European operations The group was formed in October 1943 as the
31st Transport Group in England when the support requirements for
Eighth and
Ninth Air Forces expanded beyond the capability of the
27th Air Transport Group. It was assigned a combination of transport squadrons for delivering high priority cargo and mail and ferrying squadrons to deliver aircraft from depots to combat bases. The group was initially activated at
Camp Griffiss, which was the headquarters of Eighth Air Force and its VIII Air Force Service Command, but the group moved in a few days to
RAF Grove, where one of the largest depots in the European Theater was located. The group flew its first mission to the continent of Europe five days after
D-Day, when Col. Feldman, the group commander, delivered a load of supplies to the Normandy Beachhead in a
Douglas C-47 Skytrain and returned to England with Allied casualties. A detachment of the group was established near Omaha beach to organize the receipt of air freight and the return of wounded. In the first days of the Normandy campaign, the group's planes flew from a field within the range of enemy small arms fire. Traffic there temporarily exceeded that of many of the busiest transport bases in the United Kingdom, and it was claimed that it was the "busiest airdrome in the world." In September 1944, the group moved forward to
Querqueville Airfield, an
advanced landing ground in France, and in the same month was combined with the 27th Air Transport Group into the
302d Transport Wing. In September 1945, USSTAF organized the
European Air Transport Service (Provisional), using the personnel of the
51st Troop Carrier Wing and the 31st was transferred to the control of the 51st wing. Shortly thereafter, it was redesignated as the
516th Troop Carrier Group. It continued to provide airlift support to the United States Air Forces Europe until inactivating in September 1946.
Reserve training and Korean War callup The group was allotted to the reserves in 1949 and assigned to the
516th Troop Carrier Wing as
Continental Air Command implemented the
wing base reorganization. The group trained under the supervision of the
2584th Air Force Reserve Training Center at
Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee until April 1951. The group was called to active duty that month and participated in tactical
exercises and worldwide
airlift. It converted from
Curtiss C-46 Commando to
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft in 1952. The 516th was replaced by the
463d Troop Carrier Group in January 1953.
Helicopter assault operations The group was reactivated in 1955 at
Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee as the
516th Troop Carrier Group, Assault, Rotary Wing in part to test the
United States Air Force's ability to provide helicopter airlift to the
Army. The group was initially equipped with
Sikorsky H-19 helicopters, but soon replaced them with
Piasecki H-21s. Its operations included participation in Operation
Backlash II, which was a survey mission to fix the location of radar sites and support the construction of the
Mid-Canada Line. The group also tested the evacuation of key high ranking personnel from
Washington DC in the event of a nuclear attack. The helicopters of the group's three squadrons were transferred to the
20th,
23d and
24th Helicopter Squadrons, whose mission was support for routine Air Force activities. Three months later, the group's squadrons were reactivated at Stewart as
Fairchild C-123 Provider units, but the 516th was not activated with them, instead, they were attached to the
513th Troop Carrier Group.
Systems development In January 2005,
Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) implemented the Air Force Materiel Command Transformation in its
Aeronautical Systems Center, replacing its traditional systems development offices with wings, groups, and squadrons. As a result, it activated the
C-17 Systems Group at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio to direct the modernization, development, test, production, deployment, and sustainment of C-17 aircraft, engine, support, and training systems. In the following year, the Air Force consolidated these new units with numbered units with histories. As a result, the new systems group was consolidated with the 516th and the unit was renamed the
516th Aeronautical Systems Group. In June 2010, the group was inactivated as AFMC returned to its previous organizational model in the Air Force Acquisition Improvement Plan. ==Lineage==