View source for 633rd Special Operations Wing

{{About|the 633d Special Operations Wing|the 633d Air Base Wing|633d Air Base Wing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= 333d Special Operations Wing<br>Active as the 633d Special Operations Wing
[[File:Pacific Air Forces.png|center|60px]]
|image=A-1E 6SOS Pleiku 1968-69.jpg
|image_size=300
|caption=[[A-1E Skyraider]] of the wing's [[6th Special Operations Squadron]]
|dates=1942–1944; 1944–1946; 1968-1970
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|role=[[Special Operations]]
|size=
|command_structure=[[Pacific Air Forces]]
|current_commander=
|garrison=
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Asiatic-Pacific Theater|Pacific Theater]]<br/>[[Vietnam War]]
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
|decorations=[[Air Force Outstanding Unit Award]] with [[Combat "V" Device]]<br/>[[Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross|Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm]]
|battle_honours=
<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol=[[File:USAF - 633 Special Operations Wing.png|165px]]
|identification_symbol_label=633d Special Operations Wing emblem <small>(approved 29 May 1969)</small><ref name=Ravenstein633SOW>Ravenstein, pp. 290-291</ref>
|identification_symbol_2=
|identification_symbol_2_label=
}}
The '''333d Special Operations Wing''' is an inactive [[United States Air Force]] unit.  It was active from July 1968 through March 1970 at [[Pleiku Air Base]], South Vietnam.  In 1985, the [[wing (military aviation unit)|wing]] was consolidated with the [[333d Bombardment Group]] as the 333d Special Operations Wing.
==History==
===World War II===
====Heavy bomber training unit====
The '''333d Bombardment Group''', a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Operational Training Unit (OTU) assigned to [[Second Air Force]], was established at [[Topeka Army Air Base]], Kansas in July 1942.  The 333d's original components were the [[966th Airborne Air Control Squadron|466th]], [[467th Bombardment Squadron|467th]], [[68th Air Refueling Squadron|468th]] and [[469th Bombardment Squadron]]s.<ref name=Maurer333BG>Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 213-214</ref><ref name=466469Squadrons>Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'',  572-575</ref>  The squadrons were all initially formed at [[Salt Lake City Army Air Base]], and did not join group [[headquarters]] at Topeka until late August.<ref name=466469Squadrons/>
The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide [[en cadre|cadres]]  to "satellite groups".  In February 1943 it moved to [[Dalhart Army Air Field]], Texas, and shifted its mission to become a Replacement Training Unit (RTU).  RTUs were also oversized units, but trained individual [[aviators|pilots]] or [[aircrew]]s for shipment to theaters of operation.<ref name=Maurer333BG/><ref>Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi</ref>  However, the [[Army Air Forces]] found that standard military units like the 333d, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were not proving well adapted to the training mission.  Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.<ref>Goss, p. 75</ref> As a result, the [[group (military aviation unit)|group]] was inactivated and training activities at Dalhart were assumed by the 232d (bomber) and 268th (fighter) AAF Base Units.
