It is the successor to the 61st Air Base Group of the United States Air Force and the Los Angeles Garrison, which existed through the first two years of the Space Force. The garrison operates Los Angeles Air Force Base and supports Space Systems Command.
Reassigned to Ninth Air Force and was moved to England in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).
Flew airborne assault missions during the Normandy invasion and later supported Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. In 1945 it participated in the airborne assault across the Rhine. Also provided transport services in the European theater, hauling gasoline, ammunition, food, medicine, and other supplies, and evacuating wounded personnel.
Moved to Trinidad in May 1945. Assigned to Air Transport Command. Used C-47's to transport troops returning to the US. Inactivated in Trinidad on 31 July 1945
Cold Waredit
It was reactivated in Germany on 30 September 1946. Assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. Redesignated 61st Troop Carrier Group (Medium) in July 1948, and 61st Troop Carrier Group (Heavy) in August 1948. In Germany, the group participated in the Berlin Airlift, from June 1948 to May 1949, the group's C-54 aircraft ferried coal, flour, and other cargo into Berlin.
In 1950, the group moved to the United States shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War for duty with Military Air Transport Service. Attached to Far East Air Forces, it flew airlift missions on the Northern Pacific Route from the United States to Japan in support of UN forces in Korea before moving to Japan and conducting airlift missions from Japan to Korea from 1950–1952.
Returned to the US in November 1952 to join Tactical Air Command, to which the group had been assigned in October 1951. Converted from C-54 to C-124 aircraft and carried out worldwide strategicairlift operations from 1952–1959. Inactivated on 8 October 1959.
The 61st Military Airlift Group was reactivated at Howard Air Force Base, Panama on 1 December 1984. At Howard, the group was the parent unit for the 310th Military Airlift Squadron (310th MAS) with a diverse array of aircraft (C-21A, CT-43A, C-130E/H, C-27A). The C-21 and CT-43 provided VIP airlift support for the Commander-In-Chief, U.S. Southern Command (CINCSOUTH). The C-130s and C-27s flew tactical airlift operations in Central and South America from 1984–1992. The unit was inactivated and its assets absorbed by the 24th Wing when the 310th's mission was transferred to Air Combat Command on 1 June 1992.
Base supportedit
The 61st Air Base Group operated Los Angeles Air Force Base and supported the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) since 1994.
On July 14, 2022, the Los Angeles Garrison became Space Base Delta 3.[4]
Now-Space Base Delta 3 continues to provide facilities support for the successor to SMC, Space Systems Command (SSC).
Lineageedit
Established as 61st Transport Group on 20 November 1940
Activated on 1 December 1940
Redesignated 61st Troop Carrier Group on 4 July 1942
Inactivated on 31 July 1945
Activated on 30 September 1946
Redesignated: 61st Troop Carrier Group, Medium, on 1 July 1948
Redesignated: 61st Troop Carrier Group, Heavy, on 15 August 1948
Inactivated on 8 October 1959
Redesignated 61st Military Airlift Group, and activated, on 1 December 1984
Inactivated on 1 June 1992
Redesignated 61st Air Base Group on 16 September 1994
Activated on 1 October 1994
Redesignated 61st Mission Support Group on 1 August 2006
Redesignated 61st Air Base Group on 30 July 2010
Redesignated Space Base Delta 3 on 14 July 2022[5]
14th Transport (later, 14th Troop Carrier) Squadron: 4 December 1940 – 31 July 1945; 30 September 1946 – 8 October 1959 (detached c. 5 December 1950 – 26 March 1952; 21 November – 1 December 1952; August 1956 – March 1957; August-8 October 1959)
^"Space Force Drops Garrison Name in Favor of 'Space Base Delta'". 2 August 2022.
^ ab"Los Angeles Welcomes New Base Commander to Lead Space Base Delta 3". Los Angeles Air Force Base. 15 July 2022. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
^"61 Air Base Group (AFSPC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
^ abcdefgh61st Air Base Group Archived 10 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Historical Overview of the Space and Missile Systems Center, 1954–2003, History Office Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, California, 2004, p. 79.
^"Brigadier General David E. Price" Archived 20 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Biographies, Official United States Air Force Website, Washington, District of Columbia, November 2010.
^ ab"61st ABW and ABG Ceremony". www.losangeles.spaceforce.mil. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
^"61st ABG Welcomes New Commander". Los Angeles Air Force Base. 2 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^"Facebook". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^"Changing of the Guard: Igl Takes Command of 61st Air Base Group". Los Angeles Air Force Base. 6 August 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
^"Col. Becky Beers Takes Command of 61st Air Base Group". Los Angeles Air Force Base. 4 August 2020. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF). Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.