315th Operations Group

The 315th Operations Group is an operational organization of the United States Air Force Reserve and a subordinate unit of the 315th Airlift Wing. It is based at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina and oversees the wing’s operational flying units, including squadrons equipped with the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III. Its present responsibilities center on airlift operations, operational support, aeromedical evacuation, contingency response, and combat-camera activities rather than commercial branding or consumer products. The group has a long lineage that predates its current designation. It was constituted in February 1942 as the 315th Transport Group and activated shortly afterward during the Second World War. After training with Douglas C-47 Skytrain and C-53 Skytrooper aircraft, it became a troop-carrier organization and deployed to the European Theater. It supported cargo movement and airborne operations in the British Isles, North Africa, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Germany. Its wartime record included participation in the airborne phases of Operation Overlord in Normandy, Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, and Operation Varsity, the Allied crossing of the Rhine. The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat parachute operations during these campaigns. Following the war, the unit experienced several periods of activation and inactivation. A short-lived activation at Langley Field in 1947 was not fully manned or equipped. During the Korean War, the group was reactivated in Japan in 1952 as the 315th Troop Carrier Group, Medium. It assumed transport responsibilities previously handled by the 437th Troop Carrier Group and flew troop and cargo airlift, airdrop, evacuation, search-and-rescue, leaflet, and related missions between Japan and Korea. It also supported the movement of airborne formations and continued regional transport operations after the armistice before being inactivated in January 1955. The organization returned to service in Southeast Asia in 1962 as the 315th Troop Carrier Group, Assault. Based at Tan Son Nhut Airport in South Vietnam, it replaced the provisional 6492d Combat Cargo Group and coordinated common-use airlift resources throughout Vietnam and Thailand. Its missions involved Fairchild C-123 Provider aircraft and included logistics support, troop movement, flare drops, evacuation, and the management of associated Army and allied transport assets. A detachment also operated aircraft connected with Operation Ranch Hand, including defoliation and crop-destruction missions. In 1965, the group was redesignated the 315th Air Commando Group and began incorporating Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports. It was inactivated in 1966, with its flying squadrons transferred to the newly activated 315th Air Commando Wing. The group was reactivated in its current operational-group form in 1992, when the Air Force Reserve adopted the Objective Wing structure. Today it functions as the operations element of the 315th Airlift Wing, coordinating flying squadrons and operational support organizations. Its historical identity is therefore rooted in military air transport and airborne operations, while its contemporary role is associated with reserve airlift readiness, global mobility, medical evacuation, contingency support, and related mission capabilities.

The 315th Operations Group traces its lineage to the 315th Transport Group, constituted on 2 February 1942 and activated at Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania, on 14 February. Its early organization included transport squadrons that were later reshuffled as the group prepared for overseas service. Training began with Douglas C-47 Skytrain and C-53 Skytrooper aircraft under I Troop Carrier Command. The group moved to Bowman Field, Kentucky, in June 1942, where it completed troop-carrier preparation. Its air and ground elements departed for the European Theater later that year. The ground echelon reached England in November, while the air echelon was delayed in Greenland by severe winter weather and assisted in searches for missing aircraft and in supply drops to downed crews. Once reunited, the group carried cargo in the British Isles and trained with airborne forces and glider units. A large detachment deployed to North Africa in 1943 to support the invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy. Although the group did not conduct the principal airborne assaults in those operations, it transported supplies for the Mediterranean campaigns. The detachment returned to England in March 1944, after the group had transferred to Ninth Air Force control and joined the 52d Troop Carrier Wing of IX Troop Carrier Command. From RAF Spanhoe, the group prepared for the invasion of Normandy. On 6 June 1944, forty-seven of its aircraft dropped 844 paratroopers from the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment near Sainte-Mère-Église. The mission included the movement of 82d Airborne Division commander Matthew Ridgway and his staff, and the group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance. During Operation Market Garden in September, it conducted several airborne and reinforcement missions in the Netherlands, including drops involving American, British, and Polish formations. It also transported fuel and other supplies during the Battle of the Bulge. For Operation Varsity on 24 March 1945, the group staged from RAF Boreham and dropped British paratroopers near Wesel during the Rhine crossing. The operation produced the group’s heaviest wartime losses: nineteen aircraft were lost and thirty-six more were seriously damaged. The unit subsequently resumed cargo transportation and the evacuation of wounded personnel. It moved to France in April, transported supplies and former Allied prisoners of war after V-E Day, and relocated to Trinidad in May to support the return of troops to the United States. The wartime group was inactivated on 31 July 1945. The lineage was briefly revived at Langley Field on 19 May 1947, but the organization was not manned or equipped and was inactivated on 10 September 1948. It was reactivated in Japan on 10 June 1952 as the 315th Troop Carrier Group, Medium, during the Korean War. Operating from Brady Air Base, it assumed the C-46 Commando transport responsibilities of the 437th Troop Carrier Group. The group flew personnel and cargo missions, airdrops, leaflet operations, spray missions, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, and other air transport tasks between Japan and Korea. After C-119 aircraft were grounded in 1953 because of propeller problems, the group’s C-46 aircraft carried much of the personnel movement between southern Japan and Korea. It also transported the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and other formations to Korea. The group received the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation and continued regional transport and airborne-training missions until its inactivation on 18 January 1955. In December 1962, the organization was reactivated at Tan Son Nhut Airport, Vietnam, as the 315th Troop Carrier Group, Assault. It replaced the provisional 6492d Combat Cargo Group and controlled common-use United States airlift resources in Vietnam and Thailand. The group initially operated Fairchild C-123B Providers and coordinated provisional transport, aerial-port, and maintenance elements. Its responsibilities expanded to include control of attached squadrons, Army Caribou transport resources, a Royal New Zealand Air Force transport detachment, and a Royal Australian Air Force Caribou flight. Its aircraft conducted logistics missions, troop movements, flare drops, evacuations, and other support operations. The group also controlled aircraft assigned to Operation Ranch Hand, which carried out defoliation and crop-destruction missions. The organization was redesignated the 315th Air Commando Group on 8 March 1965. It began operating deployed C-130 Hercules aircraft in addition to C-123s, but was inactivated in March 1966 as the larger 315th Air Commando Wing assumed responsibility for its flying squadrons and mission structure. The present-day 315th Operations Group was activated in 1992 as part of the Air Force Reserve’s Objective Wing reorganization. Assigned to the 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, it became responsible for the wing’s operational flying squadrons and related support organizations. Its current structure includes the 315th Operations Support Squadron, the 300th, 317th, and 701st Airlift Squadrons, the 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, the 315th Contingency Response Flight, and the 4th Combat Camera Squadron. The group’s principal contemporary aircraft association is the C-17 Globemaster III, reflecting its role in strategic and tactical air mobility within the Air Force Reserve.

