The 15th Airlift Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. It is the airlift arm of Pacific Air Forces and United States Pacific Command. Wing is a term used by different air forces for a unit of command. ... Aircraft of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and coalition counterparts stationed together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in southwest Asia, fly over the desert. ... Hickam Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base located in the city and county of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Emblem of the U.S. Air Forces Pacific The United States Pacific Air Forces (USPACAF or PACAF) is one of nine major U.S. Air Force commands and one of two located outside the continental United States, the other being U.S. Air Forces Europe. ... The United States Pacific Command operates from suburban Honolulu in south central Oahu at the Nimitz-MacArthur Pacific Command Center. ...

History

The 15th Airlift Wing, originally constituted as the 15th Pursuit Group (Fighter) on Nov. 22, 1940 , activated at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, on Dec. 1, 1940. A little more than a year later, on Dec. 7, 1941, it engaged in combat action during the Japanese attack on military installations in Hawaii. Combatants United States Empire of Japan Commanders Husband Kimmel (USN), Walter Short (USA) Chuichi Nagumo (IJN), Mitsuo Fuchida (IJNAS) (1st aerial wave), Shigekazu Shimazaki (IJNAS) (2nd aerial wave) Strength 8 battleships, 8 cruisers, 29 destroyers, 9 submarines, ~50 other ships, ~390 planes 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 9...

As the war progressed, the group continued fighting and supporting the aerial mission in the Pacific. In 1942, it evolved to meet future missions and became an interceptor unit. Later that year, its name changed to the 15th Fighter Group to reflect its new mission. It also received the mission of providing combat training for pilots.

In 1944, the group's mission advanced again when it began training for "very-long-range" bomber escort duties. These missions proved to be a vital success in the Pacific as its P-51 Mustangs escorted B-29 Superfortress bombers that struck targets in the heart of Japan, like the Nakajima aircraft plant near Tokyo and airfields on Kyushu Island. The North American P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II and became one of the conflicts most successful and recognizable aircraft. ... The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and other military organizations afterwards. ... Categories: Stub | Japanese aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engine manufacturers ... Kyushu region, Japan Kyushu (九州 kyūshū) is the third largest island of Japan and most southerly and westerly of the four main islands. ...

But its combat mission continued. One major example was when the group supported ground combat with bombing and strafing runs as Marines took the island of Iwo Jima. In the 1950s, the group evolved again as it was re-designated to fly an air defense mission over Niagara Falls, N. Y. -- its new home. Landsat photo of Iwo Jima, circa 2006 Iwo Jima   (Japanese 硫黄島 Iōtō, or Iōjima, meaning sulfur island) is a volcanic island in Japan, part of the Volcano Islands (the southern part of the Ogasawara Islands), approximately 650 nautical miles (1200 km) south of Tokyo (24°472N, 141...

Group/Wing Commanders and dates assigned

• Maj Clyde K. Rich, December 1940
• Maj Lorry N. Tindal, Dec. 6, 1940
• Maj Clarence F. Hegy, March 17, 1941
• Maj Lorry N. Tindal, April 25, 1941
• Lt Col Paul W. Blanchard, Sept. 20, 1941
• Lt Col William S. Steele, Feb. 12, 1942
• Lt Col Sherwood E. Buckland, March 5, 1943
• Lt Col Kenneth R. Powell, 17 Jun 1943 (temporary)
• Lt Col Sherwood E. Buckland, July 7, 1943
• Lt Col William A. Bowen, Aug. 23, 1943 (temporary)
• Lt Col Sherwood E. Buckland, Sept. 15, 1943
• Col James O. Beckwith Jr., Sept. 27, 1943
• Lt Col Dewitt S. Spain, April 16, 1945
• Lt Col Julian E. Thomas, May 17, 1945
• Lt Col Elmer E. Booth, July 19, 1945 (temporary)
• Col John W. Mitchell, July 21, 1945
• Col William Eades, by November 1945
• Col Oswald W. Lunde, Nov. 25, 1945 to Oct. 15, 1946
• Col Stanley E. Matthews, 1955
• Col Wayne B. Curren, 1956
• Col Thomas L. Wiper, 1957
• Col Vic L. Byers Jr., March 23, 1959 to July 1, 1960
• None (not manned), April 17, 1962 to June 30,1962
• Col George L. Jones, July 1, 1962
• Col Francis J. Vetort, June 8, 1964
• Col Levi R. Chase, July 6, 1964
• Col Raymond A. Bradley, Oct. 4, 1965
• Col Woodrow W. Ramsey, Oct. 6,1965
• Col Donald N. Stanfield, June 12, 1966
• Col Charles J. Bowers, July 29, 1966
• Col James D. Catington, Aug. 15, 1966
• Col Roy D. Carlson, June 21, 1967
• Col Clifford H. Meier, May 20, 1968
• Col Travis R. McNeil, Feb 1, 1970 to Oct. 1, 1970
• Col Ernest W. Pate, Nov. 1, 1971
• Col Howard R. Inks, June 3, 1972
• Col Wilmot E. Y. Paxton, Aug. 23, 1972
• Col Richard L. Thompson, May 1,1976
• Col Howard F. O'Neal, May 17, 1976
• Col Sharman R. Stevenson, July 7, 1978
• Col John A. Parrish Jr., Aug. 15, 1980
• Col Charles F. Luigs, July 21, 1983
• Col Keith B. Connolly, April 18, 1984
• Col Wayne E. Clark, April 19, 1985
• Col Timothy D. Gill, May 22, 1987
• Col William J. Kennedy, Nov. 9, 1987
• Col Don A. Lyon, Sept. 20,1988
• Col William C. Van Meter, July 23, 1991
• Brig Gen. Dwight M. Kealoha, June 25, 1993
• Col Bruce A. Brown, 26 Jan. 26, 1996
• Col Ann M. Testa, 14 Aug. 14, 1997
• Brig Gen Steven J. Redmann, July 8, 1999
• Col Albert F. Riggle, June 14, 2001
• Col Raymond G. Torres, April 28, 2003
• Col William J. Changose, March 23, 2005
• Col John J. Torres, June, 2006

References

• Commanders lead Airmen in changing times, 15th Airlift Wing History Office
• Official factsheet
• 15th Airlift Wing at GlobalSecurity.org