96th Test Wing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1942–45, 1947–49, 1953–93, 1994–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Weapons testing and base support |
| Part of | Air Force Materiel Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Eglin Air Force Base, Florida |
| Motto | E Sempre L'oraItalian It Is Always The Hour |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Brig. Gen. Jeffrey T. Geraghty[2] |
| Notable commanders | Archie J. Old, Jr. George Lee Butler Merlyn Hans Dethlefsen |
The96th Test Wing is aUnited States Air Force unit assigned to theAir Force Test Center ofAir Force Materiel Command atEglin Air Force Base, Florida. The wing was activated at Eglin in 1994 as the96th Air Base Wing, theheadquarters for all support units on Eglin, the largest installation in the Air Force. In 2012, it absorbed the mission and resources of the46th Test Wing and added the mission of testing and evaluating weapons, navigation and guidance systems and command and control systems.
The U.S.Air Force Historical Research Agency has determined that the wing's first predecessor was the96th Bombardment Group, activated in 1942. After training in the United States, thegroup began bombing missions flyingBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. It led the first shuttle mission from Great Britain toRegensburg on 17 August 1943. The group earned twoDistinguished Unit Citations for its combat performance. AfterVE Day, the group returned to the United States and was inactivated. The group was briefly active in theAir Force Reserve from 1947 until 1949.
The96th Bombardment Wing was activated in 1953 atAltus Air Force Base, Oklahoma and receivedBoeing B-47 Stratojet bombers the following year as a component ofStrategic Air Command's deterrent force. In 1957 the wing moved toDyess Air Force Base, Texas where it converted to theBoeing B-52 Stratofortress in 1963 and theRockwell B-1 Lancer in 1985. The wing also operatedair refueling aircraft, and during the early 1960s was assigned a squadron ofintercontinental ballistic missiles. In 1984, the World War II group was consolidated with thewing. The wing was inactivated in 1993 and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the7th Bomb Wing, which moved on paper to Dyess whenCarswell Air Force Base became a reserve installation.
The 96th Test Wing performs developmental test and evaluation for Air Force weapons while also providing support for all other units onEglin Air Force Base as the installation host wing. Eglin is theDepartment of Defense's largest Air Force installation. Supported units include ninewings and wing equivalents, 11 operating locations and detachments and 35+ associate units.[3]
One of three Air Force combat-coded control and reporting centers is located at the base.
The group was first activated in July 1942 atSalt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah as the 96th Bombardment Group, with the337th,338th,339th and413th Bombardment Squadrons[note 5] assigned as its original components.[6][7][8][9] After moving toGowen Field, Idaho the group received its initialcadre. The group trained at various bases in the northwestern United States.[10]
In November 1942 the group moved toPocatello Army Air Base, Idaho, where it acted as anOperational Training Unit (OTU). OTUs were oversized parent units that provided cadres to form "satellite groups."[10][11] In early 1943, the 96th relocated toPyote Army Air Base, Texas, where it resumed its combat training. In April 1943 the group began its overseas movement. The air echelon ferried its bombers via theNorth Atlantic Ferry Route, while the ground echelon proceeded to the New York Port of Embarkation and sailed on theRMS Queen Elizabeth forGreenock, Scotland.[12]
The group arrived atRAF Grafton Underwood England in May 1943, for duty withEighth Air Force. The group was assigned to the45th Combat Bombardment Wing of the3d Bombardment Division. The group commenced combat operations on 14 May with an attack onKortrijk (Courtrai), after an aborted mission the previous day.[13] The 96th moved east at the end of May toRAF Andrews Field. The 96th appears to have only carried out one mission while based at Andrews. On 29 May 1943 they took part in a raid on Rennes naval storage depot from which one B-17 failed to return.[citation needed] However, Eighth Air Force was not pleased with the initial performance of theMartin B-26 Marauder units assigned to it and decided to move them from their bases in northSuffolk to stations nearer the continent. As the first step in this move, the386th Bombardment Group left its base atRAF Snetterton Heath forRAF Boxted. The 96th took the 386th's place at Snetterton Heath the following day, leaving its previous base available for the322d Bombardment Group.[14][15]
