This week in McGuire Air Force Base history Published June 17, 2009 By Gary Boyd 305th Air Mobility Wing/87th Air Base Wing historian JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST -- This week in 1951: The 87th Air Base Wing began its history as a troop carrier wing amid the expansion of the Military Air Transport Service and Air Force Reserve during the Korean War in 1952. Established as the 87th Troop Carrier Wing (Medium), the 87th absorbed the resources, personnel and equipment of the 923rd Reserve Training Wing at Atterbury AFB, Ind., when it activated in the Air Force Reserve June 15, 1952. This week in 1941: The U.S. Army Air Corps was redesignated the U.S. Army Air Forces. On June 20, 1941, under a revision by the War Department of Army Regulation 95-5, Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, then Chief of the Air Corps, assumed the title of chief of Army Air Forces, creating an echelon of command over all military aviation components.