464th Tactical Airlift Wing The 464th Tactical Airlift Wing was a theater airlift unit of the United States Air Force during the Cold War . It served in the United States under Tactical Air Command between 1953 – 1971 . Its predecessor was the USAAF 464th Bombardment Group of World War II . History . World War II . Constituted as 464th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) on 19 May 1943 ( activated 1 August ) . Activated as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bombardment unit ; assigned to II Bomber Command for training . Primarily trained in Idaho and Utah received deployment orders for the Mediterranean Theater of Operations ( MTO ) in February 1943 . Deployed to Southern Italy in February 1944 ; entered combat in April , being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force 55th Bombardment Wing . Air echelon training for a few weeks in Tunisia before joining the remainder of the group in Italy . Engaged in very long range strategic bombing missions to enemy military , industrial and transportation targets in Italy , France , Germany , Austria , Hungary , Romania , and Yugoslavia , bombing railroad marshalling yards , oil refineries , airdrome installations , heavy industry , and other strategic objectives . Notable missions of the Oil Campaign of World War II included bombings of the Ploesti Concordia Vega refinery on 18 May 1944 , the marshalling yards and oil refinery at Vienna on 8 July 1944 ( 1st DUC ) , and the Pardubice oil refinery and nearby railroad tracks on 24 August 1944 ( 2nd DUC ) . Sometimes engaged in support and interdictory operations . Supported Allied forces during the Operation Dragoon invasion of Southern France in August 1944 . Hit railroad centers to assist the advance of Russian troops in southeastern Europe in March 1945 . Bombed enemy supply lines to assist the advance of US Fifth and British Eighth Army in northern Italy in April 1945 . After V - E Day , was assigned to Green Project which was the movement of troops from Europe to the United States via the South Atlantic Transport Route . B - 24s were modified with sealed bomb bays , removal of all defensive armament and internal fuselage equipped with seating to carry approximately 30 personnel . Was assigned to Air Transport Command at Waller Field , Trinidad . Moved personnel from Natal , Brazil and Atkinson Field , British Guiana to Morrison Field , Florida . Provided air transport until the end of July when the unit was inactivated . Cold War . Redesignated 464th Troop Carrier Group ( Medium ) . Activated in the US on 1 February 1953 . Assigned to Tactical Air Command at Lawson AFB , Georgia . Used C - 46 and C - 119 aircraft . On 21 September 1954 , Ninth Air Force transferred the 464th Troop Carrier Wing , which specialized in tactical airlift operations to Pope AFB , North Carolina . The unit ( later redesignated 464th Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 March 1966 ) provided tactical airlift of troops and cargo , participated in joint airborne training with Army forces , and took part in tactical exercises in the United States and overseas . The wing provided aeromedical airlift and flew humanitarian missions as required . Until it was inacivated , the 464th usually had two or more tactical squadrons deployed overseas at any one time , supporting airlift operations in Central America , Europe , the Middle East , the Far East , and Southeast Asia . At Pope , the 464th received the Mackay Trophy for humanitarian operations in the Congo in 1964 . It participated in contingency airlift operations in the Dominican Republic , April 1965 – September 1966 . During its time at Pope , a major period of facility expansion occurred . The main runway , the taxiways , and the ramp were all expanded to support the 464th ’ s Fairchild C - 119 " Flying Boxcar " s operations . During the 1950s and 1960s , aircraft upgrade was the primary trend at the North Carolina installation . The Fairchild C - 123 Provider started replacing the C - 119 in 1958 , and in 1963 , the first C - 130 Hercules arrived , appropriately named “ The North Carolina . ” The 778th TAS was tail coded " PG " and its C - 130Es had a green tail stripe . The Wing was inactivated on 31 August 1971 , being replaced by the 317th TAW .