1st TCG was organized at Ashiya AB, Japan on 26 August 1950 under operational control of FEAF through the 1st Troop Carrier Task Force (Provisional).The 1st TCG and its provisional squadrons were based at Tachikawa and supported by the 374th TCW. Personnel from units of Thirteenth and Twentieth Air Forces and the Far East Materiel Command manned the 1st TCG. Using C-46s and briefly C-47s, the group began airlifting freight and passengers between Japan and Korea on September 2, 1950.
The group transported a U.S. Marine unit to Pyongyang on November 25 and 26 then flew emergency air evacuations from Sinanju and other forward bases as the Chinese advanced.
Leaving Kimpo AB on January 4, the group inactivated effective January 25, with many of its personnel transferring to the 86th TCS of the 437th TCG. In its five months of operation, the group carried over 28,000 passengers, 7,000 air evacuees, and almost 12,000 tons of cargo.