Editing Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (section)

==Operational history==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2024}}
[[File:C-119s drop paras Korea Nov 1952.jpeg|thumb|[[403d Wing|403rd TCW]] C-119s drop the [[187th Infantry Regiment (United States)|187th RCT]] over Korea, 1952]]
[[File:C-119 Boxcar.jpg|thumb|C-119 in flight]]

The aircraft saw extensive action during the [[Korean War]] as a troop and equipment transport. {{citation needed span|In July 1950, four C-119s were sent to [[United States Far East Air Force|FEAF]] for service tests.|date=March 2020}} Two months later, the C-119 deployed with the [[314th Troop Carrier Group]] and served in Korea throughout the war.<ref>Lloyd 2005, pp. 55, 165.</ref>

In December 1950, after [[People's Republic of China]] Expeditionary [[People's Volunteer Army]] troops blew up a bridge {{#tag:ref|The Chinese actually blew up three bridges in succession at the same point: the original concrete span, a wooden replacement, and a third M-2 steel treadway portable bridge installed by U.S. combat engineers.<ref>Mossman, Billy C., ''EBB AND FLOW: NOVEMBER 1950 – JULY 1951, p. 137.</ref> |group=N}}at a narrow point on the evacuation route between [[Battle of Chosin Reservoir#Breakout|Koto-ri]] and [[Hungnam]], blocking the withdrawal of U.N. forces, eight U.S. Air Force C-119 Flying Boxcars flown by the 314th Troop Carrier Group <ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.littlerock.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/357188/314th-delivers-bridge-to-combat-troops/ |title=314th delivers bridge to combat troops |work=littlerock.af.mil|last=Rumley |first=Chris |date=May 18, 2010 |access-date=June 11, 2017}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Other sources state that the eight Flying Boxcars used on the bridge mission were U.S. Marine Corps R4Qs.|group=N}} were used to drop [[Bailey bridge|portable bridge sections]] by parachute. The bridge, consisting of eight separate sixteen-foot long, 2,900-pound sections, was dropped one section at a time, using two parachutes on each section. Four of these sections, together with additional wooden extensions were successfully reassembled into a replacement bridge by Marine Corps combat engineers and the US Army 58th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company, enabling U.N. forces to reach Hungnam.

From 1951 to 1962, C-119C, F and G models served with [[U.S. Air Forces in Europe]] (USAFE) and [[Far East Air Force (United States)|Far East Air Forces]] (FEAF) as the first-line Combat Cargo units, and did yeoman work as freight haulers with the [[60th Air Mobility Wing|60th Troop Carrier Wing]], the [[317th Airlift Wing|317th Troop Carrier Wing]] and the [[465th Troop Carrier Wing]] in Europe, based first in Germany and then in France with roughly 150 aircraft operating anywhere from Greenland to India. A similar number of aircraft served in the Pacific and the Far East. In 1958, the 317th absorbed the 465th, and transitioned to the [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|C-130]]s, but the units of the former 60th Troop Carrier Wing, the 10th, 11th and 12th Troop Carrier Squadrons, continued to fly C-119s until 1962, the last non-[[Air Force Reserve Command|Air Force Reserve]] and non-[[Air National Guard]] operational units to fly the "Boxcars."

The [[United States Air Force|USAF]] [[Strategic Air Command]] had C-119 Flying Boxcars in service from 1955 to 1973.

Perhaps the most remarkable use of the C-119 was the [[Mid-air retrieval|aerial recovery]] of balloons, [[Unmanned Aerial Vehicles|UAVs]], and even satellites. The first use of this technique was in 1955, when C-119s were used to recover [[Ryan AQM-34 Firebee]] unmanned targets.<ref name="NASA">{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=John W. |title=Mid-Air Retrieval of Heavy, Earth-Returning Space Systems|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20160007968.pdf |website=NASA |date=23 June 2016 |access-date=26 September 2018}}</ref> The [[456th Troop Carrier Wing]], which was attached to the [[Strategic Air Command]] (SAC) from 25 April 1955 – 26 May 1956, used C-119s to retrieve instrument packages from high-altitude reconnaissance balloons. C-119s from the 6593rd Test Squadron based at [[Hickam Air Force Base]], Hawaii performed several aerial recoveries of film-return capsules during the early years of the [[Corona (satellite)|Corona spy satellite]] program. On 19 August 1960, the recovery by a C-119 of film from the Corona mission code-named [[Discoverer 14]] was the first successful recovery of film from an orbiting satellite and the first aerial recovery of an object returning from [[Geocentric orbit|Earth orbit]].<ref>[https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1960-010A "Discoverer 14 – NSSDC ID: 1960-010A."] ''NASA.'' Retrieved: 28 June 2011.</ref>

The C-119 went on to see extensive service in [[French Indochina]], beginning in 1953 with aircraft secretly loaned by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] to [[France|French]] forces for troop support. These aircraft were generally flown in French markings by American CIA pilots often accompanied by French officers and support staff. The C-119 was to play a major role during the siege at [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Dien Bien Phu]], where they flew into increasingly heavy fire while dropping supplies to the besieged French forces.<ref name="Grand">Grandolini 1996, pp. 52–60.</ref> The only two American pilot casualties of the siege at [[Battle of Dien Bien Phu|Dien Bien Phu]] were [[James B. McGovern Jr.]] and Wallace A. Buford. Both pilots, together with a French crew member, were killed in early June, 1954, when their C-119, while making an artillery drop, was hit and crippled by [[Viet Minh]] anti-aircraft fire; the aircraft then flew an additional {{convert|75|mi}} into Laos before it crashed.