As the most conveniently reached station from3d Air Division Headquarters at Elveden Hall, Snetterton Heath units often led to major operations carrying commanding generals.[citation needed] GeneralCurtis LeMay led theRegensburg shuttle mission to North Africa flying out of this base, and the group received aDistinguished Unit Citation for withstanding severe assaults by enemy fighters.[12] The 96th also led the 3d Division on theSchweinfurt mission of 14 October 1943.[citation needed] In addition, the 96th attackedshipyards, harbors, railway yards, aerodromes,oil refineries, aircraft factories, and other industrial targets in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.[10]
The 96th received another Distinguished Unit Citation for leading the 45th Wing a great distance through heavy clouds and intenseflak to raid important aircraft component factories in Poland on 9 April 1944. Other significant targets attacked by the group includedairfields atBordeaux andAugsburg;marshalling yards atKiel,Hamm,Brunswick, andGdynia; aircraft factories atChemnitz,Hanover, andDiósgyőr; oil refineries atMerseburg andBrüx, and chemical works inWiesbaden,Ludwigshafen, andNeunkirchen.[10]
In addition to its strategic operations, the 96th was occasionally diverted to support ground forces. These missions included bombing coastal defenses, railway bridges, gun emplacements, and field batteries in the battle area prior to and duringD-Day in June 1944. It attacked enemy positions to support the breakthrough atSaint-Lô in July 1944 and aided the campaign in France in August by striking roads and road junctions and by dropping supplies to theMaquis. In the early months of 1945, the group struck lines of communications supplying German armies on the western front.[10]
AfterV-E Day, the 96th flew food to theNetherlands and transported redeploying personnel to French Morocco, Northern Ireland, France, and Germany.[10] the group was programmed to move to Germany foroccupation duty. However, plans were revised in September 1945.[12] In November 1945 its aircraft were flown back to the United States or transferred to other units. Two of its squadrons were inactivated in late November[6][8] and the others in mid-December.[7][9] The groupheadquarters' remaining personnel left Snetterton Heath, sailing on theUSS Lake Champlain on 12 December and arriving atCamp Kilmer New Jersey on 20 December 1945, where it was inactivated the following day.[10][12]
The 96th Bombardment Group was activated as a reserve unit underAir Defense Command (ADC) on 29 May 1947 atGunter Field, Alabama.[1] It was initially assigned three of its World War II units, the 337th Bombardment Squadron, located at Gunter, and the 338th and 339th Bombardment Squadrons, stationed atHawkins Field in Mississippi.[6][7][8] In July, it added three additional squadrons, the 413th Bombardment Squadron atKeesler Air Force Base in Mississippi, the546th Bombardment Squadron atLovell Field in Tennessee, and the547th Bombardment Squadron atSmith Reynolds Airport in North Carolina.[9][16][17] In October, however, the two squadrons at Jackson were transferred to the384th Bombardment Group.[7][8]
At Gunter, the group conducted routine training activities under the supervision of the 476th AAF Base Unit (later the 2586th Air Force Reserve Training Center). PresidentTruman's reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force,[18] and the 96th Group and 2586th Center were inactivated in July 1949 and not replaced as flying operations at Gunter ceased.[1][19]
The 96th Bombardment Wing was activated in November 1953 atAltus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Wing headquarters and most of the wing components were not manned until March 1954; those components were controlled by the 96th Air Base Group, whose commander served additional duty as the 96th's wing commander.[1][20] The wing soon receivedBoeing KC-97 Stratofreighters and began air refueling operations in March 1954.[1]
The wing began training withBoeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds, in April 1955 in support of SAC's global commitments. It deployed toAndersen Air Force BaseGuam from January through April 1957. The wing joined the341st Bombardment Wing atDyess Air Force Base, Texas on 8 September 1957.[1]
The4th Strategic Support Squadron, a strategic airlift squadron flyingDouglas C-124 Globemaster IIs, moved to Dyess fromEllsworth Air Force Base in 1957.[21] It was assigned to the wing from September 1959 until it was inactivated in March 1961. The wing addedintercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear strike force when the578th Strategic Missile Squadron, withConvair SM-65 Atlas missiles joined the wing in July 1961. The first Atlas missile went on alert in April 1962. The wing's Atlases were phased out in March 1965.[1]
Soon afterdetection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, on 22 October 1962, SAC's B-47s were dispersed.[22] Dispersing bombers carried nuclear weapons in ferrying configuration.[23] On 24 October SAC went toDEFCON 2, placing all its combat aircraft on alert.[24] Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields withAir Force Reserve orAir National Guard units. The B-47s were configured for execution of the Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersal. On 15 November, 1/6 of the dispersed B-47s were recalled to their home bases.[25] On 21 November SAC relaxed its alert posture to DEFCON 3. its dispersed B-47s and their supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned to normal alert posture.[26]
