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The 315th Air Division was formally established on February 1, 1951 as
the Combat Cargo Division of the Far East Air
Forces, with the primary mission of providing air transportation for United
Nations forces fighting on the Korean Peninsula. Initially commanded by Brigadier
General John R. Henebry, 315th operated C-47, C-46, C-54 and C-119 transports from
bases in Japan on routes to airfields in Korea. The
division controlled several troop carrier wings, including the 374th and 437th
and the 314th Troop Carrier Group, which was on temporary duty in Japan from it's
parent 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Smyrna, Tennessee. In 1953 two squadrons of the
374th Troop Carrier Wing at Tachikawa AB, Japan began
equipping with the new four-engine Douglas C-124 Globemaster. The division also
included the 6127th Air Terminal Group, an air transportation unit that
operated air terminals at forward fields in Korea and throughout the Western Pacific.
Combat Cargo Division transports operated in both the logistical and
tactical roles, delivering cargo and personnel to
airfields in Korea and airdropping supplies to ground units. The Division also
conducted two major airborne operations with troops of the 187th
Regimental Combat Team. Air evacuation of
casualties was a major Combat Cargo mission, as wounded soldiers and Marines
were airlifted to hospitals in Japan aboard returning transports.
Pyschological warfare and covert operations was another 315th
mission.
When the Korean War ended with a truce, the 315th Air Division remained
in Japan as the air transportation unit for the Western Pacific. The 374th
Troop Carrier Wing remained at Tachikawa where it operated
two squadrons of C-124s and another of C-54s and C-119s, while the 483rd
Troop
Carrier Wing was based at Ashiya, Japan with C-119s. Division aircraft operated
into Indochina where the United States was supporting the French in their war
against the communist Viet Minh. Several C-119s were provided to the French "on loan"
from the US and were operated by American civilian
crews employed by the CIA's airline, Civil Air Transport. A contingent of 483rd
personnel operated in Indochina with the French.
The 315th continued in both covert and overt air trasnporation operations
in the Pacific in the mid-1950s. Covert operations were frequent, usually by
C-119 crews, although other aircraft were also used in the
covert role. In the late 1950s the Air Force began replacing the C-119s with the
new four-engine turboprop C-130 Hercules. Two squadrons were assigned to the
483rd at Ashiya while the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron moved from Tachikawa to
Naha AB, Okiniwa where it was primarily assigned to
covert operations. In 1960 Ashiya closed and the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing was
inactivated. One of its squadrons, the 815th TCS, transferred to
Tachikawa while the 817th went to Naha to join the
21st. In 1963 the two Naha squadrons were joined by the 35th Troop Carrier
Squadron which transferred to Okinawa from Sewart AFB, Tennessee. The
three squadrons were assigned to the 6315th Operations Group.
In 1964 hostilities in South Vietnam began escalating, and 315th strength
was beefed up with Tacical Air Command C-130 rotational squadrons sent on temporary
duty with Pacific Air Forces, to which 315th was now
assigned. In late 1965 the Air Force transferred two full C-130 wings to the
Pacific, the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing from Langley, Virginia and the 314th TCW
from Sewart AFB, Tennessee - the 314th was made up of three squadrons from
three different TAC bases. The 463rd was based in the
Philippines, initially on Mactan Island near Cebu, then at Clark Field on Luzon.
A fourth squadron joined the 6315th Operations Group at Naha; on August 1,
1966 the 374th Troop Carrier Wing was activated to replace the 6315th Ops
Group.
From 1964 on, the primary mission of the 315th Air Division was to
provide C-130s for airlift missions in Southeast
Asia. In 1965 Colonel Charles W. Howe, who had been with the division during the
Korean War, returned to Japan to take command of 315th. Under his
leadership, the division's airplanes, including C-123s that were based in South
Vietnam, broke all existing airlift records and began achieving
the reputation for which C-130s are now famous. The divisions C-130s and C-124s
- one
squadron remained at Tachikawa - airlifted personnel and cargo to Southeast Asia
from Okinawa and the Philippines and also flew intratheater missions inside Southeast
Asia. Beginning in June 1965, detachments of
315th AD C-130s were a regular part of the Vietnam War.
In the latter part of 1967 the intensity of combat in South Vietnam
intensified, and with it the increasing exposure of the
C-130 force to hostile fire. Division C-130 crews were involved in some of the
most heroic USAF actions of the Vietnam War, particularly the resupply of the
Marine combat base at Khe Sanh, the aerial resupply of elements of the US Army's
First Cavalry Division in the A Shau Valley and the airlift
evacuation of the camp at Kham
Duc.
In 1968 the Air Force decided to inactivate the 315th Air Division due to
the increasing role of the jet transports of the
Military Airlift Command and the presence of a new airlift division at Tan Son
Nhut Air Base in Vietnam. The 315th was inactivated on April 1, 1969 - its
units transferred to the numbered Air Force in whose area they were
based.
Last updated October 12, 2008