| 466th Air Expeditionary Group | |
|---|---|
 A 466thEOD specialist in a joint operation withAfghan Border Police | |
| Active | 1942–1945; 2009–unknown; 2012–unknown |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Manage deployed airmen |
| Size | Approximately 400 airmen |
| Part of | 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force |
| Garrison/HQ | Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar |
| Motto | Airmen in Action |
| Colors | Ultramarine Blue, Air Force Yellow, Silver Gray |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Brian D. Burns |
| Insignia | |
| 466th Air Expeditionary Group emblem |  |
| 466th Bombardment Group emblem |  |
The466th Air Expeditionary Group of theUnited States Air Force was a personnel administration group for individual and group Air Force augmentees in Afghanistan. This included "joint expeditionary tasking" airmen, airmen whose units are assigned to a headquarters other than the one fromUnited States Air Force during their deployment. It also includesindividual augmentees assigned to joint organizations. The group was headquartered atAl Udeid Air Base,Qatar since 2014, when it moved from theTransit Center at Manas. Thegroup provides a lifeline, referred to as a "Blue Line' back to the Air Force. Two squadrons that were part of the group, the 466th and966th Air Expeditionary Squadrons were located in Afghanistan in early 2014.[1]
The 466th's mission was formerly performed by the now inactive 755th Air Expeditionary Group.[citation needed]
The group administered USAF airmen that were "loaned out" through tactical control to non-Air Force units executing joint missions. It was responsible for over 1,300 airmen at 48 different locations in Afghanistan so that none of those Airmen become isolated from the Air Force. It processed airmen arriving in theatre to ensure they were properly briefed and equipped for the mission they were to perform.[1]
Thegroup was constituted as the466th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and activated on 1 August 1943 atAlamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico with the784th,785th,786th and787th Bombardment Squadrons assigned.[2][3][4][5] Personnel started training withConsolidated B-24 Liberators atKearns Army Air Field in Utah at the end of August 1943, remaining there until late November when the unit retr\urned to Alamogordo. In February 1944 they moved toTopeka Army Air Field Kansas for a week before beginning the trip overseas to England.[2]
The ground echelon sailed from New York on theRMS Queen Mary on 28 February 1944. The air echelon took the southern ferry route and arrived atRAF Attlebridge England, in March 1944.[2] At Attlebridge the group became part ofEighth Air Force. The 466th was assigned to the96th Combat Bombardment Wing. Their group tail code was "Circle-L". Later their tail marking was a white fess on red vertical tailplane.
The 466th began operations on 22 March 1944 by participating in a daylight raid onBerlin. The group attacked targets includingmarshalling yards atLiège andSaarbrücken,airfields atSt Trond andChartres, a repair and assembly plant atReims, factories atBrunswick, oil refineries atBohlen, aircraft plants atKempten, mineral works atHamburg, a synthetic oil plant at Misburg, a fuel depot atDülmen, and aircraft engine works atEisenach.
Other operations included attackingpillboxes along the coast ofNormandy onD-Day, 6 June 1944, and afterwards strikinginterdiction targets behind the beachhead. It bombed enemy positions atSaint-Lô duringOperation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough in July 1944. It hauled oil and gasoline to Allied forces advancing across France in September. It attacked German communications and transportation during theBattle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945 and bombed the airfield atNordhorn in support ofOperation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine on 24 March 1945.
The 466th flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945, striking a transformer station atTraunstein. During combat operations, the 785th Bomb Squadron flew 55 consecutive missions without loss. The group flew 232 combat missions with 5,762 sorties dropping 12,914 tons of bombs. They lost 47 aircraft in combat.
The group redeployed to the United States during June and July 1945. The air echelon departed Attlebridge in mid-June 1945. The ground units sailed from Greenock on the RMSQueen Mary on 6 June 1945. They arrived in New York on 11 July 1945. The group was then established atSioux Falls Army Air Field South Dakota in July and was redesignated the 466th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy in August 1945 and was equipped withBoeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft. The group was transferred to Pueblo, Colorado, and then later toDavis–Monthan Field, Arizona for Superfortress training and programmed for deployment to thePacific Theater. With the end of the war the Group was inactivated on 17 October 1945.[2]
The group was converted to provisional status as the466th Air Expeditionary Group in 2009. In May 2009, the group was activated as the mission being performed by the 466th Air Expeditionary Squadron was expanding. The 466th Squadron was assigned to the group and three additional squadrons were activated to support the growing number of airmen supportingProvincial Reconstruction Teams, embedded training teams and brigade support teams. Each of the four squadrons was responsible for airmen within one of the International Security Assistance Force’s regional commands. The 466th Squadron atKandahar Airfield servedTrain Advise Assist Command - South andTrain Advise Assist Command - West, the 766th Squadron coveredTrain Advise Assist Command - East, the 866thTrain Advise Assist Command - Capital, while the 966th was responsible forTrain Advise Assist Command - North.[6]
In 2011, as operations in Afghanistan diminished, the group's 766th Air Expeditionary Squadron, which had been responsible for airmen in Train Advise Assist Command – East, was inactivated and the 966th Squadron added this responsibility to its existing oversight in Train Advise Assist Command – North.[7]
The 466th AEG was composed of airmen from more than 56 Air Force Specialty Codes including security forces, explosive ordnance disposal, civil engineering, contracting, communications, medical, intelligence, legal and logistics support.
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