58th Special Operations Wing: Difference between revisions

58th Wing
58th Special Operations Wing Shield
Active	20 November 1940 — present
Country	United States
Branch	Air Force
Type	Training
Part of	Air Education and Training Command
Garrison/HQ	Kirtland Air Force Base
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1943-1945) Korean Service (1952-1953)
Decorations	DUC AFOUA File:Philpuc.gif PPUC ROK PUC
Commanders
Current commander	Col. Eric Kivi [1]
Notable commanders	Col. Ronald C. Roux

The 58th Special Operations Wing (58 SOW) is a wing of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command, assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 58th Special Operations Wing’s mission is to train mission-ready special operations, combat search and rescue, missile site support, and UH-1 Distinguished Visitor airlift crews directly supporting Air Expeditionary Forces for the United States Air Force.

The unit also provides people and airlift needed in response to crises around the world and assists civilian authorities in regional rescues. Supporting the 58th SOW training mission are approximately 1,250 military and civilian personnel administering over 90 training systems courses in 18 different crew positions.

There are also more than 30 rotary- and fixed- wing aircraft assigned to train an average of 1,600 students a year.

Special operations, combat search and rescue, and airlift training is conducted with MC-130H, MC-130P, HC-130P, C-12, TH-53A, MH-53J, HH-60G, UH-1N, UH-1H, and MV-22 aircraft.

The 58th SOW's Operations Group is composed of three flying and two support squadrons, as well as two geographically separated pilot training units, one at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and the other at MCAS New River, North Carolina.

• 58th Operations Group (58 OG)

58th Operations Support Squadron (58 OSS)

58th Training Squadron (58 TRS)

550th Special Operations Squadron (550 SOS)

512th Rescue Squadron (512 RQS)

23d Flying Training Squadron (23 FTS)

71st Special Operations Squadron (71 SOS)

• 58th Maintenance Group (58 MXG)

58th Maintenance Squadron (58 MXS)

58th Maintenance Operations Squadron (58 MOS)

58th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (58 AMX)

The Army Air Corps established the 58th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940 and activated it at Selfridge Field, Michigan on 15 January 1941. In October 1941, the group moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then to Dale Mabry Field, Florida, in March 1942. During this time, the group provided replacement training for pilots in a mix of fighters such as the P-35, P-36, P-39, P-40 and P 43.

In May 1942, the 58th Pursuit Group was redesignated as the 58th Fighter Group (58 FG). Before seeing combat in the Pacific, the 58 FG served as a flying training group, training Chinese and South American pilots and some of America's Tuskegee Airmen and Flying Sergeants. The 58 FG also had the mission of protecting the East Coast and the nation's capital from attack from September 1942.

Between October and December 1943 the 58 FG deployed to New Guinea via Australia. Equipped with the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, nicknamed "The Jug," the group served under Fifth Air Force. The 58 FG entered combat in February 1944, flying protective patrols over American bases and escorting transports. The 58 FG also provided fighter support for bombers attacking Japanese airfields and installations and escorted convoys to the Admiralty Islands. The 58 FG moved to Noemfoor Island in August 1944. From there, they bombed and strafed enemy airfields on Ceram, Halmahera and the Kai Islands.

The group moved to the Philippines in November 1944 in preparation for the invasion of Mindora. Aircrews assigned to the 58 FG strafed Japanese naval forces around Mindora saving the allied beachhead on Mindoro, earning the group a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions on 26 December 1944. The group continued to operate from bases in the Philippines and received a fourth fighter squadron in May 1945--the 201st Mexican Fighter Squadron, the only Mexican unit to see combat in World War II.

The 58 FG moved from the Philippines to Okinawa in July 1945 and attacked railways, airfields and naval units in Korea and Kyushu. After the war ended, the 58 FG stayed in the Pacific Theater flying reconnaissance and surveillance missions over Japan until inactivated on 27 January 1946.

The 58th was reactivated in Korea during the Korean War absorbing the personnel and equipment of the Texas Air National Guard 136th Fighter-Bomber Group.

Operational Units of the 58th in Korea were:

• 58th Fighter-Bomber Group

310th Fighter-Bomber Squadron

311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron

• 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing: (Attached March - June 1953)
• 474th Fighter-Bomber Wing/Group: (Attached April - June 1953)

The 58 FBW moved to K-2 Air Base, later known as Taegu Air Base, South Korea, in August 1952. Fighter-bomber units like the 58 FBW provided close air support for United Nations ground forces. Often flying deep into North Korea's "Mig Alley," the 58 FBW targeted airfields, railways, enemy positions, bridges, dams, electric power plants and vehicles.

