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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.
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.
The Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) (16 AF) is a United States Air Force (USAF) organization responsible for information warfare, which encompasses intelligence gathering and analysis, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber warfare and electronic warfare operations. Its headquarters is at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
Al Dhafra Air Base is a military installation in the United Arab Emirates. The base is located approximately 20 mi (32 km) south of Abu Dhabi, and is operated by the United Arab Emirates Air Force.
The II Marine Expeditionary Force is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a period of 60 days. The II Marine Expeditionary Force is commanded by a lieutenant general, who serves under U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, providing Marine fighting formations and units to European Command, Central Command and Southern Command. The current Commanding General is Lieutenant General David A. Ottignon. The Deputy Commanding General is Brigadier General Andrew T. Priddy and the Senior Enlisted Leader is Sergeant Major David A. Wilson.
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint Department of Defense combatant command responsible for U.S. security interests in 27 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia.
The 407th Air Expeditionary Group was a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces Central Command, 332d Air Expeditionary Wing. It was stationed at Ali Air Base, Iraq, until the closure of the base on 16 December 2011. It was activated as part of the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing due to Military intervention against ISIL at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, and Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait. In 2023 Jane's Defence Weekly confirmed a June 2022 AFCENT statement that the 407 AEG had been inactivated.
The 174th Attack Wing is a unit of the New York Air National Guard, stationed at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, New York. The 174th is equipped with the MQ-9 Reaper. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command.
The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing (386 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Central. As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time. It is currently stationed at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait in Southwest Asia. During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) was a B-26 Marauder bombardment group assigned to the Eighth and later Ninth Air Force. During the Battle of Normandy, it supported Allied forces at Caen, and participated in the massive blows against the enemy at Saint-Lô on 25 July 1944. The unit knocked out targets to help clear the Falaise pocket of German forces in August 1944 and hit strong points at Brest during September.
The 384th Air Expeditionary Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with the United States Central Command Air Forces, being stationed at Shaikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain. It was inactivated in 2004. The wing's mission is largely undisclosed. However, it is known that one of its missions was aerial refueling of combat aircraft.
The 320th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is stationed at Bolling AFB, District of Columbia. The 320 AEW may be activated or inactivated at any time.
The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing is a Provisional Wing of Air Combat Command, currently active. It was last inactivated on 8 May 2012, and most recently reactivated on 19 May 2015.
The United States Air Force's 410th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command (ACC) It may be activated or inactivated at any time.
The 406th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional air expeditionary unit assigned to the United States Air Force's Third Air Force, stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Its components conduct tactical airlift, personnel recovery, casualty evacuation, and attack missions in support of United States Africa Command.
The 387th Air Expeditionary Group(387 AEG) is a provisional United States Air Force direct reporting unit at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait under United States Air Forces Central Command (USAFCENT). As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time. In 2016, the groups mission was to provide support for base operations, coordination with host nation partners, and administration of the Joint Expeditionary Tasked individual augmentees in the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility.
The 449th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force supporting United States Africa Command. It is stationed at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. It flies missions for Africa Command and Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, supporting varied U.S. objectives in the area.
The 506th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit. The group is assigned to the United States Air Forces Central 332d Air Expeditionary Wing, stationed at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.
The 404th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe. It is attached to Seventeenth Air Force [Air Forces Africa], stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
The 157th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the South Carolina Air National Guard 169th Fighter Wing located at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, Columbia, South Carolina. The 157th FS is one of the few Air National Guard squadrons to operate the HARM Targeting System (HTS)-equipped F-16C Block 52 Fighting Falcon, also known as the F-16CJ.
The 406th Air Expeditionary Group is the operational flying component of the 406th Air Expeditionary Wing. It is a provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe.
The 380th Expeditionary Operations Group) is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. It is a provisional unit stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, and is assigned to the United States Air Forces Central component of Air Combat Command.
The United States Air Force's 435th Air Expeditionary Wing is an inactive air expeditionary unit assigned to the Third Air Force, last stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. As of 2022, the wing had forward deployed units in six locations in West and East Africa. Its command staff is also exercised command of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing.
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