MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --   This year marks the 100th anniversary of the unit presently designated the 6th Air Mobility Wing. The Sixth traces its roots to Sept. 30, 1919 when the U.S. Army Signal Corps organized it to defend the Panama Canal. Initially named the 3rd Observation Group, the unit was redesignated the 6th Composite Group in 1922. Pictured is Private Jesse C. Snyder, a 6th Composite Group maintainer, standing beside a Loening OA-1A San Francisco, a Pan-American goodwill flight at France Field in the Panama Canal Zone in 1927.