The 58th provided close air support for United Nations ground forces and attacked enemy airfields and installations. In 1952 and early 1953 the wing flew interdiction and close air support missions in as well as attacking special strategic targets such as military schools, dams, and port facilities. Having entered the war with slow, short-ranged F-84D ThunderJets, the 58 FBW transitioned in late 1952 to the new "G" model, designed with more speed and range. The wing attacked the major supply port of Sinuiju in September, inflicting heavy damage without loss of personnel or aircraft. Combining with other fighter-bomber units, it attacked the Kumgang Political School at Odong-ni in October 1952 and the North Korean tank and infantry school at Kangso in February 1953. In May, the 58th bombed North Korean dams, flooding enemy lines of communication and rice fields. On 27 July, 1953 it attacked runway at Kanggye and, with the 49 Fighter-Bomber Wing, bombed Sunan Airfield for the final action of the war. The wing earned a second DUC for its actions in the last three months of the war.

These missions were not easy and they came at a cost. By the end of December 1952, the war claimed 18 members of the 58 FBW. By war's end the toll rose even higher. Many wing pilots never came home. According to recent listings from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, the fates of 14 members assigned to the 58 FBW are still unaccounted.

As the war raged on, the 58 FBW continued to play a vital role. Truce talks between North Korea and the United Nations stalled in the spring of 1953. As a result, the Air Force began attacking previously excluded targets in the north. On 13 May 1953, Thunderjets from the 58 FBW struck the Toksan Dam, near Pyongyang causing a massive flood. Floodwaters from the breached dam destroyed ten bridges, ruined several square miles of rice crops, flooded over 1,000 buildings and rendered the Sunan Airfield inoperable. Three days later, the wing attacked the Chosan irrigation dam with similar results. The Far East Air Forces commander later credited the 58 FBW by stating the destruction of the Toksan and Chosan irrigation dams resulted in the enemy coming to the truce talks in earnest.

The 58 FBW served in three Korean War campaigns and earned the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in combat. After the armistice the 58th provided air defense for South Korea and deployed tactical components on rotational basis to Taiwan from January 1955 - Feb 1957. From 15 March 1953 to 8 November 1954 the 58th service-tested a "reinforced" wing organization, exercising direct control of the tactical components of the attached wings. In October 1958 it armed with tactical missiles to provide air defense of South Korea until 1962.

On 22 August 1969, the Air Force redesignated the 58 FBW as the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing and activated it under the Tactical Air Command at Luke AFB, Arizona. The wing conducted training of US, German Air Force, and other friendly foreign nation aircrew and support personnel, and participated in numerous operations and tactical exercises while operating Luke Air Force Base until April 1977. It managed Tactical Air Command's Central Instructor School from 1971 – 1981. Beginning in early 1983 it performed tactical fighter training for US and foreign aircrews in the F-16 Falcon.

The 58th deployed support personnel to Europe to augment USAFE units during the war against Iraq in 1991.

In the fall of 1991, its primary mission expanded to include tactical training in the F-15E Strike Eagle all-weather strike fighter. By 1994, the wing had trained pilots and support personnel from the Netherlands, South Korea, Turkey, Pakistan, the Republic of Singapore, Norway, Greece, Egypt, Indonesia, and Venezuela.

In 1994, the wing's mission changed from the training of USAF and Allied fighter pilots to the training of USAF helicopter air crews and moved to Kirtland Air Force Base. It also trained crews in special operations aircraft, including helicopters and modified C-130 Hercules aircraft. It performed pararescue training and search and rescue missions as well. Additionally, the wing trained for missile site support and airlift for distinguished visitors. At the same time the wing continued to deploy personnel worldwide for contingency and combat operations.

The wing airlifted a federal task force to Pennsylvania to investigate the crash site of the fourth airliner following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. Since that time the 58th has deployed personnel and equipment to support Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Today, the wing trains aircrews in the MC-130 Combat Shadow and Combat Talon I/II variants of the C-130 Hercules and the CV-22 Osprey for the Air Force Special Operations Command; the HC-130 Hercules and the HH-60G Pavehawk for the Air Combat Command and Pacific Air Forces; the UH-1 Huey for Air Force Space Command; and those aircrew operationally gained to those commands from the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard.

• United States Army Air Forces in Australia

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Futrell, Robert Frank (1983) The United States Air Force In Korea, 1950-1953, Maxwell AFB, Alabama Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0912799714
• [2] Air Force Historical Research Agency

• 58 SOW Home Page