:
For additional history and lineage, see 435th Operations Group Reserve operations In June 1949,
Continental Air Command (ConAC), which had the responsibility to train reserve units, reorganized its reserve units under the
wing base organization system. As part of this reorganization and unit reductions required by president
Truman's 1949 defense budget, the 435th Troop Carrier Wing was activated at
Miami International Airport,The
wing was manned at 25 percent of normal strength but was authorized four squadrons rather than the three of active duty units.
Korean War mobilization At Miami, the wing trained with
C-46s under the supervision of the active duty 2585th Air Force Reserve Training Center. The wing was ordered into active service in March 1951 for the
Korean War. Along with other reserve units called to active duty, it formed the
Tactical Air Command's
Eighteenth Air Force. The 435th's initial function was to train C-46
aircrews for service in Korea. The wing also trained with
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars. Although it remained at Miami, the wing deployed twice while on active duty: to
Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, North Carolina from 21 July until 1 September 1951 and to
Grenier Air Force Base, New Hampshire from 2 January to 3 March 1952. It was relieved from active duty and inactivated on 1 December 1952 and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the regular
456th Troop Carrier Wing, which was activated the same day.
Troop carrier operations The wing was activated as a reserve unit the same day at the same station, but with the personnel and equipment of the inactive
482d Troop Carrier Wing. In the reserve, the 435th once again flew Curtiss Commandos In addition, for the first time as a reserve unit, its flying was performed in unit tactical aircraft, rather than in trainers.
Detached Squadron Concept During the first half of 1955, the Air Force began detaching reserve squadrons to separate locations. The dispersal of separate squadrons to smaller population centers was intended to facilitate recruiting and manning. One of the first three squadrons to move as this policy was implemented was the 78th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was activated at
Orlando Air Force Base in April 1955 after having been inactivated at Miami the previous year. In August 1956, the wing's 77th Troop Carrier Squadron left Miami for
Pinellas County Airport, Florida. The squadron's stay in the Tampa Bay area was brief, however, for in November 1957 it moved again, this time to
New Orleans Naval Air Station, Louisiana. Only the 76th Squadron remained with group headquarters in Miami. In 1957, the wing once again received C-119s.
Activation of groups under the wing The 435th Troop Carrier Group was deactivated on 14 April 1959 when the 435th Wing adopted the Dual Deputy organization and the group's squadrons were assigned directly to the wing. The
77th and
78th Troop Carrier Squadrons converted to the
Douglas C-124 Globemaster II in 1961,
Activation at Ramstein In February 2001, the 435th Airlift Wing was converted to provisional status as the
435th Air Expeditionary Wing, but the unit was never activated in that role. It was returned to permanent status in December 2003. Beginning in 2014, the wing participated in
Exercise Saber Strike, the annual United States Army Europe–led multinational exercise in the Baltic states and Poland. During the June 2014 iteration at
Lielvārde Air Base, Latvia, the contingency response group opened the airfield for
C-130J operations, marking the first time a USAF C-130J had landed there. In August 2015, 80 airmen from the group deployed to
Diyarbakır Air Base, Turkey, to establish initial operations in support of
Operation Inherent Resolve. The unit received over 680 tons of equipment and constructed 88 structures within two weeks, enabling
HC-130J-supported personnel recovery missions over Syria and Iraq. In late 2020 and early 2021, approximately 75 wing personnel participated in
Operation Octave Quartz, the repositioning of United States forces from Somalia. The wing executed over 300 airlift sorties, moving more than 3,300 tons of equipment and nearly 1,300 personnel to other East African locations ahead of the 15 January 2021 deadline. The wing also conducted recurring bilateral exercises with NATO allies, including Exercise Thracian Summer in Bulgaria, where wing elements operated from Cheshnegirovo Air Base practicing agile combat employment and landing-zone operations alongside Bulgarian forces in August and September 2021. In February 2022, approximately 150 wing personnel deployed to
Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport, Poland, to prepare the airfield for the arrival of the
82nd Airborne Division as part of NATO's response to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. The contingency response group operated aerial port functions at Jasionka, offloading troops and equipment from
C-17 aircraft. In September 2022, the group returned to Poland for Exercise Agile Wolf 22, deploying more than 80 airmen to practice contingency airfield operations. The wing's air advisors also conducted air traffic control training for Ukrainian Air Force officers at Ramstein in 2022. ==Lineage==