• 1992

  Activated in current operations-group form

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The current 315th Operations Group was activated when the Air Force Reserve implemented the Objective Wing organizational structure.

• 1965

  Redesignated as the 315th Air Commando Group

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The organization adopted the Air Commando designation and expanded its transport role through the use of C-130 Hercules aircraft.

• 1962

  Reactivated in Vietnam

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group was organized at Tan Son Nhut Airport as the 315th Troop Carrier Group, Assault, to coordinate common-use airlift in Southeast Asia.

• 1952

  Reactivated for the Korean War

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The unit returned to service in Japan as the 315th Troop Carrier Group, Medium, taking over transport duties from the 437th Troop Carrier Group.

• 1945

  Operation Varsity

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group supported the airborne crossing of the Rhine and sustained its heaviest wartime aircraft losses during the operation.

• 1944

  Normandy airborne operation

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  On 6 June, the group dropped 844 paratroopers near Sainte-Mère-Église during Operation Overlord and received a Distinguished Unit Citation.

• 1944

  Operation Market Garden

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The group conducted multiple troop and reinforcement drops in the Netherlands during the Allied airborne offensive.

• 1942

  Constituted as the 315th Transport Group

  [1]315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org

  The unit was constituted on 2 February and activated at Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania, on 14 February for transport and troop-carrier training.

A United States Air Force Reserve operational group focused on air mobility, airlift readiness, and mission support for the 315th Airlift Wing.

• Military airlift

  C-17 Globemaster III airlift

  The group controls the operational C-17 flying squadrons of the 315th Airlift Wing. These aircraft provide long-range movement of personnel, cargo, vehicles, and equipment, as well as support for airborne and contingency missions.

• Medical air mobility

  Aeromedical evacuation

  The 315th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron provides medical personnel and operational capability for the movement of patients by air in support of military operations and wider air-mobility missions.

• Expeditionary support

  Contingency response

  The group’s Contingency Response Flight supports the establishment and operation of air-mobility activities in expeditionary or rapidly developing operational environments.

• 1962Operation Ranch Hand

  South Vietnam

  A group detachment operated UC-123B aircraft in defoliation and crop-destruction missions intended to reduce vegetation cover and deny resources to opposing forces.

  Outcome. The detachment continued these missions after the aircraft were transferred to the group on a permanent basis.

  Source
• 1945Operation Varsity

  Germany

  The group dropped British paratroopers near Wesel during the Allied airborne assault across the Rhine.

  Outcome. The operation achieved its transport objective, but the group lost nineteen aircraft and had thirty-six more badly damaged.

  Source
• 1944Operation Overlord

  France · Western Europe

  The group transported and dropped paratroopers of the 82d Airborne Division near Sainte-Mère-Église during the Normandy invasion.

  Outcome. The group completed the mission without losing an aircraft and received a Distinguished Unit Citation.

  Source
• 1944Operation Market Garden

  Netherlands

  The group carried out airborne drops and reinforcement missions for American, British, and Polish airborne forces during the Allied offensive in the Netherlands.

  Outcome. The group continued follow-on transport and supply missions despite aircraft losses to antiaircraft fire.

  Source

• 1992

  Reorganized as an operations groupStrategy

  Background

  Air Force Reserve Command implemented the Objective Wing structure to align operational groups with their parent wings.

  Action taken

  The 315th Operations Group was activated under the 315th Airlift Wing at Charleston Air Force Base.

  Aftermath

  The group became the wing’s central organization for operational flying squadrons and associated air-mobility support units.

  Source

• 1965

  Expanded transport capability with C-130 aircraftStrategy

  Background

  Increasing airlift demands in Southeast Asia required greater cargo capacity than the group’s C-123 Provider fleet could provide.

  Action taken

  The group began operating deployed Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports while continuing its existing Southeast Asian airlift responsibilities.

  Aftermath

  The organization was redesignated the 315th Air Commando Group and later inactivated in 1966 as the 315th Air Commando Wing assumed its functions.

  Source

1. 1315th Operations Groupen.wikipedia.org