By the early 1960s, the B-47 was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. In June 1961, the 341st Bombardment Wing had been inactivated and the 96th became the single Stratojet wing at Dyess.[27] In March 1963, two of the wing's bomber squadrons were inactivated, and by December 1963, its remaining squadron had converted to theBoeing B-52 Stratofortress. The 96th received B-52Cs from the 99th Bomb Wing fromWalker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico.[citation needed] In 1970 and again 1972–1973, most wing personnel and all of its aircraft andcrews deployed to the Pacific in support of the War in Vietnam.[1] During most of this time, the 96BW also supportedOperation Chrome Dome missions over the North Pole in theCold War.[citation needed]
From 1980, the wing's917th Air Refueling Squadron'sBoeing KC-135A Stratotanker aircraft regularly deployed to Europe, Alaska, and the Pacific to support SAC tanker task force requirements.[1]
The 337th Bombardment Squadron became the first squadron to operate theRockwell B-1B Lancer, after the arrival of the first aircraft in June 1985. In October 1986, B-1Bs assumed SAC Cold War alert duties for the first time.[1] In addition, the 338th Combat Crew Training Squadron received B-1Bs in June 1992.[citation needed]
917th Squadron tankers provided refueling support to units involved inOperation Just Cause, the December 1989 incursion that replacedManuel Noriega as ruler of Panama. The following August, they ferried personnel and equipment toAndersen Air Force Base, Guam for further movement to Southwest Asia.[1] In December 1990 all remaining tanker aircraft and crews, except those on alert duty, were sent toIncirlik Air Base, Turkey in support ofOperation Desert Storm.[citation needed]
_after_removing_it_from_the_bomb_bay_of_a_B-1B_bomber_aircraft_DF-ST-88-03499.jpg)
On 1 September 1991, the wing was redesignated as the96th Wing and implemented the objective wing concept. It was relieved from assignment to SAC and assigned toAir Combat Command on 1 June 1992.[1] Also on 1 June 1992, the 917th Squadron acquired KC-135Qs in conjunction with the drawdown of tanker operations atBeale Air Force Base, California.[citation needed]
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When tanker squadrons were reassigned toAir Mobility Command, the 917th was reassigned to the43d Operations Group, headquartered atMalmstrom Air Force Base, Montana on 30 September 1993.[28]
On 1 October 1993 the 96th Wing inactivated,[1] replaced by the7th Wing, which moved without personnel or equipment due to the1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission transfer ofCarswell Air Force Base, Texas to the U.S. Navy .[29] The B-1Bs of the 337th Squadron were reassigned to the 7th Wing, and the 337th absorbed the B-1s of the inactivating 338th Crew Training Squadron as part of the new wing.[citation needed]
The96th Air Base Wing stood up as a non-flying organization on 15 March 1994. It assumed the mission of supporting the Air Armament Center and associate units at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.[1]
The wing became the 96th Test Wing, assuming the46th Test Wing mission, as part of the 2012 Air Force Materiel Command Restructuring. It is the test and evaluation unit for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, command and control systems andAir Force Special Operations Command systems.[30]
The wing performs developmental test and evaluation for a wide variety of customers including: Air Force Systems Program Offices, theAir Force Research Laboratory, Materiel Command's logistics and product centers; major commands; otherDepartment of Defense services and U.S. government agencies (Department of Transportation, NASA, etc.); foreign military sales; and private industry.[citation needed][31]
As of 18 July 2012, the46th Test Group at Holloman AFB was 'reflagged' as the96th Test Group.[32] It operated test facilities for high speed sled track testing, navigation and guidance system testing, radar signature measurements, weapon systems flight testing, and Air Force liaison for all AF programs tested atWhite Sands Missile Range. The group's Operating Location AA atKirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico was responsible fordirected energy andhigh energy laser testing and Operating Location AC atWright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and performedlanding gear and aircraftsurvivability tests.[33] The Air Force Test Center began a reorganization in 2015 to move some units within the AFTC from the 96th Test Wing over to theArnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC).[34] The largest change was the transfer of the 96th Test Group to the AEDC and its redesignation as the704th Test Group, effective 1 December 2016.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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