USAF 939th ARRG Patch

USAF 939th Aerospace Rescue & Recovery Group Patch

As an airlift unit, the 939th transported personnel and equipment in support of Air Force operations, including missions to Vietnam and numerous humanitarian missions primarily in the western United States from 1963-1973.

In 1985, the unit changed to a rescue mission and the 939th was known as the 939th Rescue Group (939 RQG), then 939th Rescue Wing (939 RQW), controlling rescue squadrons at widely separated locations: the collocated 304th Rescue Squadron; the 301st and later the 39th in Florida; and the 305th, initially in Michigan until 1 September 1992 and then in Arizona from 1 October 1993. It provided considerable assistance to Florida and the 301st Rescue Squadron following the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in August 1992. It also deployed aircrews from each of the squadrons to provide search and rescue (SAR) coverage worldwide, including to NAS Keflavik, Iceland, during and after the Southwest Asia War and to provide combat SAR coverage in the Persian Gulf area, 1993-2003.

In 2003, the 939th converted to an aerial refueling mission with KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft and was redesignated as the 939th Air Refueling Wing (939 ARW). Its rescue-specific units (i.e., the 304th Rescie Squadron, etc.) were reassigned as geographically-separated units (GSU) to the newly-established 920th Rescue Wing in Florida.

The 939 ARW was inactivated in 2008 due to BRAC action and its KC-135R aircraft assets redistributed to other Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units. The wing's former 304th Rescue Squadron remains in place at Portland ARS as a GSU of the 920th Rescue Wing.

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