The157 Air Operations Group responds to operational requirements within the HeadquartersPacific Air Forces (HQ PACAF) area of responsibility, which covers an area from the east coast of Africa to the west coast of the Americas.
The group mans anAir Operations Center (AOC), the senior element of the Theater Air Control System using the AN/USQ-163 Falconer. An AOC is the command and control center that plans, executes and assesses aerospace operations during a contingency or conflict.
The AOC plans and executes missions by theater aerospace forces for Joint Forces Air Component Commanders.[note 1] The AOC enables Joint Forces Air Component Commanders to exercisecommand and control of aerospace forces in support of a Joint Force Commander. An AOC consists of a large number of related systems which interoperate to plan, conduct, and monitor the air and space war.
The battalion was organized in Italy, primarily from elements of the provisional 2691 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Mobile) and 732d through 734th Signal Aircraft Warning Companies that had been attached to it, which were simultaneously disbanded.[1] The battalion operations were conducted by radar operating detachments, which frequently moved. Elements of the battalion participated inOperation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France.[2] FollowingV-E Day, the battalion remained in Germany as part of theoccupation forces until it was inactivated, along with its component companies, on 7 November 1945. This was a period of personnel turmoil, with most experienced members of the unit being transferred to other units for return to the United States, being replaced by "low point" men who were late arrivals to the theater. On 22 October, the battalion was reduced to nominal strength of one officer and one airman, who were transferred to the555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion when the 582d was inactivated.[3]
The battalion was converted to theAir Corps, redesignated the157th Aircraft Control and Warning Group and allotted to theNational Guard in May 1946. It was organized in theMissouri National Guard later that year, but did not receive federal recognition until 1948. Thegroup was mobilized for theKorean War in the fall of 1951 and served atAlexandria Air Force Base, where it was released from active duty on 1 November 1953. It was redesignated the157th Tactical Control Group in 1952 and its mission changed fromair defense to control of tactical strike aircraft.
The group was activated the same day in theMissouri Air National Guard. It became the157th Air Control Group' in 1992 and the157th Air Operations Group in 2001. The group's initial mobilization gaining command wasTactical Air Command
In 2016 the 157th Air Operations Group converted from a non-traditional Group -> Division organization into a traditional Group -> Squadron organization. With such, new squadron commanders were designated for the newly established 157 Combat Operations Squadron (COS), 157th Air Intelligence Squadron (AIS), and the 157th Air Communications Squadron (ACOMS). All of which will report to the 157th Air Operations Group Commander.
Also in 2016, the 157th Air Operations Group gained an additive mission set supporting U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command and the 608th Air Operations Center located at Barksdale AFB, LA. Once fully operational, the additive unit will be known as the 257th Combat Operations Flight. The unit's Commander reports directly to the Commander, 157th Air Operations Group.
Integral Companies (Headquarters and Plotting Company, Reporting Company A, Reporting Company B, Reporting Company C): 15 January 1944 – 20 November 1945
Squadrons
115th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: by February 1954 – June 1963, 1963 – c. June 1965
117th Tactical Control Squadron: c. 1 August 1965 – c. 15 September 1971
119th Tactical Control Squadron (later 119th Tactical Control Flight): 1 September 1965 – 16 June 1992
121st Air Control Squadron: 16 June 1992 – 1999
122d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: 16 October 1946 – 1 November 1951, November 1951 – 1 November 1953
123d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: 2 November 1953 – December 1958
124th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: November 1951 – 1 November 1953
128th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: 2 November 1953 – c. June 1965
131st Aircraft Control Squadron (later 131st Tactical Control Squadron): 22 September 1946 – 1 November 1951, November 1951 – 1 November 1953, 1 November 1952 – c. 1 August 1965
131st Direct Air Support Squadron: c. 1 August 1965 – s. 7 April 1968
132d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: 18 December 1947 – May 1951
133d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (later 133d Aircraft Control and Warning Flight): 22 September 1946 – May 1951, 1 November 1952 – c. April 1958
157th Tactical Control Squadron (later 157th Tactical Control Flight): 1972 – c. 1981
157th Tactical Air Control Squadron: 30 September 1971 – unknown
157th Combat Operations Squadron: 2016–Present
157th Air Communications Squadron: 2016–Present
157th Air Intelligence Squadron: 2016–Present
Flights
110th Tactical Control Flight: 8 October 1971 – unknown
112th Aircraft Control and Warning Flight: 1 December 1953 – 1958
115th Tactical Control Flight: 15 September 1971 – unknown
117th Aircraft Control and Warning Flight: December 1958 – c. 1 August 1965
118th Aircraft Control and Warning Flight: December 1958 – unknown
119th Aircraft Control and Warning Flight: 1 December 1953 – 1 September 1965
119th Tactical Control Flight (see 119th Tactical Control Squadron)
128th Tactical Control Flight: 1 September 1965 – 8 February 1974
129th Tactical Control Flight: c. 1 March 1965 – 1969
133d Aircraft Control and Warning Flight (see 133d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron)
157th Tactical Control Flight (see 157th Tactical Control Squadron)
257th Combat Operations Flight; 2017–Present (Air Force Global Strike Command)
^When a Commander, Air Force Forces is also the Joint Forces Air Component Commander in a theater, the AOC is also the Joint Air Operations Center. In cases of multinational operations, the AOC becomes a Combined Aerospace Operations Center.