====Very heavy bomber operations====
[[File:B29.jpg|thumb|B-29 Superfortress as flown by the group]]
Dalhart became a center for organizing [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] very heavy bombardment groups and the 333d was again activated there in July 1944.<ref name=Maurer333BG/>  However, its original squadrons were not activated along with it.  Instead, the [[435th Bombardment Squadron|435th]], [[460th Bombardment Squadron|460th]], and [[507th Bombardment Squadron]]s were assigned.  These three squadrons had previously been the "fourth" (highest numbered) squadrons in groups that also flew B-29s.  The three squadrons had been inactivated in May 1944, when B-29 groups were reorganized to have three, rather than four squadrons.<ref>Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 537-538, 566-567, 609-610</ref>  The 435th had seen combat in the [[Southwest Pacific Theater]] early in the war.<ref>Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 537-538</ref>
In January 1945 the group moved to [[Great Bend Army Air Field]], Kansas, where it continued its training until June 1945.  The group deployed to [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] as part of [[Eighth Air Force]] in the Pacific Theater. It arrived in Okinawa, but the end of the war with the [[defeat of Japan]] led to a drawdown of Eighth Air Force and the group never engaged in combat. The group helped evacuate prisoners of war from Japan to airfields in the Philippines. The unit was inactivated on Okinawa on 28 May 1946.<ref name=Maurer333BG/>
===Vietnam War===
The [[633d Combat Support Group]]<ref name=633ABWfacts>{{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16431 |last1=Robertson|first1=Patsy|title=Factsheet 633 Air Base Wing (ACC)|date=9 March 2010|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150929005457/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16431 |archive-date=29 September 2015|access-date=24 October 2016}}</ref> had provided support for Air Force units at [[Pleiku Air Base]], South Vietnam since the spring of 1966.  In February 1968, the [[6th Air Commando Squadron]], flying [[Douglas A-1 Skyraider]]s, moved to Pleiku from [[England Air Force Base]], Louisiana and was assigned to the [[14th Air Commando Wing]], which was located at [[Nha Trang Air Base]].  The '''633d Special Operations Wing''' was activated in July 1968 to act as the headquarters for both units stationed at Pleiku.<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/432224/14-flying-training-wing-aetc/ |last1=Robertson|first1=Patsy|title=Factsheet 14 Flying Training Wing (AETC)|date=23 August 2011|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=24 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10478 |last1=Robertson|first1=Patsy|title=Factsheet 6 Special Operations Squadron (AFSOC)|date=9 April 2015|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001551/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10478 |archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=24 October 2016}}</ref>
The [[wing (military aviation unit)|wing]] engaged in [[special operations]] combat, including [[close air support]], air escort, day and night [[interdiction]], and [[aerial reconnaissance|visual and photographic reconnaissance]] from its activation until November 1969.<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
In November 1969 its only operational squadron was inactivated in Operation Keystone Cardinal, the first reduction in [[United States Air Forces]] combat forces as ceilings on forces in South Vietnam were reduced and the United States began to withdraw.  Its [[Douglas A-1 Skyraider]]s were transferred to the [[56th Special Operations Wing]] in Thailand.<ref>USAF Force Withdrawal from Southeast Asia, p. 14</ref>  The wing managed the reduction of United States forces at Pleiku until March 1970, when it was inactivated and transferred its remaining equipment and personnel to the 6254th Air Base Squadron.
===Consolidation and redesignation===
In July 1985, the wing was consolidated with the 333d Bombardment Group, a [[World War II]] unit that also served in the Pacific area.  The consolidated unit was designated the '''333d Special Operations Wing''', but has never been active under that designation.<ref name=DAFMPM648q>Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations</ref>
==Lineage==
; 333d Bombardment Group
* Constituted as the '''333d Bombardment Group''' (Heavy) on 9 July 1942
: Activated on 15 July 1942
: Inactivated on 1 April 1944
* Redesignated '''333d Bombardment Group''', Very Heavy
: Activated on 7 July 1944
: Inactivated on 28 May 1946<ref name=Maurer333BG/>
* Consolidated with the '''633d Special Operations Wing''' as the '''333d Special Operations Wing''' on 31 July 1985<ref name=DAFMPM648q/>
; 333d Special Operations Wing
* Established as the '''633d Special Operations Wing''' and activated on 9 July 1968 (not organized)
: Organized on 15 July 1968
: Inactivated on 15 March 1970<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
: Consolidated with the '''333d Bombardment Group''' as the '''333d Special Operations Wing''' on 31 July 1985<ref name=DAFMPM648q/>
===Assignments===
* [[21st Bombardment Wing]], 15 Jul 1942<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10074 |title=Factsheet 21 Air Division |publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121027123137/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10074 |date=5 October 2007|archive-date=27 October 2012 |access-date=9 April 2014}}</ref>
* Probably [[II Bomber Command]], 21 February 1943 – 1 April 1944
* Probably II Bomber Command, 7 July 1944
* [[316th Bombardment Wing]] (later 316th Composite Wing), by 31 August 1945 – 28 May 1946<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10137 |title=Factsheet 316 Air Division|date=12 October 2007|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|url-status=dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121030120155/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10137 |archive-date=30 October 2012|access-date=16 May 2018}}</ref>
