401st Air Expeditionary Group | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1943–1945; 1947–1951; 1954–1957; 1957–1994; 2001–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Manage deployed forces |
| Motto | Latin: Cælum Arena Nostra – The Sky is Our Arena |
| Engagements | European theater of World War II |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award w/Combat "V" Device Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Wilbur L. Creech,Kenneth North |
| Insignia | |
| 401st Air Expeditionary Group Emblem (approved 9 September 1958)[1] |  |
| ETO Tail Code[2] | Triangle S |
The401st Air Expeditionary Group is a provisionalUnited States Air Force unit assigned toUnited States Air Forces in Europe to be activated or inactivated at any time as needed. It is stationed atRamstein Air Base, Germany.
Thegroup was first activated as the401st Bombardment Group duringWorld War II. The 401st entered combat withVIII Bomber Command, flyingBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses fromRAF Deenethorpe. The group earned twoDistinguished Unit Citations for missions overLeipzig on 11 January and 20 February 1944. The 401st Bomb Group had the second best rating in bombing accuracy forEighth Air Force.
The group was activated briefly as anAir Force Reserve unit in 1947, but apparently was minimally manned. It was called to active duty in 1951 for theKorean War, but its personnel were used as fillers for other units and the group was soon inactivated.
The group was again active in the 1950s as the401st Fighter-Bomber Group atEngland AFB, Louisiana. It was inactivated in 1957 whenTactical Air Command (TAC) replaced its groups reporting directly to TAC numbered air forces with like numberedwings and itssquadrons were transferred to the401st Fighter-Bomber Wing.
The401st Fighter-Bomber Wing flewNorth American F-100 Super Sabres at England for the next nine years. In 1965 and 1966 most of the operational squadrons of the wing were transferred toPacific Air Forces and moved to Japan or the Republic of Vietnam. The wing and its remaining squadron transferred toTorrejon Air Base, Spain, replacing aStrategic Air Command wing there. In 1984 the group and wing were consolidated into a single unit.
In 1991, United States units departed Spain, and the 401st moved toAviano Air Base, Italy, where it replaced the40th Support Wing, originally managing deployed fighter squadrons, but from 1992 was once again assigned its own tactical units. In 1994, it was replaced in turn by the31st Fighter Wing. The 401st became a provisional unit in 2001 and is assigned toUnited States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed for contingency operations.
The401st Bombardment Group was activated March 1943 atEphrata Army Air Base Washington.[3] Its original squadrons were the612th,[4]613th,[5]614th.[6] and615th Bombardment Squadrons,[7] The initialcadre for the group was drawn from the395th Bombardment Group at Ephrata and the383d Bombardment Group atRapid City Army Air Field, South Dakota. The cadre soon departed forOrlando Army Air Base, Florida, where they conducted simulated combat missions with theArmy Air Forces School of Applied Tactics out ofBrooksville Army Air Field.[8]
The ground echelon moved toGeiger Field, Washington in May 1943 and toGreat Falls AAB, Montana in July. At Great Falls the first combat crews were assigned to the group.[9] In the final stage of training the squadrons dispersed with the 612th remaining at Great Falls, while the 613th trained atCut Bank Army Air Field, the 614th atGlasgow Army Air Field, and the 615th atLewiston Army Air Field.[10]
After completing training the ground echelon left for overseas on 19 October 1943. After staging atCamp Shanks, New York they embarked on theRMS Queen Mary and sailed on 27 October disembarking atGreenock on theFirth of Clyde on 3 November 1943. The air echelon staged for deployment atScott Field, Illinois then flew to England under the control ofAir Transport Command via Newfoundland, Iceland and Scotland.[10]
On arrival in England, half of the group'saircrews were immediately reassigned to the351st Bombardment Group.[10] The rest of the group became part ofEighth Air Force atRAF Deenethorpe. The 401st was assigned to the92d Combat Bombardment Wing of the1st Bombardment Division. Its tail code wasTriangle-S.
On 26 November the 401st flew its first combat mission againstBremen, Germany.[11] It did not suffer the combat loss of an airplane until its ninth mission on 30 December.[12] The 401st BG operated chiefly againststrategic targets, bombing industries, submarine facilities, shipyards, missile sites, marshalling yards, andairfields.[3] On 11 January 1944 the group led the1st Bombardment Division in an attack against aircraft manufacturing facilities atOchsersleben, Germany. Although the bombers were able to attack, poor weather conditions prevented the division from receiving effective fighter cover. For over three hours the bomber formation suffered more than 400 attacks byLuftwaffe fighters, includingair-to-air rocket attacks. Despite these attacks, the unit continued on its mission and struck a telling blow against German aircraft production for which the group was awarded theDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[3][13]
A little over a month later, on 20 February, the group earned its second DUC for an attack on theErla Maschinenwerke aircraft manufacturing facilities inLeipzig, Germany. Despitefighter attacks and battle damage to the group's planes, 100% of the group’s bombs fell within 1000 feet of the aiming point.[3][14] Beginning in October 1944, the unit concentrated its attacks on Axis oil reserves.[3]
In addition to strategic missions, group operations included attacks on transportation, airfields, and fortifications prior to theNormandy invasion. OnD-Day the 401st attacked Normandy beachhead areas dropping bombs five minutes before troops landed.[15] The following month it providedclose air support for the breakthrough atSaint-Lô, it also supported the siege ofBrest in August andOperation Market Garden in September. During theBattle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945, the unit attacked transportation and communications in the battle area. It supported airborne forces involved inOperation Varsity in March 1945.[3]
The group's worst accident occurred in December 1943 when a Fortress which failed to get off the ground careened over farmland and came to rest after crashing into a cottage on the edge of the village of Deenethorpe. The surviving members of the crew just had time to evacuate the wreckage and warn the villagers of the imminent explosion of the bomb load before it detonated damaging many houses in the village. The blast was felt in Kettering nine miles away.[16]
Lt Carl Hoag, anavigator with the group was awarded theDistinguished Service Cross for navigating his damaged plane back to UK from a mission to Bohlen. Lt Hoat was blinded in one eye and his vision in other eye impaired by injury. Despite these injuries, he was able to provide the pilot with directions to safely return the plane and crew to Deenthorpe.[16]
The group flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945 againstBrandenberg.[17] The group had flown 254 combat missions from Deenethorpe airfield, 91 aircraft were lost in action with the lowest loss rate of any group in Eighth Air Force.[18] The group's heaviest combat loss had occurred on 28 May 1944 when it lost seven aircraft.[19]
AfterV-E Day, the group flew missions toLinz, Austria to evacuate British and French prisoners of war. It also flewTrolley sightseeing missions at low level, flying ground support personnel over theRuhr andFrankfurt am Main to see the damage that had been done as a result of their efforts.[20]
The group was alerted for redeployment to the Pacific Theater and the last plane departed Deenethorpe on 3 June. The ground echelon sailed on theRMS Queen Elizabeth on the fifth.[21] Upon arrival in the US, personnel were granted thirty days leave, reassembling atSioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, but plans had changed and personnel were either transferred toBoeing B-29 Superfortress units or processed for discharge and the group was inactivated.[22]
During the early years of theCold War the unit was redesignated as the401st Bombardment Group, Very Heavy and was allotted to theAir Force Reserve. It was activated on 26 June 1947 byAir Defense Command atBrooks Field, Texas,[3] but there is no indication the group was fully manned or equipped. The 401st was redesignated the401st Bombardment Group, Medium in June 1949 and moved toBiggs AFB, Texas where it became an associate of the active duty95th Bombardment Group. The 401st was called to active duty on 1 May 1951 during theKorean War. Its personnel were reassigned to other units and it was inactivated on 25 June 1951.[3]
The 401st was redesignated as aTactical Air Command Fighter-Bomber group in 1953 and activated on 8 February 1954 atAlexandria Air Force Base, Louisiana.[3] The group was equipped initially withF-86F Sabres returned from combat in Korea. The group was assigned three of its old squadrons, the612th,613th and614th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons. The group was attached to the366th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Alexandria (later England AFB), and its mission was to perform advancedfighter training on high performance jet aircraft.
In 1955, the group converted toRepublic F-84F Thunderstreaks, performing its training mission until 25 September 1957 when it was inactivated and its component squadrons were assigned directly to newly activated401st Fighter-Bomber Wing.[1][a 1] At the same time the wing transitioned into theNorth American F-100 "Super Sabre" aircraft and gained a fourth tactical squadron, the615th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. Less than a year after activation, the wing and its squadrons dropped the "Fighter-Bomber" designation for "Tactical Fighter".[1] In 1959 the 401st wing became the host organization for England AFB when the834th Air Division and366th Tactical Fighter Wing inactivated.[23]
The 401st TFW Participated in numerous firepower demonstrations,tactical exercises and maneuvers in the United States and overseas, and periodically deployed its tactical squadrons to bases in Europe and the Middle East to supportNATO. With the exception of its elements deployed overseas, the wing operated fromHomestead AFB, Florida during theCuban Missile Crisis from October to December 1962.[1]
From February 1964 to November 1965, wing's squadron deployments shifted to the Far East and Southeast Asia in support of operations in that area. In November, the wing's612th Tactical Fighter Squadron moved toMisawa Air Base, Japan. The90th Tactical Fighter Squadron was attached to the wing[1] while it equipped with F-100s before moving toBien Hoa Air Base, Republic of Viet Nam. The wing then briefly returned to support operations in Europe-Middle East.[1] When the614th and615th Tactical Fighter Squadrons moved toPhu Cat Air Base andPhan Rang Air Base in the spring of 1966, the wing was left with a single operational squadron.[1] In 1966 fighter operations at England ceased and were replaced by special operations training.[23] on 27 April the wing and its remaining squadron moved to Europe.[1]
Prior to 1965, Torrejon AB hosted deployed squadrons ofBoeing B-47 Stratojet aircraft rotating fromCONUSStrategic Air Command (SAC) bases.[24] Although B-47 deployments ceased,Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker deployments to supportOperation Chrome Dome continued, but on a reduced basis, and the base was transferred toUnited States Air Forces Europe (USAFE). With the USAFE takeover of the base, the Air Force transferred the401st Tactical Fighter Wing from England Air Force Base to USAFE on a permanent basis to Torrejon to perform host functions at the base and to support the rotational fighter deployments to Italy and Turkey for NATO alerts. The 613th[a 2] moved with the wing, where it was joined by the307th Tactical Fighter Squadron[a 3] fromHomestead AFB, Florida, and the353d Tactical Fighter Squadron[a 4] fromMyrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina. The wing's401st Combat Support Group took over the support functions, personnel, and equipment of SAC's3970th Strategic Wing.[24]
In 1970 the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) upgraded to theMcDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II. In September 1973, an equipment change to the F-4C model took place, then in 1978 to the F-4D.
