Little - Keep Trees

short reach of the B-47. In 1962 the 19th, now at
Homestead AFB, Fla., converted to B-52s and KC-135s.
In mid-1968, the 19th moved without personnel or
equipment to Robins AFB in Georgia, where it absorbed
the resources and personnel of the 465th Bombardment
Wing. It also absorbed the Black Knights nickname at this
time, which the men and women of the 19th have proudly
borne ever since.
In 1972 and 1973, the 19th provided aircraft and crews
to units in Southeast Asia. As the crews and aircraft
returned, the 19th resumed its place in the nation’s
strategic deterrence. In 1983, the 19th gave up its
bombers and was redesignated the 19th Air Refueling
Wing. The change to tankers meant an increase in the
wing’s operations tempo. The wing supported numerous
tanker task forces, and flew aerial refueling missions
supporting the invasions of Grenada and Panama. When
Operation Desert Storm began in 1991, the wing flew
almost 7,000 combat-support hours and offloaded almost
59 million pounds of fuel, all in just 43 days.
The wing provided air refueling support to NATO
fighters in Bosnia in 1995. In 1996, Black Knight tankers
deployed to Southwest Asia to support Operation
Southern Watch, to Turkey for Operation Provide Comfort,
and to France for Operation Deny Flight.
On July 1, 1996, the 19th Air Refueling Wing was
inactivated, and its mission was turned over to its
operations group, redesignated the 19th Air Refueling
Group. This force deployed to numerous contingency
operations. In 1998 and 1999, the Black Knights
supported Operations Northern Watch, Desert Thunder,
Constant Vigil, Deliberate Forge, and Allied Force.
The terrorist attacks of 2001 brought a whole new pace
of operations. Just as in World War II and Korea, the 19th
was in the fight early, providing aerial refueling capabilities
to special operators and conventional forces over
Afghanistan and Iraq.
Pallets of JP-8 fuel rigged for an airdrop are loaded into
the cargo bay of a C-130J Super Hercules.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)
The flagship of the 19th Air Refueling Wing, KC-135
Cherokee Rose, famously set 16 time-to-climb records.
(U.S. Air Force photo)
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission
decided the aerial refueling mission at Robins AFB would
be discontinued. In the seventh year of the Global War on
Terror, the 19th Air Refueling Group’s flags were cased on
June 1, 2008. Four months later, the group and wing were
reunited, redesignated and activated at Little Rock Air
Force Base as the 19th Airlift Wing.
Today, the 19th Airlift Wing is the largest C-130 tactical
airlift wing in the world. Its personnel are heavily engaged
in combat and humanitarian operations around the world,
including Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom,
and New Dawn. In 2010, 15 of its aircraft participated in
Operation Unified Response, delivering aid to Haiti.
LITTLE ROCK 2013 AFB GUIDE Base Units 19