349th Air Mobility Wing

The 349th Air Mobility Wing (349 AMW) is an Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Fourth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California. The 349th AMW is an associate unit of the 60th Air Mobility Wing, Air Mobility Command (AMC) and if mobilized the wing is gained by AMC.

The 349th Air Mobility Wing is the largest associate wing in the United States Air Force Reserve Command. 349th AMW personnel fly the C-5M Super Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, and KC-46 Pegasus. The missions of the aircrews include airlifting personnel and material worldwide as well as aerial refueling a wide variety of aircraft.

The mission of the 349th AMW is to "generate and sustain combat-ready mobility Airmen." This makes the wing responsible for training almost 2,700 reservists who work side-by-side with their active duty partners in the 60th Air Mobility Wing, also stationed at Travis.

The unit's 349th Operations Group traces its lineage to the 349th Troop Carrier Group of the Second World War. The 349th Troop Carrier Group was a Curtiss C-46 Commando transport unit assigned to Ninth Air Force in Western Europe.

The wing was first activated as a reserve organization at Hamilton Air Force Base California in June 1949 as the 349th Troop Carrier Wing, when Continental Air Command (ConAC) converted its reserve flying organizations under the wing base organization, which combined them with their support organizations under a single wing. It trained under the supervision of the 2346th Air Force Reserve Training Center. President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget also required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force, and the wing drew its cadre from the 325th Air Division and the 68th and 72d Reconnaissance Groups, which were simultaneously inactivated. The wing trained for airlift with the Curtiss C-46 Commando, but also operated a number of trainer aircraft. The wing was manned at 25% of normal strength but its combat group was authorized four squadrons rather than the three of active duty units.

The wing, along with all reserve combat and corollary units, was mobilized for the Korean war. It was called to active duty in April 1951. Its personnel were used as fillers for other units, and its aircraft were distributed to other organizations as well. The wing was inactivated the following day.

The wing was redesignated the 349th Fighter-Bomber Wing and once again activated in the reserves at Hamilton, where it replaced the 920th Reserve Training Wing. The reserve mobilization for the Korean War, however, had left the reserve without aircraft, and the unit did not receive aircraft until July 1952. Ironically, its initial aircraft were again C-46 Transports, and it was not until 1953 that it received World War II era North American F-51 Mustangs, along with trainers. Later in 1953 it received its first jet fighters, Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars. Although called a fighter bomber unit, like all reserve fighter bomber wings, it had an air defense role.

During the first half of 1955, the Air Force began detaching Air Force Reserve squadrons from their parent wing locations to separate sites. The concept offered several advantages: communities were more likely to accept the smaller squadrons than the large wings and the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning. As it finally evolved in the spring of 1955, ConAC's plan called for placing Air Force Reserve units at fifty-nine installations located throughout the United States. The wing's participation in the program began in October 1955, when the 313th Fighter-Bomber Squadron moved to Hill Air Force Base, Utah and the 314th Fighter-Bomber Squadron moved to McClellan Air Force Base, California, leaving only the 312th Fighter-Bomber Squadron with wing headquarters at Hamilton.