57th Wing

57th Wing
57th Wing
	Joseph Ashy ; Jeannie Leavitt

The 57th Wing (57 WG) is an operational unit of the United States Air Force (USAF) Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations.

Mission

The 57 WG is home to advanced air combat training. The wing provides training for composite strike forces which include every type of aircraft in the USAF inventory. Training is conducted in conjunction with air and ground units of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and air forces from US allied nations. The crews do not come to learn how to fly, but instead learn how to be combat aviators.

Units

The wing was reorganized in 2005 to reflect its current structure.

57th Operations Group (57 OG) (tail code: WA [the code for the 57th Wing])

The 57th OG consists of Aggressor squadrons that replicate adversary threat tactics while training combat air forces aircrews.

64th Aggressor Squadron: 15 Sep 2005 – present

65th Aggressor Squadron: 9 June 2022 – present

57th Adversary Tactics Support Squadron

57th Information Aggressor Squadron

507th Air Defense Aggressor Squadron

547th Intelligence Squadron

USAF Weapons School

Composed of 16 squadrons, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School teaches graduate-level instructor courses that provide advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces.

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron
- The Thunderbirds

"America's Ambassadors in Blue," the Thunderbirds have performed for more than 300 million people in all 50 states and 60 countries around the world.

57th Maintenance Group

USAF's most diverse maintenance group with over 2,200 Airmen, civilians and contractors in 3 squadrons, 8 Aircraft Maintenance Units, 13 flying hour programs and

F-22A Raptor

aircraft to support the test, tactics and training missions.

United States Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School

Provides graduate-level instruction to maintenance and munitions officers and senior non-commissioned officers to perform as expert field level logistics leaders.

The Thunderbirds and the USAF Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School report directly to the 57th Wing commander.

History

See 57th Operations Group for complete lineage and timeline information.

See 57th Adversary Tactics Group and USAF Weapons School for the flying components of the 57th Wing.

See
USAF Air Demonstration Squadron
for the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.

Established on 15 March 1948, the 57th Fighter Wing replaced 57th Fighter Wing (Provisional) in April 1948. It operated

Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and several satellite bases, and provided air defense of Alaska

, April 1948-December 1950. In addition, the wing provided intra-theater troop carrier and airlift support, 1948–1950, using several attached troop carrier squadrons. In January 1951, it was replaced by 39th Air Depot Wing.

The 57th moved to

electronic warfare. It incorporated intelligence

training after March 1980. In 1990 the aggressor mission transferred to 4440th TFTG and later to the 414th CTS. The wing added instruction in hunter/killer counter electronic warfare tactics until 1996.

Modern era

From 1992–1999, the wing operated detachments at

USAF Weapons

and the USAF Combat Rescue Schools, developing techniques and procedures and conducting operational test and evaluation on all major aircraft in the AF inventory.

With the reactivation of the

432d Wing at Creech Air Force Base on 1 May 2007, the elements that comprised the 57th Operations Group

, were transferred to the 432nd Wing.

The 57th Adversary Tactics Group, which was established in 2005, merged into the 57th Operations Group on 31 March 2020.^[1]

Lineage

Established as 57th Fighter Wing c. 15 March 1948*

Organized on 20 April 1948

Redesignated 57th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 20 January 1950

Inactivated on 1 January 1951

Redesignated 57th Fighter Weapons Wing on 22 August 1969

Activated on 15 October 1969 by redesignation of 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing

Redesignated: 57th Tactical Training Wing on 1 April 1977

Redesignated: 57th Fighter Weapons Wing on 1 March 1980

Redesignated: 57th Fighter Wing on 1 October 1991

Redesignated: 57th Wing on 15 June 1993.

*Note: The 57th Fighter Wing (Provisional) was established on 16 April 1947 at Fort Richardson, Alaska, as one of the "Base-Wing" concept provisional Table of Distribution (T/D) organizations. The provisional wing was inactivated and replaced by the 57th Fighter Wing in March 1948 (exact date unknown).

Assignments

Alaskan Air Command, 20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951
USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons (later, USAF Fighter Weapons; USAF Weapons and Tactics; Air Warfare) Center, 15 October 1969–present

Components

Groups

57th Fighter (later, 57th Fighter-Interceptor; 57th Operations)

20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951 (detached 10 December 1950 – 1 January 1951)

1 November 1991 –

57th Adversary Tactics Group, 1 July 2005–present
57th Test Group: 1 November 1991 – 1 October 1996
4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group (Red Flag)

Attached 1 October 1979 – 28 February 1980

Assigned 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991

4443d Tactical Training Group: 26 January 1990 – 1 November 1991.

Squadrons

4th Troop Carrier Squadron
: attached 2 Dec 1948-28 Feb 1949 and 14 Aug-14 Nov 1949
7th Troop Carrier Squadron
: attached 28 Feb-1 Jun 1949
8th Troop Carrier Squadron
: attached 1 Sep-2 Dec 1948 and 1 Jun-15 Aug 1949
37th Troop Carrier Squadron
: attached 4 Jul-1 Sep 1948
54th Troop Carrier Squadron
: attached c. 20 Apr-c. 1 Jul 1948 and 20 Sep 1949 – 31 Dec 1950
64th Fighter Weapons (later, 64th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 64th Aggressor) Squadron: 15 Oct 1972 – 5 Oct 1990.
65th Fighter Weapons (later, 65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 65th Aggressor) Squadron: 15 Oct 1969 – 7 Apr 1989
66th Fighter Weapons Squadron
: 15 Oct 1969 – 30 Dec 1981
414th Fighter Weapons Squadron
: 15 Oct 1969 – 30 Dec 1981
422d Fighter Weapons (later, 422d Test and Evaluation) Squadron: 15 Oct 1969 – 1 Nov 1991
431st Fighter Weapons (later, 431st Test and Evaluation) Squadron: 1 Oct 1980 – 1 Nov 1991
433d Fighter Weapons Squadron
: 1 Oct 1976 – 30 Dec 1981
509th Weapons Squadron: 2006 – present. Located at Fairchild AFB WA.
4460th Helicopter Squadron: 1 Nov 1983 – 1 Jun 1985
4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (later, 4477 Test and Evaluation Squadron) Squadron: 1 Apr 1977 – 15 Jul 1990.
USAF Air Demonstration Squadron
: 15 Feb 1974 – present