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| 6th Air Mobility Wing | |
|---|---|
 Official emblem of the 6th Air Mobility Wing | |
| Active | 30 September 1919 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Garrison/HQ | MacDill AFB, Florida |
| Motto | "Parati Defendere" Ready to Defend |
| Equipment | KC-135 Stratotanker, Gulfstream C-37A |
| Engagements |   
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| Decorations |  AFOUA |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Lenny Richoux |
The United States Air Force's 6th Air Mobility Wing (6 AMW) is the host wing for MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It is part of Air Mobility Command's (AMC) Eighteenth Air Force. The wing's 6th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 6th Group (Composite), one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II.
The 6th Air Mobility Wing provides day-to-day mission support to more than 3,000 personnel along with more than 50 mission partners, including the United States Central Command and United States Special Operations Command. It is a force capable of rapidly projecting air refueling power anywhere in the world. The Wing is organized into four unique groups and three operational flying squadrons to carry out its mission to be Americas premier mobility team providing world-class air refueling, responsive airlift and airbase support.
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The 6th Air Mobility Wing consists of:
The Wing's emblem, approved in 1924, reflects its origins with a ship sailing through the Gaillard Cut and an airplane flying overhead.
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The 6th Bombardment Wing (Medium) was activated Walker Air Force Base, New Mexico on January 2, 1951, attached to the Eighth Air Force. The unit consisted of the 24th, 39th and 40th Bombardment Squadrons and was initially equipped with B-29 Superfortress aircraft. The 307th Air Refueling Squadron was also attached until 1952 and operated KB-29P Superfortress Tankers.
This famous unit was one of the oldest ones in the Air Force, it's subordinate 6th Bombardment Group having been originally activated in the Panama Canal Zone on September 30, 1919. One of its assigned squadrons had been activated two years earlier during World War I and had been commanded by (the) Capt. Henry H. Arnold. During World War II, the Sixth had also been assigned to the Twentieth Air Force and had earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for action against Tokyo and the Japanese Empire.
After one year, the Sixth converted from B-29 to B-36 Peacemaker aircraft during 1952. On April 1, 1955, the 6th Bombardment Wing was from Eighth Air Force to Fifteenth Air Force. At Walker, the wing was bestowed the history and honors of the USAAF 6th Bombardment Group in 1952. Operations consisted of strategic bombardment training with air refueling as additional mission in 19511952, and again from April 1958. The Boeing B-52E Stratofortress replaced the wing's B-36 in September 1957.
In September 1959, the 24th and 30th Bombardment Squadrons joined the newly assigned 4129th Combat Crew Training Squadron to train B-52 and KC-135 crews. Early in 1965, a second KC-135 squadron was transferred to Walker when Schilling Air Force Base, Kansas, began its inactivation process. This made the Sixth a double-sized wing and one of the largest in SAC with its 60 heavy jet aircraft.
As the Soviet missile threat increased, so did the 6th's mission. The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron (SMS)was activated in 1962 as an SM-65 Atlas-F squadron. This addition of ICBMs resulted in the wing'd re-designation as the 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing. After its reactivation, the squadron received its first ICBM on January 24, 1962 and became fully operational during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October-November, 1962. However, bad luck dogged its footsteps and three of the 12 sites were lost by explosions on June 1, 1963, February 13, 1964, and March 9, 1964.
On November 18, 1964, it was announced that liquid-fueled Atlas-F missiles would be phased out three years early due to the increased reliability of the solid-fueled LGM-30A Minuteman I ICBM. Accordingly, the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron (SMS) inactivated March 25, 1965. Soon after the base was apprised by a second announcement on December 8, 1965 that it was scheduled to close as an active installation.
With the announcement of Walker's closure, the 310th Air Refueling Squadron (AREFS) moved to Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York on January 25, 1967. The 6th Air Refueling Squadron was inactivated at the same time, and its resources were apportioned out to SAC organizations in need of them. The 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing bomb squadrons also inactivated on March 25, 1967 and their resources were apportioned.
Notable events during the 6th SRW's tenure were:
The wing designation was moved to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, where it became the 6th Strategic Wing (SW), replacing the 4157th SW designation. The 24th Bomb Squadron designation became the 24th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.
The inactivation never happened as the 6th transferred to Eielson AFB, Alaska, without equipment and personnel on 25 March 1967, to become the 6th Strategic Wing. The 6th had gone full circle and was back in reconnaissance as it had been in 1919, only with modern, state-of-the-art RC-135 jet aircraft.
The 6th Strategic Wing also maintained a detachment at Shemya AFB, Alaska, in addition to maintaining the Alaskan Tanker Task Force to support strategic reconnaissance and the NORAD Alaskan ballistic missile early warning station. On 1 April 1988, SAC renamed the wing the 6th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. During this time it flew the RC135S and TC-135.
The Wing won the P.T. Cullen Award for greatest contributions to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of Strategic Air Command, 1973, 1978, and 1983.
The 24th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron left Eielson AFB on 7 July 1992. The wing has lost its operational mission and was inactivated on 1 September 1992 and the mission of the 6th SRW and assigned aircraft were transferred to the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.
Announcement of the 6th's most recent inactivation came in December 1991, as the reconnaissance mission of the 6th was transferred to the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and the mission of the Alaskan Tanker Task force was terminated.
Following the 1991 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission's decision to terminate the 56th Fighter Wing's mission at MacDill AFB Florida by the end of 1993, on 1 January 1994, the Air Mobility Command 6th Air Base Wing was activated at MacDill with a mission to operate the base and provide support services for CENTCOM, SOCOM, and the large and growing number of other tenant units, as well as to provide services for transient air units.
On 22 December 1993 the 6th was redesignated the 6th Air Base Wing and activated on 4 January 1994 at MacDill AFB Florida with a primary mission of supporting two unified commands, U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command. On 1 October 1996 the wing returned to its flying mission and was renamed the 6th Air Refueling Wing. The wing also assumed support responsibility for EC-135 command post aircraft supporting the CENTCOM and SOCOM commanders at MacDill and a CT-43 aircraft supporting the SOUTHCOM commander in Miami. Both non-tanker aircraft types were later replaced by the C-37.
On 1 January 2001 the 6th ARW reorganized and became the 6th Air Mobility Wing (6th AMW), assigned to Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force.
Efforts of the wing to highlight MacDill's airfield capabilities and in-place support units resulted in a redirect of the 1991 and 1993 DBCRC laws regarding the closure and transfer of MacDill's airfield. 1995 DBCRC laws called for the retention of the airfield as part of MacDill AFB (to be operated by the Air Force), and directed the relocation of the 43d Air Refueling Group's mission to transfer from Malmstrom AFB, Montana, to MacDill beginning in October 1996.
The 6th has twice won the Air Mobility Rodeo Best Air Mobility Wing Award; in 2000 and 2005.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
This article contains information from the 6th Air Mobility Wing history factsheet which is an official document of the United States Government and is presumed to be in the public domain.
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