Editing Pope Field (section)

===440th Airlift Wing===
BRAC 2005 determined that the [[Air Force Reserve Command]]'s [[440th Airlift Wing]] and its C-130 aircraft were to be moved from [[Mitchell Field|Mitchell Field, Wisconsin]] to Pope.  The wing started operations at Pope in 2006 and completed the move by October 2007.  The first unit assembly at the new location was 1 October 2007.  BRAC also made the 440th Airlift Wing the first active associate unit in Air Force history.  The Regular Air Force's [[2d Airlift Squadron]] and elements of the [[43d Airlift Wing]]'s maintenance units, that were also based at Pope, were receiving operational direction from the 440th while flying and helping maintain the C-130H2 Hercules Air Force Reserve aircraft.  At the start of 2010, the 440th Airlift Wing had 16 C-130H models supporting worldwide missions and providing training missions for the [[XVIII Airborne Corps]] and [[82nd Airborne Division]] from Fort Bragg.

The 440th was a [[United States Air Force Reserve]] unit that performed airfield operations to include airfield management, weather forecasting, airfield tower control, airfield navigation and landing systems' maintenance. The 440 AW's [[95th Airlift Squadron]] shared the airlift mission with the 43d's [[2d Airlift Squadron]]. The 440th also had the 36th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron assigned which shared the AE mission with the [[43d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.af.mil/brac/northcarolina.asp |title=Air Force Link - BRAC 2005 |access-date=30 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003023309/http://www.af.mil/brac/northcarolina.asp |archive-date=3 October 2008  }}</ref>

Despite opposition from North Carolina congressmen and senators, the 440th Airlift Wing was inactivated as an Air Force cost savings measure.  An article in the 6 March 2014 issue of the ''[[Fayetteville Observer]]'' noted that the Air Force has proposed the wing's inactivation and the retirement of its 12 C-130H aircraft.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} A follow-up article in the 11 March edition stated that state congressmen ([[Renee Ellmers|Ellmers]], [[Richard Hudson (U.S. politician)|Hudson]], [[David Price (U.S. politician)|Price]], and [[Mike McIntyre|McIntyre]]) had spoken out against the proposed inactivation.<ref>{{Cite web | title=The Fayetteville Observer: Local News, Politics & Sports in Fayetteville, NC | url=http://www.fayobserver.com/military/article_7e7fd11a-09fb-59ca-9bb4-d79edc18d514.html | access-date=2025-04-03 | website=www.fayobserver.com}}</ref>

The last C-130 assigned to the 440th Airlift Wing departed on 29 June 2016,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Clark|first1=Justin|title=Final 440th Airlift Wing C-130 departs Pope|url=http://www.pope.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123475454|website=Pope Field|publisher=U. S. Air Force|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018221038/http://www.pope.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123475454|archive-date=18 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the unit inactivated on 18 September 2016.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Brooks|first1=Drew|title=440th Airlift Wing bids farewell in deactivation [sic] ceremony at Pope Field|url=http://www.fayobserver.com/military/th-airlift-wing-bids-farewell-in-deactivation-ceremony-at-pope/article_04235e89-5e0c-5f18-bfbd-6dbac62d9673.html|website=fayobserver.com|publisher=The Fayetteville Observer|access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref>