Lineage. Established as 555 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Separate) on 28 Feb 1942. Activated on 4 Jul 1942. Redesignated as: 555 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion on 11 Mar 1943; 501 Tactical Control Group on 31 Dec 1945. Inactivated on 25 Sep 1947. Redesignated as 501 Aircraft Control and Warning Group on 18 May 1949. Activated on 10 Jun 1949. Redesignated as: 501 Tactical Control Group on 16 Mar 1952; 501 Tactical Control Wing on 18 Dec 1957. Disestablished and inactivated on 18 Nov 1960. Redesignated as: 521 Tactical Control Wing on 31 Jul 1985; 521 Air Mobility Operations Wing on 19 Aug 2008. Activated on 4 Sep 2008.
Assignments. III Fighter Command, 4 Jul 1942; Aircraft Warning Unit Training Center, 8 Oct 1942; 70 Fighter Wing, Dec 1943; IX Tactical Air Command, 13 Sep 1944; 70 Fighter Wing, 22 Feb 1945; XXIX Tactical Air Command, 19 Jul 1945; 70 Fighter Wing, 6 Aug 1945; XII Tactical Air Command, 15 Nov 1945; 51 Troop Carrier Wing, 25 Jul-25 Sep 1947. United States Air Forces in Europe, 10 Jun 1949; 2 Air Division, 10 Oct 1949; Twelfth Air Force, 1 Aug 1951; United States Air Forces in Europe, 1 Jan 1957; Seventeenth Air Force, 15 Nov 1959-18 Nov 1960. 21 Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, 4 Sep 2008; United States Air Force Expeditionary Center, 19 Mar 2012-present.
Stations. Drew Fld, FL, 4 Jul 1942; Camp Myles Standish, MA, 20 Nov-28 Dec 1943; Popham, England, 7 Jan 1944; Boxted, England, 2 Feb 1944; Ibsley, England, 18 Apr 1944; Plymouth, England, 19 May-6 Jun 1944; Vierville-sur-Mer, France, 7 Jun 1944; Cricqueville, France, 2 Jul 1944; Villedieu, France, 5 Aug 1944; Le Teilleuie, France, 14 Aug 1944; Aillieres, France, 23 Aug 1944; Les Loges-an-Josas, France, 31 Aug 1944; Paris, France, 4 Sep 1944; Ham-sur-Huere, Belgium, 16 Sep 1944; Verviers, Belgium, 26 Sep 1944; Gosselies, Belgium, 18 Dec 1944; Verviers, Belgium, 7 Jan 1945; Bruhl, Germany, 23 Mar 1945; Bad Wildungen, Germany, 11 Apr 1945; Gottingen, Germany, 12 Apr 1945; Nohra, Germany, 26 Apr 1945; Fritzlar, Germany, 25 Jun 1945; Furstenfeldbruck, Germany, 19 Jul 1945; Bad Kissengen, Germany, 3 Feb 1946; Wiesbaden, Germany, 5 Jul-25 Sep 1947. Zwingenberg, Germany, 10 Jun 1949; Landsberg, Germany, 17 Jul 1949; Kaiserslautern, Germany, 23 Sep 1952; Landstuhl (later, Ramstein-Landstuhl, Ramstein) AB, Germany, 17 Nov 1954-18 Nov 1960. Ramstein AB, Germany, 4 Sep 2008-.
Commanders Lt Col Harry Gibbons, 4 Jul 1942; Lt Col Roy T. Richards, 21 Jan 1944; Lt Col Albert J. Gilardi, 13 Jul 1944; Lt Col William S. Cowart Jr., 5 Jan 1945; Maj J. W. Godfrey, 1 Jun 1945; 1 Lt John B. Patterson (acting), Oct 1945; Capt Richard L. Eisenbise, 27 Nov 1945; Capt Harold G. Swartwood, 2 Jan 1946; Lt Col John T. Gibney, 24 Mar 1946; Col Ernest S. Moon, 10 Mar 1947-unkn. Lt Col Fred J. Collins, 10 Jun 1949; Col Lee B. Coats, 10 Nov 1949; Col Robert C. Sexton, 19 Aug 1952; Col Thomas S. Bond Jr., 22 Jan 1955; Col Carl B. Lindstrand, 18 Aug 1957; Col Carl C. Barthel, 27 Jul 1959-18 Nov 1960. Col Kimberly Corcoran, 4 Sep 2008; Col Kip B. Turain, 30 Aug 2010; Col Randall Reed, 30 Jul 2012; Col Nancy M. Bozzer, 18 Jun 2014; Col Thomas M. Cooper, 14 Jun 2016.
Operations Served as an aircraft warning unit in defense of the continental United States, 1942-1943; provided communications support in England, in France following the D-Day invasion, and during the occupation of Germany, 1944-1945. Provided radar coverage and navigational aid to allied aircraft flying over the US Zone of Occupied Europe, 1946-1947. 1949-1960, provided tactical control systems, including aircraft control and warning facilities, passive detection devices and guidance units, in central European area. The wing activated on 4 September 2008 now serves as an en route support wing and provides strategic, theater, and commercial air mobility support for Europe, Africa, and southwest Asia to units engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Freedom Sentinel and other contingencies.
Service Streamers. World War II American Theater; Global War on Terrorism (GWOT-S).
Campaign Streamers. World War II: Normandy; Northern France; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; Rhineland.
Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers. None.
Decorations. Meritorious Unit Awards: 1 Oct 2010-30 Sep 2011; 1 Oct 2011-30 Sep 2012; 1 Oct 2012-30 Sep 2013; 1 Oct 2013-30 Sep 2014; 1 Oct 2014-30 Sep 2015; 1 Oct 2015-30 Sep 2016; 1 Oct 2016-30 Sep 2017. Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: 1 Oct 2008-30 Sep 2009; 1 Oct 2009-30 Sep 2010.
Lineage, Assignments, Stations, and Honors through 27 Apr 2018.
Commanders and Operations through 15 Dec 2017.
Supersedes statement prepared in 2 Nov 2017.
Emblem. Approved on 23 Sep 1953; newest rendition approved 3 Dec 2008.
Prepared by John M. Lacomia.
Reviewed by James M. Musser and Daniel L. Haulman.