Description

37th Training Wing Patch – Plastic Backing

A 4.1″W x 3.9″H squadron patch of the 37th Training Wing with plastic backing.

The 37th Training Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the 2nd Air Force and the Air Education and Training Command. As the host unit to Lackland Air Force Base, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, the 37th TRW is the predominate unit on the installation and is the largest training wing in the USAF. Known as the “Gateway to the Air Force”, the 37th Training Wing’s replaced the Lackland Training Center as the single basic military training for the USAF.[2]

At the same time, the 37th TRW also conducts technical training for security forces, logistics, and professional military education and hosts the English component (DLIELC) of the Defense Language Institute. Its four primary training functions graduate more than 85,000 students annually. As of August 2017, Colonel Jason Janaros is the commander of the 37th Training Wing.

Units
The 37th Training Wing consists of five training groups and graduates more than 80,000 students annually. These five missions include basic military training of all enlisted recruits entering the Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard; technical training encompassing hundreds of courses for a wide array of career fields and functions; Nursing and Health Services Admin officer courses and enlisted medical courses; English language training for international military personnel attending the Defense Language Institute; and specialized maintenance and security training as well as the International Squadron Officer School and International Non-Commissioned Officer Academy conducted in Spanish by active-duty Airmen for Latin American students attending the Inter-American Air Forces Academy.

37th Training Group
USAF Technical School
37th Training Support Squadron
341st Training Squadron
Provides trained military working dogs (MWDs) used in patrol, drug and explosive detection, and specialized mission functions for the Department of Defense (DoD) and other government agencies. Conduct operational training of MWD handlers and supervisors. Sustain DoD MWD program through logistical support, veterinary care, and research and development for security efforts worldwide.
342d Training Squadron
Home of all Air Force Battlefield Airman (BA) entry-level training for Pararescue (PJ), Combat Control (CCT), Special Operations Weather (SOWT), and Tactical Air Control Party (TACP).[4] 343d Training Squadron
Hosts the Air Force’s Security Forces Training. Its training areas are housed on Lackland AFB and Camp Bullis, both located in the San Antonio area.[4] 344th Training Squadron
Provides technical training for more than 10,000 active duty, Reserve, Guard, international and civilian students annually in Career Enlisted Aviator, Vehicle Maintenance, Logistics Readiness Officer, Logistics Plans, Materiel Management, Contracting, Recruiting, Safety, Cryptological, and TEMPEST courses.[4] 345th Training Squadron
Trains, develops and educates technical training students into skilled graduates in the Services, Air Transportation, Hazardous Material Transportation School (HAZMAT) and Traffic Management Office career fields.[4] 737th Training Group
USAF Enlisted Basic Training
737th Training Support Squadron
319th Training Squadron
320th Training Squadron
321st Training Squadron
322d Training Squadron
323d Training Squadron
324th Training Squadron
326th Training Squadron
331st Training Squadron
937th Training Group
Air Force component of the
Medical Education and Training Campus
Location: Fort Sam Houston
937th Training Support Squadron
381st Training Squadron
382d Training Squadron
383d Training Squadron
37th Medical Group
37th Medical Operations Squadron
37th Aero-Medical Squadron
37th Training Wing Staff Agencies
Defense Language Institute English Language Center
Inter-American Air Forces Academy

History
World War II

he 37th Training Wing is entitled by temporary bestowal to the honors earned by the 37th Operations Group. The 37th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), was activated at Albrook Field, Panama Canal Zone on 1 February 1940. Its mission being the defense of the Panama Canal. The group was disbanded on 31 October 1943 when the threat to the Panama Canal was perceived to be lessened; its personnel being returned to the United States for reassignment to other units.[5][6]

Korean War
The 37th was established on 3 March 1953 as the United States Air Force 37th Fighter-Bomber Wing as part of the buildup on the Air Force due to the Korean War. It was assigned to Ninth Air Force of Tactical Air Command and was activated on 8 April 1953 at Clovis Air Force Base, New Mexico.[7]

