The 302nd Airlift Wing, Colorado's only Air Force Reserve flying unit, is the largest tenant organization on Peterson. It has approximately 1,300 reservists and 250 full-time employees assigned. The wing is one of 11 C-130 Air Force Reserve units located throughout the nation.

The wing is assigned 12 C-130H3 Hercules aircraft, which are flown by the 731st Airlift Squadron. The mission of the 302nd AW is to provide superior global reach.

A 302nd AW unit can be activated and deployed from the United States to any location in the world within 72 hours.

When called upon, the 302nd AW also performs fire suppression missions with two Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems. These systems are owned by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and can be activated and installed on the aircraft within hours. The wing is the only Air Force Reserve unit trained and equipped for the MAFFS mission, which involves air-dropping fire-retardant chemicals from a height of 150 feet above the ground. The wing has flown firefighting missions throughout the western United States since the 302nd took on the Reserve portion of the MAFFS mission in 1993.

In December 2001, the 302nd AW became the first Air Force Reserve C-130 unit to mobilize and deploy in support of Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Enduring Freedom. During that period, members of the 302nd Security Force Squadron were mobilized and deployed to various locations around the globe. Since 2003, more than 80 members of the Airlift Control Flight, Aero medical Staging Squadron, Aerial Port Squadron, Security Forces, Transportation, Services, Intelligence and Personnel have been mobilized and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The C-130H has a crew of five: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, and loadmaster. The aircraft has a maximum allowable payload of 43,550 pounds and carries 92 combat troops, 64 paratroopers or 74 patients and a medical crew of one flight nurse and two medical technicians when configured for aero medical evacuation.

Using its aft loading ramp and door, the C-130 can accommodate a wide variety of oversized cargo, including everything from utility helicopters and sixwheeled armored vehicles to standard palletized cargo and military personnel. In an aerial delivery role, it can air drop loads up to 42,000 pounds or use its high-floatation landing gear to land and deliver cargo on rough, dirt strips.

The Lockheed aircraft boasts state-of-the-art avionics and powerful engines, which increase its allowable cargo load, range and altitude capability. On-board sensors warn of oncoming aircraft or incoming missiles. The aircraft is also equipped with dispensers that release chaff and flares to decoy enemy missiles away from the aircraft.

Other enhancements include Global Positioning System equipment, low-power color radar and night-vision interior lighting that allows aircrews to use night-vision goggles.

The 302nd AW comes under the operational control of the Air Force Reserve Command, headquartered at Robins AFB, Ga. When called to active duty through presidential order, the wing would be gained by 15th Air Force and would become an active-duty unit under Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.

The 302nd also provides support to the 310th Space Group, Air Force Reserve's only space operations group. The 310th Space Group, headquartered at Schriever AFB, Colo., currently operates three different satellite systems for the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce, including the Navstar Global Positioning System. The group, consisting of more than 600 reservists, is composed of 10 units: Headquarters Reserve National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs; 310th Communications Flight at Peterson AFB; 6th Space Operations Squadron, 7th SOPS, 14th Test Squadron, 19th SOPS, 26th Space Aggressor Squadron and 310th Security Forces Squadron at Schriever AFB; 8th Space Warning Squadron at Buckley AFB, Colo.; and 9th Space Operations Squadron at Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

Established as the 302nd Troop Carrier Wing on May 16, 1949, the 302nd AW was first activated by the Reserve on June 27, 1949. In the mid-1950s, the wing flew airlift operations in the United States and overseas.

The 302nd AW was called to active duty during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. During the 1960s, wing aircraft and crews performed worldwide airlift missions and participated in numerous tactical exercises. The unit was deactivated on April 1, 1981. In mid-1983, the unit, then designated the 91st Tactical Airlift Group, moved to newly constructed facilities on Peterson AFB and reactivated April 1, 1985.

The wing received one of its most challenging tests in 1990-91 with Operations Desert Shield and Storm. More than 600 wing membersincluding flying, air cargo, medical and maintenance personnel-deployed to the Persian Gulf, England, and stateside locations to support active-duty operations.

At the end of the Gulf War, the 302nd AW supported Operation Provide Comfort, air-dropping food and supplies to the Kurdish refugees. The wing supported operations Provide Relief and Restore Hope in Somalia, Coronet Oak in Panama, Provide Promise's humanitarian airlift to Bosnia, and hurricane relief to Homestead AFB, Fla.

In 1999, the wing also assisted in humanitarian relief to refugees from Kosovo and Operation Allied Force.

The wing was activated in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle in 2001, flying airlift missions out of Europe. The wing's security forces squadron provided aircraft security and air base defense throughout the United States and in the Southwest Asia theater during the war.

The 302nd AW was most recently activated in support of U.S. Central Command operations in Southwest Asia in 2005-2006.