* [[Pacific Air Forces]], 9 July 1968 (not organized)
* [[Seventh Air Force]], 15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
==Components==
; Group
* 633d Combat Support Group, 15 July 1968- 15 March 1970<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
; Squadrons
* 6th Air Commando Squadron (later 6th Special Operations Squadron), 15 July 1968 – 15 November 1969<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
* 466th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
* 467th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
* 468th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
* 469th Bombardment Squadron, 15 July 1942—1 April 1944
* 435th Bombardment Squadron, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946
* 460th Bombardment Squadron, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946
* 507th Bombardment Squadron, 7 July 1944 – 28 May 1946<ref>World War II squadrons in Maurer, pp. 213-214</ref>
* 633d Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970
; Other
* 31st Photo Laboratory, c. 7 July 1944 – c. 28 May 1946
* 633d USAF infirmary, 15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970
===Stations===
* [[Topeka Army Air Base]], Kansas, 15 July 1942
* [[Dalhart Army Air Field]], Texas, 22 February 1943 – 1 April 1944
* Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 7 July 1944
* Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, 13 January – 18 June 1945
* [[Kadena Air Base]], [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] 5 August 1945 – 28 May 1946<ref>Station information through 1946 in Maurer, pp. 213-214</ref>
* Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam, 9 July 1968 – 15 March 1970<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
===Aircraft===
* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942-1944<ref name=Maurer333BG/>
* Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944-1946<ref name=Maurer333BG/>
* Douglas A-1 Skyraider, 1968-1969<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
===Campaigns and awards===
{{unit awards table
|award_image1=AF OUA w/ v
|award_name1=[[Air Force Outstanding Unit Award]] with [[Combat "V" Device]]
|award_date1=15 July 1968 – 31 May 1969
|award_notes1=633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
|award_image2=VGC
|award_name2=[[Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)|Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm]]
|award_date2=15 July 1968 – 15 March 1970
|award_notes2=633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! Campaign Streamer
! Campaign
! Dates
! Notes
|-
|[[File:Streamer AC.PNG|200px]] ||American Theater without inscription||15 Jul 1942 – 1 April 1944, 7 July 1944-18 Jun 45||333d Bombardment Group<ref name=Maurer333BG/>
|-
|[[File:Streamer APC.PNG|200px]]||Asiatic–Pacific Theater without inscription||5 August 1945 – 2 March 1946 ||333d Bombardment Group<ref name=Maurer333BG/>
|-
|[[File:Streamer VS.PNG|200px]]||Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase III||9 July 1968 – 31 October 1968||633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
|-
|[[File:Streamer VS.PNG|200px]]||Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase IV||1 November 1968 – 22 February 1969||633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
|-
|[[File:Streamer VS.PNG|200px]]||Tet 1969/Counteroffensive||23 February 1969 – 8 June 1969||633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
|-
|[[File:Streamer VS.PNG|200px]]||Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969||9 June 1969 – 31 October 1969||633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
|-
|[[File:Streamer VS.PNG|200px]]||Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970||3 November 1969 – 15 March 1970||633d Special Operations Wing<ref name=Ravenstein633SOW/>
|}
==See also==
* [[List of inactive AFCON wings of the United States Air Force]]
* [[List of A-1 Skyraider operators]]
* [[List of B-29 Superfortress operators]]
* [[B-17 Flying Fortress units of the United States Army Air Forces]]
==References==
; Notes
{{Reflist}}
===Bibliography===
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
* {{cite book|editor=Craven, Wesley F |editor2=Cate, James L|url=http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329891/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-019.pdf|access-date=17 December 2016 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=VI, Men & Planes|year=1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158| lccn=48003657}}
*: {{cite book|last=Goss|first=William A.|editor=Craven, Wesley F. |editor2=Cate, James L. |url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf|access-date=17 December 2016 |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II|volume=VI, Men & Planes|year=1955|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|oclc=704158| lccn=48003657|chapter=The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF}}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf |edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |edition= reprint|access-date= 17 December 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
* {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite web |url= http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/aviation/USAFWithdrawal.pdf |title=Project Corona Harvest, USAF Force Withdrawal from Southeast Asia 1 January 1970 – 30 June 1971 (Secret, automatically declassified 1984)|date=31 May 1972|publisher=Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces|access-date=5 October 2015}}
{{USAF Vietnam War}}
{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II}}
[[Category:Pleiku]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1968]]
[[Category:Special operations wings of the United States Air Force]]