During the [[Sino-Indian War]] of 1962, the C-119 was extensively used to supply Indian forces. President Kennedy allowed sales of spare C-119 on a priority basis upon request by the Indian government.  It also played two major parts in the [[1971 Indo-Pakistani War]], being one of the aircraft types used to transport army paratroopers for the [[Tangail Airdrop]], and after 1971/12/16 93,000 Pakistani POW's to India pending negotiations for their trial or repatriation.

During the [[Vietnam War]], the incredible success of the [[Douglas AC-47 Spooky]] continued, but limitations of the size and carrying capacity of the plane led the USAF to develop a larger plane to carry more surveillance gear, weaponry, and ammunition, the [[Lockheed AC-130|AC-130 Spectre]]. However, due to the strong demands of C-130s for cargo use there were not enough Hercules frames to provide Spectres for operations against the enemy. The USAF filled the gap by converting C-119s into [[Fairchild AC-119|AC-119]]s each equipped with four 7.62 [[minigun]] pods, a Xenon [[searchlight]], night observation sight, flare launcher, fire control computer and TRW fire control safety display to prevent incidents of friendly fire. The new AC-119 squadron was given the call-sign "Creep" that launched a wave of indignation that led the Air Force to change the name to "Shadow" on 1 December 1968.<ref>pp. 213–214 Chinnery, Philip ''Any Time, Any Place'' Airlife Publishing Ltd 1994</ref> C-119Gs were modified as AC-119G Shadows and AC-119K Stingers. They were used successfully in both [[close air support]] missions in South Vietnam and [[interdiction]] missions against trucks and supplies along the [[Ho Chi Minh Trail]]. All the AC-119G Gunships were transferred to the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] starting in 1970 as the American forces began to be withdrawn.
[[File:Fairchild C-119G CP-17 RBAF Coltishall 18.09.65 edited-3.jpg|thumb|Fairchild C-119G of the [[Royal Belgian Air Force]] in 1965]]

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Air National Guard and USAF Reserve pilots flew C-119's to drop parachutist students for the US Army Parachute School at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

After retirement from USAF active duty, substantial numbers of C-119s and R4Qs soldiered on in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]], the [[Air Force Reserve Command|Air Force Reserve]] and the [[Air National Guard]] until the mid-1970s, the R4Qs also being redesignated as C-119s in 1962. The last military use of the C-119 by the United States ended in 1974 when a single squadron of [[United States Navy Reserve|Navy Reserve]] C-119s based at Naval Air Facility Detroit/[[Selfridge Air National Guard Base]] near [[Detroit, Michigan]], and two squadrons based at [[Los Alamitos Army Airfield|Naval Air Station Los Alamitos]], California replaced their C-119s with newer aircraft.

Many C-119s were provided to other nations as part of the Military Assistance Program, including [[Belgium]], [[Brazil]], [[Ethiopia]], [[India]], [[Italy]], Jordan, [[Taiwan]], and (as previously mentioned) [[South Vietnam]]. The type was also used by the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]], and by the [[United States Navy]] and [[United States Marine Corps]] under the designation '''R4Q''' until 1962 when they were also redesignated as '''C-119'''.



===Civilian use===
[[File:Milestones-c119-N13745-070919-01-16.jpg|thumb|C-119C shown in Hemet Valley Flying Service livery as Tanker 82 before being retired; now at the Milestones of Flight Museum in Lancaster California. (note the [[Nacelle|jet pod]] above the fuselage)]]
[[File:N8093 C-119G MD4.jpg|thumb|C-119G instrument panel]]

A number of aircraft were acquired by companies that were contracted by federal agencies, including the [[United States Forest Service]] and the [[Bureau of Land Management]] to provide [[Aerial firefighting#Airtankers|airtanker]]s for fighting [[wildfire]]s. Others were used in civilian cargo service. After a series of crashes, the age and safety of the aircraft being used as airtankers became a serious concern, and the U.S. C-119 airtanker fleet was permanently grounded in 1987. Eventually, many of these aircraft were provided to museums across the U.S. in a complicated – and ultimately illegal – scheme where stored USAF [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules]] transports and Navy [[Lockheed P-3 Orion]] anti-submarine patrol aircraft were provided to the contractors in exchange for the C-119s.<ref name=9thappeals>[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=9th&navby=case&no=9810173 "United States v. Fuchs"] ''U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Appeal 9810173, filed July 6, 2000.'' Retrieved: 28 June 2011.</ref> (See [[U.S. Forest Service airtanker scandal]].) After the end of the airtanker days, many C-119s flew in Alaska for Northern Pacific Transport, Gifford Aviation, Stebbins & Ambler Air transport, and Delta Associates, being used for public service contracts, such as hauling building materials to the villages in the bush of Alaska that have no road access.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Several aircraft were observed, as late as 1990, by paratroopers with the 6th Infantry Division, to be in Forest Service use as jump planes for "smokejumper" firefighters in Alaska. These aircraft were boarded and toured, by the Army paratroopers, at Ft Wainwright, Alaska.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}