327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing

History

World War II

The 327th Fighter Group was activated at Mitchel Field, New York flying Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and assigned to I Fighter Command in late August 1942 with the 323d, 324th, and 325th Fighter Squadrons assigned. Within a few days of activation, the group moved to Philadelphia Airport, and the following month to Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia. The group was part of the air defense force in the Mid-Atlantic region, and also served as an Operational Training Unit (OTU).

In February 1943, the 327th replaced its Warhawks with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and added a fourth squadron, the 443d Fighter Squadron, to the group. In 1944 the group became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) training replacement Thunderbolt pilots for combat duty.

Cold War

The group's 323d Squadron converted to Convair F-102A Delta Daggers in November 1956, while the 325th Squadron followed in February 1957. in a swap with the 323d, which replaced the 61st at Ernest Harmon. The group was reduced to a single operational squadron in 1960, when the 61st inactivated.

On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States. The group sent one third of its aircraft to Grand Island Airport, Nebraska. All group aircraft, including those at home and those at Grand Island were armed and placed on fifteen-minute alert status. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned units to their normal alert status, except for those under the control of its 32d Region, which controlled air defense in the Southeastern United States.

Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, attrition (and the fact that production lines closed in 1961) caused a gradual drop in the number of planes assigned to a squadron, from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. The force reduction continued, finally resulting in a reduction in the number of interceptor units, and the group was inactivated in the spring of 1966.

Logistics support

The group was redesignated the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing and activated in 2005 as part of the Air Force Materiel Command Transformation initiative that replaced traditional staff offices in the command's centers with wings, groups, and squadrons. The wing organized, directed and controlled total life-cycle management of 94 Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 585 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and C-135s, 69 Rockwell B-1 Lancers and 416 contractor logistics (including tanker, trainer, telemetry, airlift, command & control and US Presidential aircraft) aircraft. Other supported systems included the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft, Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems (TRACALS), and the worldwide High Frequency Global Communications System.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 327th Fighter Group (Single Engine) on 24 June 1942 : Activated on 19 August 1942 : Disbanded on 10 April 1944
• Reconstituted and redesignated 327th Fighter Group (Air Defense), on 20 June 1955 : Activated on 18 August 1955 : Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1966
• Redesignated 327th Tactical Fighter Group on 31 July 1985
• Redesignated 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing on 31 January 2005 : Activated on 18 February 2005 : Inactivated on 30 June 2010

Assignments

• I Fighter Command, 18 August 1942 – 1943 (attached to Philadelphia Air Defense Wing, 27 August 1942 – 22 September 1942)
• Philadelphia Air Defense Wing, 1943
• I Fighter Command, 1943 – 10 April 1944
• 4706th Air Defense Wing, 18 August 1955
• 37th Air Division, 8 July 1956
• 30th Air Division, 1 April 1959
• Chicago Air Defense Sector, 1 June 1959
• 20th Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 25 June 1966
• Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, 18 February 2005 – 30 June 2010

Stations

• Mitchel Field, New York, 25 August 1942
• Philadelphia Airport, Pennsylvania, 27 August 1942
• Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, ca. 22 September 1942 – 10 April 1944
• Truax Field, Wisconsin, 18 August 1955 – 25 June 1966
• Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 18 February 2005 – 30 June 2010

Components

Operational Squadrons

• 61st Fighter Squadron, 10 October 1957 – 25 July 1960
• 323d Fighter Squadron (later Fighter-Interceptor Squadron), 25 August 1942 – 10 April 1944; 18 August 1955 – 15 October 1957
• 324th Fighter Squadron, 25 August 1942 – 10 April 1944
• 325th Fighter Squadron (later Fighter-Interceptor Squadron), 25 August 1942 – 10 April 1944; 18 August 1955 – 25 June 1966 : detached to Philadelphia Fighter Wing, 15 September 1943 – 28 January 1944
• 443d Fighter Squadron, 24 February 1943 – 10 April 1944