As a result of the withdrawal of USAF forces inSouth Vietnam, in 1972 the 307th and 353d fighter squadrons were returned to their home bases, and the 612th and 614th Tactical Fighter Squadrons (TFS) were assigned to Torrejon. Also in 1972, squadron tail codes were eliminated and "TJ" became the tail code for all 401st TFW aircraft.
In 1983 the 401st upgraded to theBlock 15 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon. The F-16s were upgraded to the Block 30 F-16C/D in July 1988.
In January 1988 Spain and the United States announced jointly that agreement had been reached in principle on a new base agreement with an initial term of eight years. The agreement essentially met conditions demanded by Spain that the USAF withdraw from a permanent presence on the base. The F-16 aircraft were to be removed from Torrejon by mid-1991. It was expected that this action would reduce the number of United States personnel in Spain by nearly one-half.
Implementation of this agreement was delayed by the 1990/91 crisis in Southwest Asia, when the 401st TFW was one of the first American fighter wings to respond. The 612th TFS deployed toIncirlik Air Base, Turkey as part of the7440th Composite Wing(Provisional)[a 5] and the 614th TFS deployed to Doha, Qatar where it became the core of theTactical Fight Wing, 401st, Provisional, which was formed from the wing's support elements. However, after the 1991 cease-fire in Iraq, plans proceeded to close Torrejon Air Base.
On 1 October 1991 the wing was redesignated the401st Fighter Wing. Initially, the USAF decided to return the wing to the US and inactivate it. However, the remaining members of NATO lobbied to keep the 401st in the Southern Region OF NATO and offered to rebase it using NATO funds. In accordance with the 1988 agreement, the USAF portion of the base was returned to the Spanish government on 21 May 1992, and the 401st Fighter Wing transferred on paper toAviano Air Base Italy without personnel or equipment. At Aviano it assumed the personnel mission and equipment of the40th Support Wing, which was inactivated.
At Aviano, the 401st had no assigned tactical units, instead it supported rotating squadrons deployed there from other groups. The tenure of the 401st at Aviano AB was brief, as a result ofHurricane Andrew destroyingHomestead AFB, Florida in August 1992. The31st Fighter Wing, formerly at Homestead was transferred to Aviano on 1 April 1994, taking over the assets of the 401st Fighter Wing, which was inactivated.
The401st Expeditionary Operations Group (401 EOG) was activated in 2001 by USAFE to perform combat support duties as part of the globalwar on terrorism atRAF Akrotiri, Cyprus performing KC-135 operations. Detachment 1 was located atTuzla Air Base, Bosnia and Herzegovina, designated as the401st Expeditionary Air Base Group.[25]
In June 2003 the group moved to Aviano again, where it became the401st Air Expeditionary Wing, replacing the16th AEW, inactivating so as to eliminate an overlap in designation and heraldry with the16th Special Operations Wing atHurlburt Field, Florida.[26]
USAFE moved the 401st toRamstein Air Base, Germany in 2008 and it once again became a group. At Ramstein, it has been used as a headquarters for provisional units deployed for humanitarian missions andexercises.
401st Fighter-Bomber Group
401st Air Expeditionary Group
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Distinguished Unit Citation | 11 January 1944 | Germany401st Bombardment Group[3] |
| Distinguished Unit Citation | 20 February 1944 | Germany401st Bombardment Group[3] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award w/Combat "V" Device | 28 August 1990 – 21 March 1991 | Tactical Fighter Wing, Provisional, 401st[30][a 6] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1963 – 31 December 1963 | 401st Tactical Fighter Wing[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1983 – 30 June 1985 | 401st Tactical Fighter Wing[30] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 April 1989 – 31 March 1991 | 401st Tactical Fighter Wing[30] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 April 1992 – 31 March 1994 | 401st Fighter Wing[30] |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Offensive, Europe | 401st Bombardment Group[3] | |
| Normandy | 401st Bombardment Group[3] | |
| Ardennes-Alsace | 401st Bombardment Group[3] | |
| Northern France | 401st Bombardment Group[3] | |
| Rhineland | 401st Bombardment Group[3] | |
| Central Europe | 401st Bombardment Group[3] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the United States Air Force Tactical Air Command (TAC) | |||||||
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