Although activated, the 37th FBW was neither manned nor equipped and it was inactivated on 25 June as a result of the Armistice in Korea and the subsequent need for deployment to the war zone being unnecessary.[7]

Vietnam War
With the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1965–1966, the Air Force re-activated the unit and re-designated it as the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), and activated it on 26 October 1966. The wing was activated at the newly built Phù Cát Air Base, South Vietnam and it was assigned to Pacific Air Forces. It was organized on 1 March 1967 and assigned to Seventh Air Force. Personnel for the wing headquarters and tactical components were in transit from the United States and elsewhere, and tactical operations did not commence until mid-April.[7]

The 37th TFW was assigned several North American F-100 Super Sabre squadrons, its mission was to provide tactical air power in support of South Vietnamese and United States Army and Marine units engaged in combat against communist forces attempting to overthrow the government of South Vietnam.[7] Initial squadrons assigned were:[8]

416th Tactical Fighter Squadron: 15 April 1967 – 27 May 1969 (F-100D/F Tail Code: HE)
Transferred from the 3d TFW at Bien Hoa AB.[9] Det 1, 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron: 8 June 1967 – 13 April 1969 (F-100D/F Tail Code: HS)[9] Transferred from the 35th TFW at Phan Rang AB.
On 15 April, the 37TFW began combat operations with strikes by 416TFS (F-100D aircraft) en route from Bien Hoa Air Base to their new home. On 8 June, Det 1., 612th TFS began operations, also after flying a mission en route from their former home at Phan Rang Air Base. From June 1967 to May 1969, the 37th also used F-100F two-seat trainers for visual and weather reconnaissance and forward air control operations. The latter mission came to be known as “Fast FAC.” Up until this time, the Air Force used slow propeller-driven O-1, O-2, and OV-10 aircraft for this mission.[7] By 28 February 1968, the 37th TFW squadrons completed 18,000 combat hours and 13,000 combat sorties without a major aircraft accident.[7]

In the spring of 1968, the two squadrons of the 37th TFW were augmented by two additional squadrons temporarily deployed (TDY) from the United States. With this augmentation, the wing was then composed of four F-100 combat squadrons with approximately 90 aircraft being assigned.[7][8]

174th Tactical Fighter Squadron: 14 May 1968 – 11 May 1969 (Iowa ANG) (F-100C/F Tail Code: HA)[9] The 174th TFS was federalized Air National Guard personnel and aircraft from the 185th Tactical Fighter Group of the Iowa ANG at Sioux City MAP
355th Tactical Fighter Squadron: 3 February 1968 – 15 May 1969 (F-100D/F Tail Code: HP)[9] Deployed from the 354th TFW at Myrtle Beach AFB South Carolina.
As 355th TFS personnel completed their TDY that same month the personnel and aircraft returned to Myrtle Beach AFB. They were replaced by Air National Guardsmen from New Jersey and Washington DC, who were manning Myrtle Beach at the time. These newly deployed personnel were sent to Tuy Hoa Air Base along with their F-100 D/F aircraft.[7]

In 1969, the Air Force began withdrawing the F-100 from combat duty in South Vietnam, replacing the Hun with the McDonnell F-4D Phantom II. Two Phantom squadrons were transferred to the 37th from the 366th TFW, Da Nang Air Base:[8]

480th Tactical Fighter Squadron: 15 April 1969 – 31 March 1970 (F-4D Tail Code: HK)[9] 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron: 15 June 1969 – 31 March 1970 (F-4D Tail Code: HB)[9] The wing continued its combat operations in South Vietnam until 30 March 1970 when the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated, and its F-4D squadrons being withdrawn as part of the drawdown of American forces in South Vietnam. The wing was replaced by the 14th Special Operations Wing, a counter-insurgency and special operations organization.[7]

During the wing’s combat tour in South Vietnam, it was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, eight Vietnam campaign streamers, two Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with Valor, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.[7]