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===Operations===
===Operations===

*[[World War II]]
*[[World War II]]
*[[Operation Iraqi Freedom]]
*[[Operation Iraqi Freedom]]
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*[[Operation Unified Assistance]]
*[[Operation Unified Assistance]]


==Photo Gallery==

<center>
<gallery>
Image:F-47-526thfw-Neubiberg.jpg|F-47D's of the 526th Fighter Squadron, 1949
Image:F-86E-527thfs-Neubiberg.jpg|Republic F-84E-5-RE Thunderjet Serial 49-2133 of the 527th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 1953
Image:F-86f-527fbs-Ramstein.jpg|North American F-86F-25-NH Sabre Serial 51-13194 of the 527th Fighter-Bomber Squadron - 1954
Image:F-86d-514fbs-Ramstein.jpg|North American F-86D-45-NA Sabres of the 514th Fighter-Inteceptor Squadron - 1958. In front is Serial 52-4133
Image:Ram-86ad-f-102-54-1366-1962.jpg|Convair TF-102A-20-CO Delta Dagger Serial 54-1366 of the 526th FIS, 1962.
Image:F-4E-F-16C-86thTFW.jpg|McDonnell Douglas F-4E-55-MC Phantom 68-0517 and General Dynamics F-16C Block 25E Fighting Falcon 84-296 of the 526th TFS, flying in formation, 1985.
Image:Ram-c130.jpg|Lockheed C-130E Hercules of the 37th AS
Image:Ram-c130j.jpg|The new C-130J model aircraft (99-1431) taxies down the flightline after landing Nov. 8, 2007
</gallery>
</center>


==Unit shields==
==Unit shields==

Revision as of 18:31, 30 September 2008

86th Airlift Wing
86th Airlift Wing emblem
Active13 January 1942 — present
CountryUnited States
BranchAir Force
TypeAirlift
Part ofUnited States Air Forces in Europe
Garrison/HQRamstein Air Base
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current
commander		Colonel William Bender
Notable
commanders		Wilbur L. Creech
Robert C. Oaks
George B. Simler

The 86th Airlift Wing (86 AW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

Mission

The wing’s primary mission is to conduct airlift, airdrop and aeromedical evacuation operations flying the C-21, C-20H, C-37, C40B and C-130E aircraft. The 86th Airlift Wing commander also serves as the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) commander, leading the largest American community outside the United States..

Units

The 86th Airlift Wing is composed of four groups, 14 squadrons and one detachment. These are:

86th Operations Group (86 OG)

86th Maintenance Group (86 MXG)

  • 86 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (86 AMXS)
  • 86 Maintenance Squadron (86 MXS)
  • 86 Maintenance Operations Squadron (86 MOS)

86th Mission Support Group (86 MSG)

86th Medical Group (86 MDG)

1st Combat Communications Squadron

The 779th Expeditionary Airlift Flight was activated in January 2008 to administer a rotational deployment of two C-17 Globemaster IIIs to be based at Ramstein AB.[1] The exact reporting chain for the 779th EAF is not known.

History

Lineage

  • Constituted as 86th Bombardment Group (Light) on 13 Jan 1942
Activated on 10 Feb 1942
Redesignated: 86th Bombardment Group (Dive) in Sep 1942
Redesignated: 86th Fighter-Bomber Group in Aug 1943
Redesignated: 86th Fighter Group in May 1944
Redesignated: 86th Composite Group in May 1947
Redesignated: 86th Fighter Group in Jan 1948
  • Established as 86th Fighter Wing, and activated, on 1 Jul 1948
(86th Fighter Group assigned to wing as subordinate unit)
Redesignated: 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing on 20 Jan 1950
Redesignated: 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 9 Aug 1954
Redesignated: 86th Air Division (Defense) on 18 Nov 1960
Inactivated on 14 Nov 1968.
  • Redesignated: 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 14 Nov 1968
  • Redesignated: 86th Tactical Fighter Wing on 13 Oct 1969.
Activated on 1 Nov 1969
Redesignated: 86th Fighter Wing on 1 May 1991
Redesignated: 86th Wing on 1 Jun 1992
Redesignated: 86th Airlift Wing on 1 Oct 1994.

Assignments

Major Components

Group

  • 86 Fighter (later, 86 Fighter-Bomber; 86 Fighter-Interceptor; 86 Tactical Fighter; 86 Operations)
1 Jul 1948-8 Mar 1958; 22 Sep 1975-14 Jun 1985; 1 May 1991-.

Squadrons

Bases assigned

Aircraft operated

Operational history

World War II

The 86th conducted flight training at Key Field, Mississippi from August 1942-March 1943. The group sailed to North Africa in April and May 1943. It entered combat in early July, flying A-36s against German positions in Tunisia. Later that month, the group moved to Sicily, where it attacked German forces retreating across the island and evacuating to the southern coast of the Italian mainland. The 86th provided air support for Allied landings at Salerno in September 1943 and later that month moved from Sicily to the beachhead area. During the winter of 1943-1944, the group supported advancing Allied forces in Italy by attacking enemy lines of communication, troop concentrations, and supply areas. It also attacked rail and road targets and strafed German troop and supply columns during late spring, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation (DCU) for outstanding action against the enemy on 25 May. In July, the group moved to the island of Corsica, from which it attacked enemy-held road and rail networks in northern Italy. It supported the Allied invasion of southern France in August, escorting bombers attacking coastal defenses. In September, moved back to Italy and began attacking transportation lines in the Po Valley. In February 1945, the group moved to France and began attacking enemy targets such as rail lines, roads, supply dumps, and airdromes in southern Germany. The group again moved, this time to Germany, in April. It earned a second DUC for concentrated attacks on enemy transportation targets on 20 April. By 8 May, the group had flown a total of 3,645 combat missions.

Just after the war, the group performed occupation duty in Germany. It moved without personnel or equipment to Bolling Field in Washington, DC, in February, 1946, where it inactivated at the end of March.

Cold War

Further information: Ramstein Air Base

It was activated again in Germany later that year for occupation duty. The 86th provided air defense, primarily in West Germany, July 1948–November 1968, initially as a wing but later as an air division. During its eight years as an air division, the organization supervised the improvement of a manual radar system to a semi-automatic air weapons control system. From November 1969 to June 1971, it was charged only with tactical reconnaissance, but added tactical fighter operations later in 1971. Between September 1975 and June 1985, the wing trained and provided tactical air capability in Europe for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After activation again in Germany in May 1991, deployed to Turkey and flew fighter missions to enforce no-fly zones in northern Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina, twice attacking Iraqi surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites in northern Iraq.

Post Cold-War

The 86th gained some airlift capability in 1992 and became strictly an airlift unit in 1994, trading its F-16 fighters for C-130 transports. During the 1990s, the wing supported peacekeeping and humanitarian aid airlift operations in the Balkans, Africa, and Southwest Asia.

Operations

Unit shields

Decorations

The 86th Airlift Wing has been awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award six times.[2]

  • Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
    • 1 Jul 93 - 30 Jun 95
    • 1 Jul 96 - 30 Jun 97
    • 24 Mar 99 - 10 Jun 99
    • 1 Jan 01 - 31 Dec 01
    • 1 Jan 02 - 31 Dec 02
    • 1 Jan 07 - 31 Dec 07

References

  1. ^ Stars and Stripes, [1]
  2. ^ Air Force awards and decorations http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/library/awards/index.asp
  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
  • USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
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