after 10 February 1951) *

91st Air Refueling Squadron The 91st Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It operates the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions. The squadron was first activated in January 1941 as ...

: 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994 * 97th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 October 1992 – 1 April 1994 *

307th Air Refueling Squadron The 307th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 410th Bombardment Wing, stationed at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan. It was inactivated on 1 August 1990. History The 307th ARS was first act ...

: attached 16 September 1950 – 9 February 1951 * 350th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 October 1993 – 1 July 1994 * 403rd Bombardment Squadron: 15 January 1941 – 29 April 1946 * 905th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 July – 1 October 1993 * 906th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 June 1992 – 30 January 1994 * 917th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 October 1993 – 1 July 1994

Stations

* Langley Field, Virginia, 15 January 1941 *

Dow Field Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base located on the grounds of Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine. Created in 1927 as the commercial Godfrey Field, the airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army ju ...

, Maine, 28 August 1941 – 17 February 1942 *

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

, Australia, 28 March 1942 * Longreach Airport, Australia, c. 1 August 1942 *

Port Moresby Airfield Complex The Port Moresby Airfield Complex was a World War II military airfield complex, built near Port Moresby in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. It was used during the Battle of New Guinea as a base of Allied air operations primarily in 1942 an ...

, New Guinea 14 September 1942 * Dobodura Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 10 December 1943 * Nadzab Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 4 March 1944 * Owi Airfield,

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

, 2 July 1944 * Tacloban Airfield,

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

, Philippines, c. 15 November 1944 * Clark Field,

, Philippines, 16 March 1945 * Ie Shima,

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, 26 July 1945 *

Fort William McKinley Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Taguig, Philippines. The camp is named after Andres Bonifacio, the revolutio ...

, Luzon, Philippines, 10 December 1945 – 29 April 1946 * Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, 1 October 1946 – 16 June 1952 : Deployed at

RAF Marham Royal Air Force Marham, commonly abbreviated RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Marham in the county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's ' ...

, England, 16 August – 16 November 1949 * Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, 1 June 1992 – 1 July 1994 * Pope Air Force Base (later Pope Field), North Carolina, 1 April 1997 – present

Aircraft

* B-18 Bolo, 1941 *

B-25 Mitchell 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 ...

, 1941 *

PT-17 Stearman The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary o ...

, 1941 * A-29 Hudson, 1941 * LB-30 Liberator 1941 *

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

, 1941–1943 *

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

, 1943–1946 *

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

, 1946–1948 * B-50 Superfortress, 1948–1951 *

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

, 1992–1994 * C-12 Huron, 1994 *

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 ...

, 1997–2016

References

; Notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * {{Navboxes , list = {{Strategic Air Command {{USAAF 5th Air Force World War II {{USAAF 1st Air Force World War II 043 043