Support Units

• 327th USAF Infirmary (later 327th USAF Dispensary), 18 August 1955 – 25 June 1966
• 327th Air Base Squadron (later 327th Combat Support Squadron), 18 August 1955 – 25 June 1966
• 327th Armament & Electronics Maintenance Squadron, 1 December 1958 – 1 August 1960
• 327th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 8 July 1957 – 1 December 1958, 1 August 1960 – 25 June 1966
• 327th Field Maintenance Squadron, 1 December 1958 – 1 August 1960
• 327th Materiel Squadron, 18 August 1955 – 1 August 1964
• 327th Organizational Maintenance Squadron, 1 December 1958 – 1 August 1960
• 327th Supply Squadron, 1 August 1964 – 25 June 1966

{{center|Sustainment Units}}

• 327th Bomber and Cruise Missile Sustainment Group (later 327th Aircraft Sustainment Group), 18 February 2005 – 30 June 2010 :: 540th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron
• 427th Aircraft Sustainment Group, 11 January 2008 – 30 June 2010 :: 553d Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 554th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 555th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron
• 639th Aircraft Sustainment Group, 1 April 2008 – 30 June 2010 :: 536th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 537th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 538th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 539th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron
• 727th Aircraft Sustainment Group, 14 April 2006 – 30 June 2010 :: 544th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 545th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 546th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 547th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron
• 747th Aircraft Sustainment Group, 14 April 2006 – 30 June 2010 :: 557th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 558th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron
• 827th Aircraft Sustainment Group, 14 April 2006 – 30 June 2010 :: 550th Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 551st Aircraft Sustainment Squadron :: 552nd Aircraft Sustainment Squadron

Aircraft

• Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, 1942–1943
• Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944
• North American F-86D Sabre, 1955–1957
• Convair F-102A Delta Dagger, 1956–1966

Campaigns

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes

; Citations

Bibliography

• Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air
• Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1956

::

• McMullen, Richard F. (1964) The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962–1964, ADC Historical Study No. 27 (Confidential, declassified 22 March 2000)
• NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)

References

1. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 208–209
2. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 398
3. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 399
4. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 400–401
5. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide [[en cadre
6. Cornett & Johnson, p. 82
7. Buss, ''et al''., p.6
8. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 534
9. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 562
10. Cornett & Johnson, p. 125
11. "Abstract, History 327 Infirmary, Jul–Dec 1955". Air Force History Index.
12. "Abstract, History 327 Air Base Squadron, CY 1958–1959". Air Force History Index.
13. Cornett & Johnson, p. 145
14. In October 1957, the [[61st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron]] was assigned to the group and moved to Truax Field from [[Ernest Harmon Air Force Base]], Canada, where it had been part of the [[4731st Air Defense Group]],Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 237
15. NORAD/CONAD Response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, pp. 16, 26
16. McMullen, pp. 10–12
17. Cornett & Johnson, p. 79
18. McMullen, pp. 41, 43–45
19. "Factsheet, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center". Tinker Public Affairs.
20. (16 July 2010). "Previous 327th ASW unit to new OC-ALC/GK names and symbols". Tinker Public Affairs.
21. Lineage to this entry at Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 209
22. DAF/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations
23. Air Force Organization Status Change Report, Feb 2005, Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency
24. Air Force Organization Status Change Report, Jun 2010, Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency
25. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 428
26. Stations to this entry at Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 209
27. (22 May 2009). "Factsheet 61 Fighter Squadron (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency.
28. "Abstract, History 327 Dispensary, Jan–Mar 1966". Air Force History Index.
29. "Abstract, History 327 Combat Support Squadron, Jan–Mar 1965". Air Force History Index.
30. Cornett & Johnson, p. 139
31. "Abstract, History 327 Supply Squadron, Jan–Mar 1965". Air Force History Index.
32. Air Force Organization Status Change Report, Jan 2008, Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency