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126th Operations Group
The 126th Operations Group is an air refuelling group of the United States Air Force and the Illinois Air National Guard. While its primary task is to refuel aircraft in flight, it can transport, airlift, supplies and personnel. The unit is also tasked with supporting the nuclear strike missions of the Single Integrated Operational Plan. During peacetime, the group receives direction through the adjutant general of Illinois, the governor of Illinois and the National Guard Bureau. Upon federal mobilization, the wing is assigned to Air Mobility Command and the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force. History World War II Training in the United States The group (military aviation unit), group was activated in September 1942 at MacDill Field, as the 344th Bombardment Group, with the 494th Bombardment Squadron, 494th, 495th Bombardment Squadron, 495th, 496th Bombardment Squadron, 496th and 497th Bombardment Squadrons assigned. In December, the group moved to nearby Drane Field, Florid ...
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Illinois Air National Guard HQ Patch
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its south. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the List of U.S. states and territories by GDP, fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), the List of U.S. states and territories by population, sixth-largest population, and the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 25th-most land area. Its capital city is Springfield, Illinois, Springfield in the center of the state, and the state's largest city is Chicago in the northeast. Present-day Illinois was inhabited by Indigenous peoples of the Americas#History, Indigenous cultures for thousands of years. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and Illinois River, Illinois rivers in the 17th century Illinois Country, as part of their sprawling colony of ...
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Proper (heraldry)
Tinctures are the colours, metals, and furs used in heraldry. Nine tinctures are in common use: two metals, '' or'' (gold or yellow) and '' argent'' (silver or white); the colours '' gules'' (red), '' azure'' (blue), '' vert'' (green), '' sable'' (black), and '' purpure'' (purple); and the furs '' ermine'', which represents the winter fur of a stoat, and '' vair'', which represents the fur of a red squirrel. The use of other tinctures varies depending on the time period and heraldic tradition in question. Where the tinctures are not depicted in full colour, they may be represented using one of several systems of hatching, in which each tincture is assigned a distinct pattern, or tricking, in which each tincture is designated by a letter or abbreviation. Historically, particularly between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the tinctures were sometimes associated with the planets, precious stones, virtues, and elements. However, in contemporary heraldry they are not assi ...
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497th Bombardment Squadron
The 497th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, which was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Group. The squadron was activated in September 1942, and until July 1943 served as a Replacement Training Unit. It then began training for combat operations, deploying to the European Theater of Operations in January 1944. It participated in combat, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for air support of ground troops during Operation Cobra. After V-E Day, the squadron became part of the occupation forces until it was inactivated on 30 December 1945. History Training in the United States The squadron was activated in September 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the four squadrons of the 344th Bombardment Group. In December, the group moved to nearby Drane Field, Florida. At Drane, the unit served as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for Martin B-26 Marauders.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 222-223 RTUs were oversized units that trained individua ...
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496th Bombardment Squadron
The 496th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, which was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Group, The squadron was activated in September 1942, and until July 1943 served as a Replacement Training Unit. It then began training for combat operations, deploying to the European Theater of Operations in January 1944. It participated in combat, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for air support of ground troops during Operation Cobra. After V-E Day, the squadron became part of the occupation forces until it was inactivated on 31 March 1946. History Training in the United States The squadron was activated in September 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the four squadrons of the 344th Bombardment Group. In December, the group moved to nearby Drane Field, Florida. At Drane, the unit served as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for Martin B-26 Marauders.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 222-223 RTUs were oversized units that trained individual pil ...
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495th Bombardment Squadron
The 495th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, which was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Group, The squadron was activated in September 1942, and until July 1943 served as a Replacement Training Unit. It then began training for combat operations, deploying to the European Theater of Operations in January 1944. It participated in combat, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for air support of ground troops during Operation Cobra. After V-E Day, the squadron became part of the occupation forces until it was inactivated on 31 March 1946. History Training in the United States The squadron was activated in September 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the four squadrons of the 344th Bombardment Group. In December, the group moved to nearby Drane Field, Florida. At Drane, the unit served as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for Martin B-26 Marauders.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 222-223 RTUs were oversized units that trained indi ...
