page_title: Reading Regional Airport
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Reading Regional Airport / History
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force North American F-51 Mustang at Spaatz Field at the Reading Airport, Pennsylvania, in the a summer of 1957, then home of the 140th Aeromedical Transport Squadron of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. This is the point in time when the Fighter Squadron was disbanded and the new "cargo" mission was employed to the unit members who begrudgingly gave up their F-51 Mustangs. This Mustang was preserved and used as a static display.
context_page_description: Reading Regional Airport is a public airport three miles northwest of Reading, in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Reading Regional Airport Authority.
  Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 2,268 passenger boardings in calendar year 2006, 2,445 in 2005 and 9,288 in 2004. The airport had scheduled flights on US Airways Express carrier Air Midwest, which ended on September 3, 2004. The airport is now served by three charter airlines.
context_section_description: Opened as a civil airport in April 1938, Reading Airport was used by the United States Army Air Forces First Air Force as a training airfield during World War II.
  Reading Army Airfield opened on 1 June 1943, with the 309th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron as its host unit. The mission was to train tactical reconnaissance units. The 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated on the airfield the same date, with the 37th, 39th, 40th and 91st Photo Reconnaissance Squadrons.
  Aircraft used for training were the Curtiss O-52 Owl; Douglas O-53 Havoc; Douglas O-46, and the Stinson O-49 Vigilant. The 72d Liaison Squadron, flying the Aeronaca O-58 Grasshopper arrived on 7 June and remained assigned to the station until 29 July 1943 when it was assigned to Camp Mackall, North Carolina.
  On 11 November 1943 the 26th was reassigned to Camp Campbell, Kentucky to train with the 101st Airborne Division before deploying to England, and engaging in combat operations as part of Ninth Air Force. It was replaced by the 11th Photographic Group on 1 December 1943. The 11th Photo Group used Reading as its worldwide headquarters, as its reconnaissance and photo squadrons were deployed to various parts of the world.
  On 1 January 1944 Reading AAF was reassigned to Air Technical Service Command and became a sub-base of the Middletown Air Depot near Harrisburg. The mission of the station became to repair and overhaul aircraft and return them to active service. The 11th Photo Group moved out to MacDill Airfield, Florida.
  On 1 June 1944 the 309th Air Base Squadron was re-designated the 85th Army Air Force Base Unit. Activity at Reading was phased down in summer 1945, and with the war ending it was inactivated as an active military airfield on 26 February 1946 and designated as an Air Force Reserve base. On that date the field was turned over to Air Defense Command, Eleventh Air Force as a reserve airfield, and the  2237th Air Force Reserve Training Center was activated to coordinate reserve training. The 438th Army Air Forces Base Unit was activated on 15 December for coordinating operations of the airfield and control of the base facilities. On 1 January 1948 jurisdiction was transferred to the ADC First Air Force.
  During the late 1940s a series of reserve bombardment groups were assigned to the airport:
  On 24 May 1946 the 148th Fighter Squadron, Pennsylvania Air National Guard was assigned to the Airport. It was formerly the Twelfth Air Force 347th Fighter Squadron which was inactivated on 7 November 1945 prior to being re designated and turned over to the Air National Guard. The squadron was activated at the airport on 22 April 1947 with P (later F-47) Thunderbolts under the 112th Fighter Group at Pittsburgh Airport. On 10 February 1951 the squadron was federalized due to the Korean War and brought to active duty at Dover AFB, Delaware. It was released from active duty on 1 November 1952 and was re-equipped with the P-51 Mustang for interceptor duty. In 1956, as propeller driven F-51 Mustang fighters faded into history, the unit was re-designated the 140th Aeromedical Transport Squadron, flying the C-46 Commando and later the C-119 Flying Boxcar. In 1964, the unit relocated to its current location at Olmsted Air National Guard Base (present day Harrisburg International Airport)
  322d Bombardment Group (Light), 9 August 1947 – 27 June 1949, Flew the A-26 Invader
  59th, 451st and 452d Bombardment Squadrons. Also had the 55th Troop Carrier Group assigned, but never equipped.
  319th Bombardment Group (Light), 27 June-2 September 1949, Flew the A-26 Invader
  49th and 51st Bombardment Squadrons
  512th Troop Carrier Group (Combat Cargo), 2 September 1949 – 1 May 1950, Flew the C-46 Commando
  1st, 2d, 3d and 4th Combat Cargo Squadrons
  Due to budgetary cutbacks the Reserve Training Center at Reading was inactivated on 1 May 1950 and reassigned to New Castle County Airport, Delaware. The Air Force closed its facilities at Reading airport and it returned to civil control.
  In the 1950s Reading Air Services sponsored the National Maintenance & Operations M
caption: F-51D of the 148th Fighter Squadron, Pennsylvania ANG, 1957.
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