521st Air Mobility Operations Wing

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521st Air Mobility Operations Wing
Members of the Wing's 721st Aerial Port Squadron load luggage onto an aircraft at Ramstein AB, Germany during Operation Allies Refuge in 2021
Active4 July 1942 – 25 September 1947
10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960
4 September 2008 – present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeLogistics Coordination
Size1800 airmen permanently assigned plus 900 deployed to wing
Part ofAir Mobility Command
Garrison/HQRamstein Air Base, Germany
EngagementsEuropean theater of World War II
DecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current
commander		Col Charles D. Cooley
Command ChiefCCM Jeremiah F. Grisham
Insignia
521st Air Mobility Operations Wing emblem

The 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing (521 AMOW) is part of Air Mobility Command and is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It coordinates logistical air movements into, out of, and through Europe.

The 521st AMOW expedites warfighting and humanitarian efforts by the United States Air Force throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It provides all command and control, en route maintenance support, aeromedical evacuation and air transportation services for air mobility operations in its area of responsibility.[1] It performs this through aircraft maintenance units, maintenance operations centers, quality assurance, regional training center, fuel cell, aerospace ground equipment, forward supply location, and maintenance recovery teams. It operates air terminal operations centers, providing passenger and fleet services, cargo processing, special handling, ramp services, and load planning.[1]

The Wing is composed of two groups.[2] These groups are assigned nine squadrons and fourteen other geographically separated units.[1]

History[edit]

The wing was originally constituted as the 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion. The unit served as an aircraft warning unit in defense of the continental United States from 1942 to 1943. The battalion moved to England in 1944 where it provided communications support until the day after the Normandy landings when it moved to support the invading forces in France. It moved frequently to support elements of Ninth Air Force, arriving in Belgium in September and Germany in March 1945. It continued it mission during the occupation of Germany from 1945.[3] At the end of 1945, the battalion was converted to an Air Corps unit, redesignated the 501st Tactical Control Group[3] and its component companies replaced by Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons. It provided radar coverage and navigational aid to allied aircraft flying over the U.S. Zone of Occupied Germany in 1946 and 1947. It was inactivated in 1947.

The unit was reactivated as the 501st Aircraft Control and Warning Group in 1949 to replace the 7402d Aircraft Control and Warning Group.[4] Between 1949 and 1960, it provided tactical control systems, including aircraft control and warning facilities, passive detection devices and guidance units in central Europe.[3] In 1952, it became a tactical control group again. In 1954, the group moved to Landstuhl Air Base. Starting in 1955, it and the 526th Tactical Control Group provided personnel for a provisional Tactical Control Wing, which it replaced as the 501st Tactical Control Wing in 1957 to provide radar and aircraft control for all of Twelfth Air Force.[5] It operated the Tactical Control System to exercise operational control of offensive and defensive units in Europe.[6] In the 1960s, its mission, personnel, and equipment were combined with those of the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, which was redesignated the 86th Air Division (Defense).[7]

Today the two subordinate groups include:

Lineage[edit]

  • Constituted as the 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Separate) on 28 February 1942
Activated on 4 July 1942
Redesignated as 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion on 11 March 1943
Converted from the Signal Corps to the Air Corps and redesignated 501st Tactical Control Group on 31 December 1945
Inactivated on 25 September 1947
  • Redesignated 501st Aircraft Control and Warning Group on 11 May 1949
Activated on 10 June 1949
Redesignated 501st Tactical Control Group on 16 March 1952
Redesignated 501st Tactical Control Wing on 18 December 1957
Inactivated on 18 November 1960
  • Redesignated 521st Tactical Control Wing 31 July 1985 (remained inactive)
  • Redesignated 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing on 18 August 2008
Activated on 4 September 2008[3]

Assignments[edit]

Stations[edit]

Components[edit]

Groups

Squadrons

  • 3d SHORAN Beacon Squadron,[5] 18 December 1957 – 1 May 1958
Bremerhaven, Germany
  • 6th SHORAN Beacon Squadron,[5] 18 December 1957 – 1 May 1958
  • 601st Tactical Control Squadron (Formed from Company A, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 601st Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron),[5] 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957)
Rothwesten AB, Germany
  • 602d Tactical Control Squadron (Formed from Company B, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 602d Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron),[5] 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957)
Giebelstadt AB, Germany
  • 603d Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (Formed from Company C, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 603d Tactical Control Squadron, 603d Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron),[5] 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957)
Langerkopf, Germany
  • 604th Tactical Control Squadron (Formed from Company D, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 604th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron),[5] 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957)
Freising AB, Germany
  • 615th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron, Fixed,[5] 18 December 1957 – 18 November 1960
Schonfeld, Germany[5]
  • 616th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 18 November 1960
Ulm, Germany; Turkheim, Germany[13]
  • 619th Tactical Control Squadron,[5] 18 December 1957 – 18 January 1959
Birkenfeld, Germany
  • 807th Tactical Control Squadron,[5] 1 August 1951 – 18 November 1960

Awards[edit]

1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "521st Air Mobility Operations Wing". 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing Public Affairs. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ^ Saldukas, Scott (10 September 2008). "Wing activation of the 521st AMOW". 435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lacomia, John M. (2 November 2017). "521 Air Mobility Operations Wing (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Abstract, History of the 501st Aircraft Warning & Control Group, July–August 1951". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Abstract, History of the 501st Tactical Control Wing, January–June 1957". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  6. ^ "Abstract, History of the 501st Tactical Control Wing, Calendar Year 1958". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Abstract, History of the 86th Air Division, July–December 1960". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  8. ^ "521st Air Mobility Operations Group".
  9. ^ Haulman, Daniel (26 April 2011). "725 Air Mobility Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  10. ^ "728 Air Mobility Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  11. ^ Lacomia, John M. (3 January 2018). "521 Air Mobility Operations Group (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  12. ^ Lacomia, John M. (27 April 2018). "721 Air Mobility Operations Group (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Abstract, History of the 501st Tactical Control Wing, January–June 1959". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  14. ^ "Air Force Recognition Programs". Air Force Personnel Center. Retrieved 20 December 2012. (search)

Bibliography[edit]

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Further reading[edit]

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