386th Air Expeditionary Wing

386th Air Expeditionary Wing
386th Air Expeditionary Wing
	United States Air Forces Central
Garrison/HQ	Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait
Decorations	AFMUA
Commanders
Current; commander	Colonel Sergio E. Anaya
Notable; commanders	Joe W. Kelly

The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing (386 AEW) is a provisional

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.

Mission

The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing has a diverse mission which canvases the CENTCOM AOR. The 386th AEW is the primary aerial hub for Operation Inherent Resolve and provides airlift support for various operations around the CENTCOM AOR.

Under the new AFFORGEN concept, which is how the Air Force deploys and presents its forces to the combatant commanders, the 386th AEW is now has the 386th Expeditionary Air Base Group,[3] A-staff directorates, the special staff, and various flying units under its command. The 386th EABG is composed of units from Security Forces, Logistics, Medical, Communications, Contracting, Force Support and Maintenance. The special staff is composed of legal, public affairs and other helping agencies. The A-staff component is there to provide planning to the operational squadrons and answer requests for information from higher headquarters. The flying units consist of C-130s, MQ-9s and U.S. Army helicopters.

The wing's mission is to partner, deliver and support to provide combat power and increase regional stability. Its vision is through teamwork to enhance cooperation, invest in enduring relationships, and cultivate inclusive and innovative warfighters. The three campaign priorities are People, Partnership and Project Combat Power.

The wing is also home to one of two contingency aeromedical staging facilities (CASF) in the theater. The CASF serves as a gateway for patients airlifted to Germany or the United States for further medical treatment.

Units assigned

The following units are assigned:

386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group^[4]
386th Expeditionary Mission Support Group^[4]
386th Expeditionary Medical Group^[4]
Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base (Cargo City) and Ali Al Salem Air Base^[4]

407th Air Expeditionary Group located at Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base^[4]
386th Expeditionary Operations Group^{[citation needed]}

The 586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron was part of the wing's 586th AEG until it was inactivated in 2008.

History

Martin B-26B Marauder 41-31737, 552d Bomb Squadron

Martin B-26B Marauder 41-17876, 552d Bomb Squadron

Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Weeks, 386th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, marshals an EC-130H Compass Call on the flightline

A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer aircraft sits on the hot ramp waiting to be refueled and approved to launch by the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing

Airmen from the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing proudly render a final salute to C-130 aircraft, tail number 63-7865, from Ramstein AB, Germany, at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, in Southwest Asia. The aircraft had just flown its last combat mission and will be flown to Davis–Monthan AFB, Ariz., where it will be laid to rest at the "boneyard." The C-130 became an honorary purple heart recipient in June 1972 for damages sustained from mortar fire in the Vietnam War.

World War II

The unit was constituted as the 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 25 November 1942, and was activated on 1 December 1942 at

MacDill Field, Florida. The group was equipped with the Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Its operational squadrons were the 552d (RG), 553d (AN), 554th (RU) and 555th

(YA)

After training at several airfields in the United States, the group was deployed to Europe in June 1943 and was assigned initially to the

3rd Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force at RAF Snetterton Heath, England. The group remained at Snetterton Heath only a few days, being transferred to RAF Boxted in north Essex

on 10 June 1943 where the Martin B-26 Marauder groups were being consolidated for operations and retrained in medium altitude bombing after low level tactics had produced disastrous losses. The group flew its first mission on 30 July, with operations concentrating on airfields but also attacked marshalling yards and gun positions along the channel coast.

The 386th was again transferred to RAF Great Dunmow on 24 September 1943. Missions of the 386th concentrated on airfields but also bombed marshalling yards and gun positions during the first months of combat. In common with all B-26 Marauder units of the Eighth Air Force, the 386th was transferred to Ninth Air Force on 16 October 1943.

Tactical operations were carried out against V-weapon sites along the coast of France in the winter of 1943–1944, and bombed airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944.

Great Dunmow was the first airfield visited by

General Eisenhower in his USAAF airfield tour on Tuesday, 11 April 1944, and he arrived in time to see thirty-nine Ninth Air Force Marauders take off at twenty second intervals for a mission to attack the marshalling yards in Charleroi

, Belgium.

The 386th hammered gun positions, and airfields preceding the

D-Day and hit bridges, supply and fuel stores, gun positions, and defended areas during the remainder of the Battle of Normandy. Supported Allied forces at Caen, and participated in the massive blows against the enemy at Saint-Lô on 25 July 1944. Knocked out targets to help clear the Falaise pocket of German forces in August 1944 and hit strong points at Brest

during September.

In July 1944, the 553rd Bomb Squadron was selected to host the squadron performing operational testing on the new

Douglas A-26 Invader

. A special squadron of A-26s was attached to the 386th Bombardment Group by order of "Special Operations Order #205, Project 3AF JY Class TM 0725", which created the "A-26 Combat Evaluation Project Squadron" - or simply, Project Squadron to the crews. This squadron conducted eight combat missions with the 386th between 6 Sep 1944 and 19 Sep 1944. Having successfully completed their evaluation assignment, the Project Squadron was detached from the 386th and transferred to the 416th Bombardment Group to train their pilots on converting over to the A-26.

