page_title: 435th Operations Group
section_title: Reserve duty
hierarchical_section_title: 435th Operations Group / History / Reserve duty
caption_attribution_description: C-46D 44-77890
context_page_description: The 435th Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 435th Airlift Wing at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1995.
  The unit was first activated during World War II as the 435th Troop Carrier Group, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport unit that saw combat with IX Troop Carrier Command in Western Europe. The group flew paratroopers on airborne assaults on Normandy; Southern France; the Netherlands, and Germany. It also flew combat resupply missions in the relief of Bastogne in 1945. The 435th was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions during the Normandy invasion.
  The group was activated in the reserve in 1947. It was called to active duty in March 1951 for the Korean War, serving at its home station, Miami International Airport. It returned to reserve duty in December 1952 and continued to serve in the reserves until November 1959, when it was inactivated and its squadrons assigned directly to the 435th Troop Carrier Wing in a reorganization of Continental Air Command reserve units.
context_section_description: The group was once again activated as a reserve unit under Air Defense Command at Morrison Field, Florida on 15 July 1947. One of its flying squadrons was located at Orlando Air Force Base and another at Miami International Airport. The group was nominally a Curtiss C-46 Commando unit, but it is not clear to what extent it was equipped with tactical aircraft while at Morrison.
  In June 1949, Continental Air Command, which had assumed the responsibility for training reserve units from Air Defense Command in 1948, reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization system. As part of this reorganization and unit reductions required by President Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget, the 435th Group moved to Miami International Airport, where it was assigned to the newly formed 435th Troop Carrier Wing and formed its cadre from the inactivating 100th Bombardment Group. Reserve flying operations at Morrison came to an end, with the exception of the 326th Troop Carrier Squadron, which remained there until September, when it moved to Pennsylvania and was assigned to another wing. The group was manned at 25% of normal strength but was authorized four squadrons rather than the three of active duty units.
  At Miami, the group trained with C-46s under the supervision of the active duty 2585th Air Force Reserve Training Center. The group was ordered into active service in March 1951 as a result of the Korean War.  Along with other reserve units called to active duty, it formed Tactical Air Command's Eighteenth Air Force.  The group's initial function was to train C-46 aircrews for service in Korea. The group also trained with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars.  Although it remained at Miami, the group deployed twice while on active duty: to Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, North Carolina from 21 July until 1 September 1951 and to Grenier Air Force Base, New Hampshire from 2 January to 3 March 1952. It was relieved from active duty and inactivated on 1 December 1952 and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the regular 456th Troop Carrier Wing, which was activated the same day.
  The group was activated as a reserve unit the same day at the same station, but with the personnel and equipment of the inactivating 482d Troop Carrier Wing. In the reserve, the group once again flew the Curtiss Commandos. By 1956, the unit was flying overseas missions, particularly in the Caribbean area and in Central America.  In addition, for the first time as a reserve unit, its flying was performed in unit tactical aircraft, rather than in trainers.
  During the first half of 1955, the Air Force began detaching reserve squadrons to separate locations. The dispersal of separate squadrons to smaller population centers was intended to facilitate recruiting and manning.  One of the first three squadrons to move as this policy was implemented was the 78th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was activated at Orlando Air Force Base in April 1955 after having been inactivated at Miami the previous year. In August 1956, the group's 77th Troop Carrier Squadron left Miami for Pinellas County Airport, Florida.  The squadron's stay in the Tampa Bay area was brief, however, for in November 1957 it moved again, this time to New Orleans Naval Air Station, Louisiana. Only the 76th Squadron remained with group headquarters in Miami.
  In 1957, the group once again received C-119s. The unit was inactivated on 14 April 1959 when the 435th Wing adopted the Dual Deputy organization and the group's squadrons were assigned directly to the wing.
caption: Curtiss C-46D
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