445th Airlift Wing

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			445th Airlift Wing Air Force Reserve Command Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

		With two flying squadrons assigned, the 445th Airlift Wing calls Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, their home. They will be the USAF's last users of the aging C-141 Starlifter. The conversion to the C-5A Galaxy is currently underway.

Located immediately adjacent to the historic Huffman Prairie, where two gentlemen from Dayton perfected the world's first powered flying machine, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is host to the USAF's last Lockheed C-141 Starlifter unit, the 445th Airlift Wing.

Activated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Oct. 1, 1994, the 445th Airlift Wing is made up of two former units: the 906th Fighter Group from Wright-Patterson AFB, which flew the F-16A/B before de-activating, and the 907th Tactical Airlift Group from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, in nearby Columbus. Both of those units were deactivated September 30, 1994, and pooled personnel to form the 445th Airlift Wing. Since reactivating at Wright-Patterson, the 445th Airlift Wing had been active in moving troops and supplies around the world. The unit has provided airlift support to nearly every combat operation the USAF has encountered. Immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the wing provided emergency airlift of supplies, medical teams and personnel to McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, to assist with operations at the World Trade Center. The wing was also an active participant in Operation Enduring Freedom. It was the first unit to fly Taliban and Al-Qaeda detainees to the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. Nearly half of the detainees housed at Guantanamo Bay have been transported there in a 445th Airlift Wing C-141.

September 29, 2005, marked an end of an era for both the 445th AW and the C-141 when the last C-141 aeromedical evacuation flight departed Balad Air Base, Iraq, carrying wounded soldiers to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. At its peak shortly after Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March, 2003, the evacuation flights would depart Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, then into Iraq to pick up wounded soldiers. From Iraq, the C-141 would head to Germany to deliver the wounded for medical treatment. After departing Germany, the C-141 would continue to Andrews AFB, Maryland, then home to Wright-Patterson while another C-141 departed to continue the cycle. The final C-141 to take part in the evacuation flights returned home on Saturday, October 1, 2005, marking the last time in over thirty years that C-141s would be used to ferry sick or wounded soldiers from a battlefield for treatment.

The 445th Airlift Wing is poised to continue its history of excellence while it transitions from the aging C-141C Starlifter into the C-5 Galaxy. The first of a planned eleven C-5s arrived to a ceremony to welcome the new aircraft on Monday, October 3, 2005, followed by a second C-5 on Wednesday, October 5. These first two aircraft are serving as maintenance trainers, while the final C-5 is expected to arrive by the end of 2006.


	(left) C-141C 66-0645 returning from Andrews AFB after an evacuation flight to Iraq and Germany.
		(right) C-141C 66-7959 pulls onto the Wright-Patterson runway for the last time, as it is seen here departing for Davis-Monthan AFB and retirement to AMARC.
	(left) 65-9412 departing on a local training mission. This aircraft is still with the 445th.
		(right) 66-7950 was sent to AMARC on May 20, 2005. It is seen here during happier times last Septemer 22.
	(left) 64-0637 returning to Wright-Patterson. It is still active with the 445th AW.
		(right) The C-141's days are numbered. By the end of January, 2006, all of the 445th Airlift Wing C-141s will have been retired from flying duties.
	(left) The first C-5A arrived to a welcome ceremony at Wright-Patterson on October 3, 2005, and is seen here on its landing roll-out.
		(right) 68-0215 was the second C-5 to arrive, on October 5. Both aircraft are being used as maintenance procedures trainers.

On February 12, 1973, a C-141 Starlifter, 66-0177, landed at Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi, North Vietnam. Its cargo this day was forty newly-freed POWs on their way to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Several days later, they would be back in the United States, marking an end to captivity, isolation, and torture. This first flight to North Vietnam was the first of several dubbed "Operation Homecoming".

When the aircraft was first assigned to the 445th Airlift Wing in 1994, the crewchief noticed a label on one of the Flight Engineer’s panels that read "Hanoi Taxi." He and three other reservists assigned to the Wing researched the events surrounding the homecoming. They began to gather documents and photographs to celebrate the aircraft's history. While it is still active in the airlift business, C-141C 66-0177 has become a "flying museum", with plaques and pictures of Operation Homecoming onboard. Etchings of the names of those who are missing in action were taken from the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C., and are mounted along the interior wall of the aircraft. Drawings and other memoribilia related to the POWs complete the tribute. A few years ago, the aircraft was returned to its original gray over white paint scheme, similar to the one it wore in 1973. When it is retired from service with the 445th at the end of 2005, "Hanoi Taxi" has a spot reserved for it at the United States Air Force Museum, just down the highway from the 445th Airlift Wing's ramp.

"Hanoi Taxi" is one of four C-141s assigned to the 445th Airlift Wing that were involved in Operation Homecoming. The tail numbers of the other three other C-141s are 65-0258, 66-0132, and 67-0031.



		C-141C 65-0261 returning to Wright-Patterson AFB. This particular C-141 was retired to AMARC on May 3, 2005.