521st Air Mobility Operations Wing

521st Air Mobility Operations Wing
Active 1942-1947; 1949-18 November 1960; 2008 - Present
Country  United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Type Logistics Coordination
Size 1800 airmen permanently assigned plus 900 deployed to wing
Part of Air Mobility Command
Eighteenth Air Force
United States Air Force Expeditionary Center
Garrison/HQ Ramstein Air Base
Engagements European Theater of World War II
Decorations Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current
commander		 Colonel Thomas Cooper[1]

The 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing (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 and air transportation services for air mobility operations in its area of responsibility.[2] 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.[2]

The Wing is composed of two groups.[3] These groups are assigned twelve squadrons and fourteen other geographically separated units.[2]

History

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.[4] At the end of 1945, the battalion was converted to an Air Corps unit, redesignated the 501st Tactical Control Group[4] 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.[5] Between 1949 and 1960, it provided tactical control systems, including aircraft control and warning facilities, passive detection devices and guidance units in central Europe.[4] 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.[6] It operated the Tactical Control System to exercise operational control of offensive and defensive units in Europe.[7] 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).[8]

Today the two subordinate groups include:

Lineage

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
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
Activated on 4 September 2008[4]

Assignments

Stations

Components

Groups

Squadrons

Bremerhaven, Germany
Rothwesten AB, Germany
Giebelstadt AB, Germany
Langerkopf, Germany
Freising AB, Germany
Schonfeld, Germany[6]
Ulm, Germany; Turkheim, Germany[15]
Birkenfeld, Germany

Awards

1 October 2008 - 30 September 2009

Normandy
Northern France
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe
Rhineland

Notes

  1. ↑ 521 AMOW welcomes new commander A1C Haux, Hailey Kaiserslautern American, August 3, 2012 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  2. 1 2 3 Ramstein AFB Factsheet, 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing 30 Aug 2012 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  3. ↑ Ramstein AB News Release Wing activation of the 521st AMOW 9/10/2008
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 AFHRA Factsheet 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing
  5. ↑ Abstract, History of 501st Aircraft Warning & Control Gp Jul-Aug 1951 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Abstract, History 501st Tac Control Wg, Jan-Jun 1957 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  7. ↑ Abstract, History 501st Tac Control Wing CY 1958 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  8. ↑ Abstract, History 86th Air Div Jul-Dec 1960 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  9. ↑ http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=15752
  10. ↑ Air Mobility Command Factsheet, U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Center 6/11/2012 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  11. ↑ Formed from Company A, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
  12. ↑ Formed from Company B, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
  13. ↑ Formed from Company C, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
  14. ↑ Formed from Company D, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion
  15. ↑ Abstract, History 501st Tactical Control Wing Jan-Jun 1959 (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)
  16. ↑ Air Force Recognition Programs, Unit Awards (USAF Search Page for unit awards) (retrieved Dec 20, 2012)

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

Further reading

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