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494th Bombardment Squadron
The 494th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, which was assigned to the 344th Bombardment Group, The squadron was activated in September 1942, and until July 1943 served as a Replacement Training Unit. It then began training for combat operations, deploying to the European Theater of Operations in January 1944. It participated in combat, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for air support of ground troops during Operation Cobra. After V-E Day, the squadron became part of the occupation forces until it was inactivated on 31 March 1946. History Training in the United States The squadron was activated in September 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida as one of the original squadrons of the 344th Bombardment Group. In December, the group moved to nearby Drane Field, Florida. The unit served as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for Martin B-26 Marauders. RTUs were oversized units that trained individual pilots or aircrews prior to their deployment ...
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MacDill Field
MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assigned to the Eighteenth Air Force of the Air Mobility Command. The 6 ARW is commanded by Colonel Edward Szczepanik. The Wing Command Chief is Chief Master Sergeant Raun Howell. MacDill Air Force Base, located in South Tampa, was constructed as MacDill Field, a U.S. Army Air Corps, later U.S. Army Air Forces, installation just prior to World War II. With the establishment of the U.S. Air Force as an independent service in September 1947, it became MacDill Air Force Base. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation for B-47 Stratojet bombers. In the early 1960s, it transitioned to a Tactical Air Command (TAC) installation, briefly operating the F-84 Thunderstreak jet fighter before transitioning to the F-4 P ...
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Group (military Aviation Unit)
A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches of a national defence force. Air groups vary considerably in size and status, but generally take two forms: * A unit of two to four squadrons, commanded by a lieutenant colonel, colonel, commander, naval captain or an equivalent rank. The United States Air Force (USAF), ''groupes'' of the French ''Armée de l'air'', ''gruppen'' of the German ''Luftwaffe'', United States Marine Corps Aviation, British Fleet Air Arm and some other naval air services usually follow this pattern. * A larger formation, often comprising more than 10 squadrons, commanded by a major general, brigadier general, commodore, rear admiral, air commodore or air vice-marshal. The air forces of many Commonwealth countries, such as the British Royal Air Force (RAF) ...
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15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force
The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force and Twelfth Air Force into a new numbered air force responsible for generating and presenting Air Combat Command's conventional forces. Established on 1 November 1943, Fifteenth AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force deployed to the European Theater of World War II, bombing Europe from bases in southern Italy and engaging in air-to-air fighter combat against enemy aircraft. During the Cold War, 15 AF was one of three Numbered Air Forces of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC), commanding USAF strategic bombers and missiles on a global scale. Elements of 15th Air Force engaged in combat operations during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. 15 AF was redesignated Fifteenth Exp ...
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Air Mobility Command
The Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, near Mascoutah, Illinois. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992 and was formed from elements of the inactivated Military Airlift Command (MAC) and Strategic Air Command (SAC). AMC melded MAC's worldwide airlift system of primarily C-5 Galaxy, C-141 Starlifter (later replaced by Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, C-17 Globemaster III beginning in 1995), and C-130 Hercules airlift aircraft with SAC's tanker force of KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extender aerial refueling aircraft, the latter air refueling aircraft having been freed from their strategic nuclear strike commitment to SAC's B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer bomber fleet by the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 2016, the Air Force Histori ...
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National Guard Bureau
The National Guard Bureau (NGB) is the federal agency responsible for the administration of the National Guard established by the United States Congress as a joint bureau of the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. It was created by the Militia Act of 1903. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, elevated the National Guard to a joint function of the Department of Defense. The 2007 NDAA, from the previous year, elevated the chief of the National Guard Bureau from a lieutenant general to a four-star general. Militia Act of 1903 United States Secretary of War Elihu Root militated for reform of the militia, in annual reports of 1901 of 1903 and in public letters. He argued that state militias should be more like the Army in discipline, uniforms, equipment, and training, to mitigate problems that arose in the U.S. Civil War and the recent Spanish–American War of 1898. The Militia Act of 1792 was posited to be obsolete. The resultin ...
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