Corollary unit and Korean War mobilization The May 1949 Air Force Reserve program called for a new type of unit, the Corollary unit, which was a reserve unit integrated with an active duty unit. The plan called for corollary units at 107 locations and was viewed as the best method to train reservists by mixing them with an existing regular unit to perform duties alongside the regular unit. The
wing was activated at
McChord Air Force Base, Washington in June as the
302d Troop Carrier Wing and conducted airlift training as a
reserve corollary unit of the
62d Troop Carrier Wing until May 1950, when McChord transferred to
Air Defense Command (ADC) and then the wing became a corollary of the
325th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, the new host wing at McChord. In August 1950,
Continental Air Command (ConAC) transferred control of corollary units to the commands training the units and the wing was reassigned to ADC's
Western Air Defense Force. The 302d was mobilized on 1 June 1951. Its personnel were used as fillers for other units, and it was inactivated a week later. Once it began to receive
Curtiss C-46 Commandos, it trained as a reserve troop carrier wing. Training for the wing was supervised by the active duty 2252d Air Reserve Flying Center. In 1958, the 2252d Center was inactivated and some of its personnel were absorbed by the wing. In place of active duty support for reserve units, ConAC adopted the Air Reserve Technician program, in which a
cadre of the unit consisted of full-time personnel who were simultaneously civilian employees of the Air Force and also held military rank as members of the reserves. In April 1959, the wing reorganized under the Dual Deputy system. Its
302d Troop Carrier Group was inactivated and the
355th and
356th Troop Carrier Squadrons were assigned directly to the wing. Although the wing's 355th and 356th Troop Carrier Squadrons remained with the wing
headquarters at Clinton County, when a third squadron, the
357th Troop Carrier Squadron, was activated in 1961 and assigned to the wing, it was stationed at
Bates Field, Alabama.
Activation of groups under the wing Although the dispersal of flying units was not a problem when the entire wing was called to active service, mobilizing a single flying squadron and elements to support it proved difficult. This weakness was demonstrated in the partial mobilization of reserve units during the
Berlin Crisis of 1961 To resolve this, at the start of 1962, ConAC determined to reorganize its reserve wings by establishing
groups with support elements for each of its troop carrier squadrons. This reorganization would facilitate mobilization of elements of wings in various combinations when needed. However, as this plan was entering its implementation phase, another partial mobilization, which included the 302d Wing, occurred for the
Cuban Missile Crisis. The formation of troop carrier groups was delayed until February 1963 for wings that had been mobilized. The
906th and
907th Troop Carrier Group at Clinton County, and the
908th Troop Carrier Group at Bates Field were all assigned to the wing on 11 February.
MAFFS aerial fire-fighting mission system The 302d also provides training, crews, and aircraft in cooperation with the
US Forest Service and
National Interagency Fire Center to operate
Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System-equipped C-130s to combat
wildfires. Two of the unit's C-130H3 are on standby with the
Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System installed and have another two empty C-130H3 aircraft are in reserve. It is the only Air Force Reserve unit that maintains this capability. While six separate MAFFS II units are utilized by three other participating MAFFS Air Expeditionary Group (AEG) wings (
146th Airlift Wing,
152nd Airlift Wing,
153rd Airlift Wing), 302d Airlift Wing aircraft, crews and MAFFS II systems are identified by the blaze-orange
MAFFS 2 and
MAFFS 5 aircraft fuselage and tail markings. The
Aero Union designed MAFFS II system can discharge its load of 3,000 gallons weighing 27,000 pounds in less than five seconds or can make incremental drops for multiple passes. The retardant can cover an area one-quarter of a mile long and 100 feet wide. After the aircraft discharges its
Phos-Chek retardant or water load, it can be rapidly refilled at tanker ground bases in less than twelve minutes for expedited wildfire re-attack. ),
Iraq Notable incidents On 13 May 1995, aircraft 62-1838, callsign "Sumit 38", with six people aboard, caught fire approximately 45 miles east of
Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, after ferrying firefighters to
Gowen Field. The number two engine incorrectly signaled an under temperature reading, causing the flight engineer to enrich the fuel mixture to that engine, leading to an actual over temperature situation. The engine caught fire, and after two attempts by one of the flight crew to quench the fire, the engine reignited causing SUMIT38 to fall 26,000 feet to the ground, killing its six crew members. The six crew members of SUMIT38 were: Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Bob" Buckout, Aircraft Commander First Lieutenant Lance Dougherty, Pilot Captain Geoff Boyd, Navigator Chief Master Sergeant Jimmie Vail, Flight Engineer Master Sergeant Jay Kemp, Loadmaster Staff Sergeant Michael Lynn Scheideman, Loadmaster A memorial at Peterson AFB, Colorado, was dedicated to the crew on the 10th anniversary of the crash in May 2005. Several stones, placards and flags are occasionally replaced at the actual crash site, near Bliss, Idaho, by well-wishers, recovery crew, and family members of the crew.
Units in the late 2010s • 302d Operations Group •
731st Airlift Squadron •
34th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron • 302d Maintenance Group • 302d Mission Support Group • 302d Aeromedical Staging Squadron ==Lineage==