List of Air Expeditionary units of the United States Air Force
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Air Expeditionary Wings and Groups are a Wing/Group concept used by the United States Air Force. These units are activated under temporary orders by the owning Major Command (MAJCOM) for a specific purpose or mission. Once that mission is completed, these units are inactivated.
Origins
[edit]Faced with declining budgets in the late 1990s, the U.S. Air Force decided that the Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch (ONW/OSW) patrols over Iraq were "tedious".[1] The patrols placed more strain on units worldwide than during the Cold War. This was because so many fighter, bomber, air refueling, and airlift squadrons had been inactivated after the end of the Cold War. The Air Force "had to change the way it did business".[1]
As the no-fly zone patrols over Iraq began to appear as an ongoing, open-ended commitment, the drain on equipment and manpower forced the Air Force to reconsider how it was going to sustain ONW/OSW patrols, as well as other required deployments worldwide. The answer developed was to end the deployment of entire wings en bloc.
It was decided that U.S. Central Command Air Forces (CENTAF) would not consist of permanently assigned units,[1] partially because of the sensitivities of Arab host states to acknowledging that U.S. forces were deployed in their countries. This made establishment of permanent units more difficult, because base access might be changed or denied with shifting, volatile, political currents. For example, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Jordanian government denied U.S. troops were stationed in Jordan. This created a lot of concern with Jordanian military personnel stationed at Shahid Muafaq Al-Salti Air Base during the initial stages. As they were being told on television and radio that there were no U.S. troops on Jordanian soil, USAF C-17 aircraft were arriving on a daily basis with personnel and supplies. The 410th Air Expeditionary Wing was quickly growing in size. Out of confusion, Jordanian Security Forces documented everything leaving the aircraft. U.S. personnel removed labels and explosive decals from the containers, as not to aggravate the situation. American troops initially were not allowed to carry weapons in plain sight. So they carried their Beretta 9mm handguns hidden in their waistbands for protection and hid their M-4 carbines from view in their vehicles.
To minimize the risk of these kind of situations happening, the decision was taken to avoid the creation of permanent units, especially in the Middle East.
Instead, elements from different wings, even from both the active-duty component and the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard, would be melded together for each deployment. This merging of different units from different permanent wings/groups was christened the "Air Expeditionary Force" (AEF) concept. The various units were to be drawn from Air Combat Command or ACC gained components, but also from other major commands such as Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) or United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), as necessary, to meet mission requirements. AEF organizations were to be fundamentally temporary in nature, organized to meet a specific mission or commitment. They thus replaced the "Provisional" deployed units attached to the command during the 1991 (Persian) Gulf War.
Active Air Expeditionary wings and groups
[edit]Inactive Air Expeditionary wings and groups
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Paul Conners, "The AEF Concept has been successful," May 5, 2004
- ^ "DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable: Antarctica Research and Exploration". DoD Live. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Fact Sheet". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "378th Air Expeditionary Wing Fact Sheet". U.S. Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ "379th Air Expeditionary Wing". US Air Forces Central. US Air Force. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "380th Air Expeditionary Wing". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ Gardner, Staff Sgt. Ashley L. (1 June 2019). "385th AEG celebrates year anniversary". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "386th Air Expeditionary Wing". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ Cloys, Tech. Sgt. Robert (24 May 2019). "Cargo City officially opens as new gateway in Kuwait". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "Colonel Robert A. Shelton – Biography". RAF Mildenhall. US Air Force. November 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ a b "Off and Running". Air Force Magazine. Air Force Association. 13 November 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ a b c "406th Air Expeditionary Wing". United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ "386th Air Expeditionary Wing – Fact Sheet". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ^ Everstine, Brian W. (15 August 2019). "New USAF Base in Niger Begins Limited Operations". Air Force Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "Air Force awards first Remote device: Dominant persistent attack aircr". Air Combat Command. US Air Force. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ Rhynes, Staff Sgt. Trevor (10 January 2018). "A-10s bring thunder, lightning during fight against ISIS". US Air Force. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ a b Jennifer, Hlad (21 November 2017). "Punching Above Their Weight". Air Force Magazine. Air Force Association. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ Vandiver, John (14 April 2014). "Air Force mission on the rise in Africa amid Afghan drawdown". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "435th Air Expeditionary Wing". www.usafe.af.mil. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
- ^ Jordan, Miquel (12 June 2023). "4-part ceremony equips 406th AEW to continue 435th AEW legacy". U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ "Train, Advice, Assist Command - Air". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ "451st Air Expeditionary Group". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 26 July 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ a b "455th AEW Fact Sheet". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Combat Comm supports 40-year UN resolution". Kaiserslautern American. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ Benedetti, Staff Sgt. Matt (28 November 2012). "466 AEG activated at TCM". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ Allen, Staff Sgt. Sanjay (22 November 2010). "467th AEG provides world-class support to IA, JET Airmen". US Air Forces Central Command. US Air Force. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Information for the community outside of LRAFB".
References
[edit]- Air Force Instruction 38-101, AIR FORCE ORGANIZATION, 4 APRIL 2006 (with Change 2, dated 20 July 2006, and later).