On 2 October 1944, the 386th Bomb Group moved to Beaumont-sur-Oise (A-60) Airfield, in Normandy, France. On the continent, the 386th BG used the following Advanced Landing Grounds:

A-60
Beaumont-sur-Oise
, France, 2 October 1944
A-92 St Trond, Belgium, 9 April – July 1945

While the unit was at Beaumont-sur-Oise, they were fully converted from the B-26 Marauder to the A-26 Invader. By March 1945, the 386th Bomb Group was flying Invaders in combat missions and the old B-26s had been retired stateside.

After

Westover AFB

where the unit was disbanded and their aircraft was dispersed. The 386th Bomb Group was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

Cold War

North American F-100A-20-NA Super Sabre 53-1697 of the 323d Fighter-Bomber Wing, Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana

The 386th Troop Carrier Wing, Medium was established on 23 March 1953, but was never made active nor assigned any aircraft or mission.

The 386th Fighter-Bomber Group was activated on 8 April 1956 at

North American F-100A

to become proficient in tactical air operations.

The wing's aircraft wore a band on the tail, and around the nose edged with small black checkers.

In 1955, Strategic Air Command (SAC) began stationing units at the base, and the Eighth Air Force claimed jurisdiction of Bunker Hill AFB in September 1957. With the turnover of the base to SAC, the 323d was phased down and replaced by the SAC 401st Air Base Group on 1 September 1957.

Iraq War

In 1998, in preparation for Operation Desert Fox, the

363d Air Expeditionary Wing

.

This unit was literally at the forefront of Operation Southern Watch. For several years following the Persian Gulf War, the base was a sleepy radar site, manned by just a handful of Air Force people monitoring air traffic in the southern Iraq no-fly zone. The 74th Air Control Squadron deployed from August to November 1995 to set up and operate a radar site—the only source of a 24-hour air picture in-theater – as part of Operation Vigilant Sentinel. Exactly one year later, 74th ACS personnel deployed once again, this time for 120 days in support of Southern Watch and Operation Desert Strike.

After tensions in the region flared in late 1997, coalition forces started massing at the base. When the buildup renewed in November 1998, prior to

Operation Desert Fox

, the base doubled in size to a population of 1,500.

The 9th Air Expeditionary Group provided air surveillance and control through that same radar site, while a fleet of C-130 Hercules provide theater airlift and, if necessary, combat search and rescue and aeromedical evacuation for Operation Southern Watch forces. The 9th AEG brought all those functions under one umbrella. Life on The Rock was austere, even by the standards of Southwest Asia's deployed locations. Many Air Force people at other Southern Watch bases lived and worked in permanent buildings but The Rock was almost entirely a tent city, with very few actual buildings. Most "buildings" were Quonset-shaped, foldable general purpose structures.

During the summer of 2001, Airmen from all over the world were called to participate in Operation Southern Watch's AEF-6, also called the 386th Air Expeditionary Group. From the late spring to early fall, the active duty Airmen were joined by members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. Although from different divisions of the same service, they personified the "seamless air force" concept.

Air Expeditionary Force Eight came to a hot start under the desert sun when members of the

Hill AFB

, Utah, arrived in August 2001. There was a two-thirds changeover of base personnel due to AEF Eight rotations. Approximately one-third of the members assigned to the 729th ACS deployed to here assuming duties as the 386th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron for the next 90 days.

The 386th EACS began focused preparations for the deployment about six months earlier. Their wartime mission was to deploy to potentially austere environments, so the base here was not much of a departure. The 386th EACS also conducted field training in the desert environment of Western Utah to practice chemical warfare, security and other combat skills.

In 2000, the first hardened structures were built here. Hardened structures continue to be built on The Rock.

Lineage

Established as 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 25 November 1942

Activated on 1 December 1942

Redesignated: 386th Bombardment Group, Medium, on 20 August 1943

Redesignated: 386th Bombardment Group, Light, on 23 June 1945

Inactivated on 7 November 1945

Redesignated 386th Fighter-Bomber Group on 31 October 1955

Activated on 8 April 1956

Inactivated on 8 July 1957

Redesignated 386th Tactical Fighter Group on 31 July 1985 (Remained inactive)
Redesignated 386th Air Expeditionary Group, and converted to provisional status, on 25 July 2000

Assignments

III Bomber Command, 1 December 1942
Eighth Air Force, c. 2 June 1943
3d Bombardment Wing
, 4 June 1943
IX Bomber Command
, 16 October 1943
98th Combat Bombardment (later, 98th Bombardment) Wing
, 5 December 1943
First Air Force, August-7 November 1945
Ninth Air Force, 8 April 1956 – 8 July 1957
Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate any time after 25 July 2000

Components

552d Bombardment (later Fighter-Bomber) Squadron
(RG), 1 December 1942 – 7 November 1945; 8 April 1956 – 8 July 1957
553d Bombardment (later Fighter-Bomber) Squadron (AN), 1 December 1942 – 7 November 1945; 8 April 1956 – 8 July 1957
554th Bombardment (later Fighter-Bomber) Squadron (RU), 1 December 1942 – 7 November 1945; 8 April 1956 – 8 July 1957
555th Bombardment Squadron
(YA), 1 December 1942 – 7 November 1945
586th Expeditionary Mission Support [later Air Expeditionary] Group, September 2005 – 17 June 2010^[5]
586th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, March 2005 – December 2008
886th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, ? – May 2008
887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, ? – December 2009
586th Expeditionary Support Squadron, ? – 2010