15th Wing, US Air Force

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15TH WING, US AIR FORCE

History: Established as 15 Pursuit Group (Fighter) on 22 November 1940. Activated on 1 December 1940. Redesignated as: 15 Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 12 February 1942; 15 Fighter Group on 15 May 1942. Inactivated on 15 October 1946. Redesignated as 15 Fighter Group (Air Defense) on 20 June 1955. Activated on 18 August 1955. Discontinued on 1 July 1960. Consolidated (31 Jan 1984) with the 15 Tactical Fighter Wing, which was established, and activated, on 17 April 1962. Organized on 1 July 1962. Inactivated on 1 October 1970. Redesignated as 15 Air Base Wing on 20 October 1971. Activated on 1 November 1971. Redesignated as: 15 Airlift Wing on 28 April 2003; 15 Wing on 18 May 2010. Served as part of the defense force for Hawaiian Islands. Suffered numerous casualties and lost aircraft during Japanese attack on Hawaii, 7 December 1941, but was remanned and reorganized, and remained part of the Hawaiian defense system until 1944. Sent squadrons to the Central and South Pacific at various times for operations against the Japanese. Reequipped with P-51 aircraft in 1944 and trained for very-long range escort missions. Moved to Iwo Jima in February 1945, and in March, supported the invasion force, and began bombing Bonin Islands. In April and May 1945, escorted B-29 raids into Japan and struck airfields to curtail enemy attacks on invasion force at Okinawa. Continued fighter sweeps and long-range escort missions to Japan until end of war. In November 1945, transferred back to Hawaii without personnel and equipment. Remanned and reequipped but inactivated less than a year later, on 15 October 1946. Activated on 18 August 1955 at Niagara Falls Municipal Airport, NY, and equipped with F-86 and later, F-102 aircraft. Performed air defense operations for the Syracuse Air Defense Sector until July 1960, when it was discontinued. The 15 Tactical Fighter Wing activated on 17 April 1962 at MacDill AFB, FL. Conducted tactical fighter combat crew training, 1962-1963. Reorganized as a mission-capable unit at the time of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, returning afterwards to a training mission. Deployed the 43, 45, 46, and 47 Squadrons to Southeast Asia in 1965. Functioned as a replacement training unit for F-4 aircrews, 1965-1970. Also began B-57 light-bomber aircrew training in 1968. Deployed 16 F-4s at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, during the Pueblo crisis in 1968. Inactivated in 1970. Activated as an Air Base Wing on 1 November 1971 at Hickam AFB, HI, with control over Hickam, Wheeler, Dillingham, and Johnston Island AF Bases, Bellows AFS, and several smaller subsidiary bases. Commanded, maintained, operated, and provided security for all AF installations in the Hawaiian Islands, Wake Island, and other island groups in Central and South Pacific Ocean. Wing’s EC-135Es provided airborne command and control support for the Commander-in-Chief Pacific, November 1971-March 1992. Sheltered over 93,000 orphans, refugees, and evacuees from Southeast Asia during Operations Babylift and New Life, 6 April-30 September 1975. From May 1977 to April 1980, participated in Project Lagoon, a joint service operation to remove radioactive waste from Enewetak (formerly Eniwetok) Atoll. From 1983, supported the space shuttle program by maintaining Hickam as a designated emergency landing site. Beginning in 1992, assigned C-135 executive aircraft, provided special air transport for Commander, US Pacific Command; Commander, Pacific Air Forces; Commander, US Army Pacific; and for the Commander, Hawaiian Air National Guard. Deployed support personnel and equipment to Southwest Asia to assist in the liberation of Kuwait, August 1990-March 1991. Continued to deploy personnel worldwide in support of contingency and relief efforts, and supported deployments to the Pacific as it hosted deploying units in stopovers enroute to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia locations. Supported tanker task forces assigned to Operation Enduring Freedom in response to 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. In 2006, transitioned to a C-17 mission. Participated in Operation Tomodachi to provide humanitarian relief after a tsunami hit Japan on 10 March 2010; tsunami reached Hawaii on 11 March 2010.


Coat of arms (crest) of the 15th Wing, US Air Force
Official blazon
English blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The Emblem was approved on 5 October 1942; updated on 25 June 2010.

Literature: Image from Wikimedia Commons. Information from https://www.afhra.af.mil/


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