The 347th Rescue Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command, stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. It was inactivated on 1 October 2006.
History
For additional lineage and history, see 347th Rescue Group
Source:
Japan
The 347th Fighter Group was redesignated as the 347th Fighter Wing (All Weather) and reactivated in Japan on 10 August 1948 as part of Far East Air Forces 315th Composite Wing to perform air defense duties. The Wing was assembled from three former Northrop F-61B Black Widow night fighter squadrons, the 6th, 418th, and 421st. The squadrons were redesignated the 339th, 4th, and 68th fighter squadrons, respectively. In August 1948, their designations were changed to Fighter (All Weather) Squadron to more closely identify their mission.
The 4th Fighter (All Weather) Squadron (FS) was deployed and attached to the 51st Fighter Group at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.
The useful life of the F-61 was extended due to the Air Force's problems in fielding a jet-powered night/all-weather fighter. The Curtiss XP-87/XF-87 Blackhawk was the planned replacement, however problems in development led the Black Widow to be replaced by another propeller-driven fighter, the North American F-82F/G Twin Mustang.
The Twin Mustangs started to arrive during mid-1949 and 1950. The 347th FS was the last active duty USAF unit to fly the Black Widow, the 339th FS retiring its last F-61 in May 1950, missing the Korean War by only a month. Redesignated 347th Fighter - All Weather Wing on 20 Jan 1950 at Yokota AB. Inactivated on 24 June 1950.
Redesignated the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) and reactivated at Yokota Air Base, Japan on 21 December 1967 and organized on 15 January 1968 as part of Fifth Air Force, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). In Japan, the wing performed tactical fighter training missions, aerial reconnaissance, and contingency operations. Its operational squadrons were the following:
34th Tactical Fighter: 15 January 1968 - 15 March 1971 (Deployed June 1968 – March 1971 to 388th TFW, Korat RTAFB, Thailand) 35th Tactical Fighter: 15 January 1968 – 15 March 1971 (Detached 22 March - 10 June 1968), (TC: GG, Red fin caps) 36th Tactical Fighter: 15 January 1968 – 15 May 1971. (TC: GL, Blue fin caps) 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS): 15 January 1968 – 15 March 1971 (Non-operational 15 February - 15 March 1971), (TC: GR, Yellow fin caps) 556th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (TRS): 1 July 1968 – 15 May 1971 Martin EB/RB-57E Canberra, Lockheed C-130B-II, Sun Valley) (B-57 Tail Code: GT, C-130Bs uncoded)
The 35th, 36th, and 80th TFS were equipped with the McDonnell-Douglas F-4C Phantom IIs and flew tactical fighter training missions. The 556th TFS flew various electronic warfare and special operations sorties of a classified nature. 347th TFS F-4C aircrews would rotate TDY to and from the 34th TFS. Squadron transferred permanently to the 388th TFW, March 1971.
In 1971 the US and Japan agreed that all combat squadrons based at Yokota were to be reassigned and Yokota became a non-flying station hosted by the 475th Air Base Wing. 35th TFS aircraft were transferred to 67th TFS/18th TFW, Kadena Air Base Okinawa. The 36th TFS and 80th TFS aircraft were transferred to 3rd TFW, Kusan AB, South Korea. The 554th TRS B-57s were reassigned to the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (TRW) at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. The C-130s were retained at Yokota and reassigned to the incoming 475th Air Base Wing.
Mountain Home AFB
The 347th TFW was reactivated on 15 May 1971 and equipped with factory-fresh General Dynamics F-111F Aardvarks, replacing the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing as host unit at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. The 67 TFW moved in July 1971 to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas. Equipped with the F-111F, the 347th had a short stay at Mountain Home, conducting F-111F training until 1 October 1972, when the 366 TFW moved from Vietnam to Mountain Home. Upon its arrival, the 366th TFW absorbed all the personnel and equipment of the 347th TFW.
Operational squadrons of the wing were: 391st Tactical Fighter (July 1971 – October 1972) (Tail Code: MO) 4589th Tactical Fighter Squadron (July 1971 – October 1971) (Tail Code: MP)389th Tactical Fighter (October 1971 – October 1972) (Tail Code: MP/MO) 4590th Tactical Fighter Squadron (July 1971 – June 1972) (Tail Code: MQ)390th Tactical Fighter (June – October 1972) (Tail Code: MO)