The 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron is part of the

595th Command and Control Group The 595th Command and Control Group is an active unit of the United States Air Force. It is organized under Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), and its operations are centered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. It was activated in a cerem ...

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Ai ...

, Nebraska. It operates the

Boeing E-4 The Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP), the current "Nightwatch" aircraft, is a strategic command and control military aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). The E-4 series are specially modified from the Boeing ...

aircraft conducting airborne

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or e ...

missions. The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating to 25 September 1917, when it was organized at

Fort Omaha Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha ...

, Nebraska. It served overseas in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The squadron saw combat during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and became part of the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile c ...

during the Cold War.

History

World War and Balloon School

The first predecessor of the squadron was organized at

Nebraska in September 1917 as Company A, 2d Balloon Squadron. Two months later it departed for overseas service on the

Western Front (World War I) The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of impor ...

, arriving in France in January 1918. It entered combat as an observation unit with the

French Eighth Army The Eighth Army (french: VIIIe Armée) was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. During World War I, there were two 8th armies. The first was the former ''Détachement d'armée de Belgique'' (Army Detachment in Bel ...

on 19 April 1918, operating

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War ...

s over the front lines. Once forces of the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alo ...

, had built up, it continued to operate as the 1st Balloon Company with the American I Corps until 17 October 1918. Following the end of the war, it served with

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

as part of the

occupation forces Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

until April 1919.

Interwar years

In the spring of 1919, the squadron returned to the United States and was stationed at Ross Field, California as part of the Air Service Balloon School. In June 1922, the Balloon School moved to Scott Field, Illinois and Ross Field was closed as a military installation. The squadron was inactivated with the closure of Ross. The second predecessor of the squadron, also designated the 1st Balloon Company, was activated at Scott in May 1929. After a brief period of training with the

21st Airship Group The 21st Airship Group was a unit of the United States Army Air Corps. It was last assigned to the 3d Wing at Scott Field, Illinois. It was originally activated under a different name in 1921, and disbanded on 27 May 1939. A predecessor of th ...

at Scott, it moved to

Post Field Henry Post Army Airfield is a military use airport located at Fort Sill in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States. This military airport is owned by United States Army. Established as Post Field in 1917, it was one of thirty-two Air Service t ...

, located on

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landma ...

, Oklahoma, where it was assigned to the

Field Artillery School The United States Army Field Artillery School (USAFAS) trains Field Artillery Soldiers and Marines in tactics, techniques, and procedures for the employment of fire support systems in support of the maneuver commander. The school further develop ...

. It trained and conducted exercises with the school. At the beginning of

, it operated

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barr ...

s, but that mission was assigned to the

coast artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ca ...

and the squadron was disbanded two months after the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ...

World War II

The third predecessor of the squadron was activated in April 1942 at

Long Beach Army Air Base Long Beach Airport is a public airport three miles northeast of downtown Long Beach, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is also called Daugherty Field, named after local aviator Earl Daugherty. The airport was an operating base ...

as the 1st Air Corps Ferrying Squadron, the location of a

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated a ...

manufacturing plant. It ferried aircraft from the Douglas factory and other factories in the Western Procurement District to overseas departure points. However, the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible

tables of organization A table of organization and equipment (TOE or TO&E) is the specified organization, staffing, and equipment of units. Also used in acronyms as 'T/O' and 'T/E'. It also provides information on the mission and capabilities of a unit as well as the un ...

were not well adapted to the training and logistics support mission. Accordingly it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. In March 1944,

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

units assigned to the

6th Ferrying Group The 6th Ferrying Group was a World War II unit of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). It was activated in February 1942 as the California Sector, Ferrying Command in February 1942, but soon changed its name. It ferried aircraft manufacture ...

were combined into the 556th AAF Base Unit.

Airborne command and control

On 1 June 1962,

Headquarters Command Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

organized the 1000th Airborne Command Control Squadron at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

to operate the

National Emergency Airborne Command Post The Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP), the current "Nightwatch" aircraft, is a strategic command and control military aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). The E-4 series are specially modified from the Boeing ...

and assigned it to the 1001st Air Base Wing. By 1965, the squadron was operating

Boeing EC-135 The Boeing EC-135 is a retired family of command and control aircraft derived from the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter. During the Cold War, the EC-135 was best known for being modified to perform the Looking Glass mission where one EC-135 was alwa ...

aircraft to support this mission. On 1 July 1969, the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron was activated and assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 1000th Squadron.Although the 1st Squadron was a new organization, it was also entitled to retain the honors (but not the history or lineage) of the 1000th. This includes an

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force d ...

earned for the period 1 January 1967 – 31 December 1968. AF Pamphlet 900-2, p. 484 In 1974, the squadron began to replace its EC-135s with more capable Boeing E-4s, completing the upgrade the following year. In November 1975, the squadron was reassigned from Andrews' 1st Composite Wing to the

55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing The 55th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. The wing is primarily stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, but maintains one of its groups and associated squadrons at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ari ...

, Nebraska. On 1 July 1977, it moved to joined the 55th Wing at OffuttOffutt Air Force Base occupies much of the same ground as Fort Omaha did in 1917, when the 2d Balloon Squadron was organized there. On 1 October 2016, the unit was reassigned to the newly activated

under the control of

Air Force Global Strike Command Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC provides combat-ready forces to conduct strategic nuclear deterrence and global stri ...

Lineage

; 1st Airship Company * Organized as Company A, 2d Balloon Squadron on 25 September 1917 : Redesignated 1st Balloon Company on 19 June 1918 : Inactivated on 25 July 1922 * Redesignated 1st Airship Company on 24 March 1923 : Consolidated with the 1st Balloon Company as the 1st Balloon Company on 31 July 1929 ; 1st Balloon Squadron * Constituted as the 1st Balloon Company on 18 October 1927 : Activated on 17 May 1929 : Consolidated with the 1st Airship Company on 31 July 1929 : Redesignated 1st Balloon Squadron on 1 October 1933 : Disbanded on 6 Feb 1942 : Reconstituted and consolidated with the 1st Ferrying Squadron and the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron as the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron on 19 September 1985 ; 1st Ferrying Squadron * Constituted as the 1st Air Corps Ferrying Squadron on 18 February 1942 : Activated on 15 April 1942 : Redesignated 1st Ferrying Squadron on 12 May 1943 : Disbanded on 1 April 1944 : Reconstituted and consolidated with the 1st Balloon Squadron and the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron as the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron on 19 September 1985 ; 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron * Constituted as the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron on 9 May 1969 : Activated on 1 July 1969 : Consolidated with the 1st Balloon Squadron and the 1st Ferrying Squadron on 19 September 1985

Assignments

* Unknown, 25 September 1917 *

Balloon Wing, I Army Corps A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light s ...

, July 1918 *

Balloon Group, I Army Corps A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light s ...

, 8 October 1918 *

Balloon Group, III Army Corps A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light s ...

, c. 20 November 1918 – 16 April 1919 * Balloon School, Ross Field, California (later, Air Service Balloon Observers School), July 1919 *

Ninth Corps Area A Corps area was a geographically-based organizational structure (military district) of the United States Army used to accomplish administrative, training and tactical tasks from 1920 to 1942. Each corps area included divisions of the Regular Army ...

, 30 June–25 July 1922 *

Sixth Corps Area Sixth Corps Area was a Corps area, effectively a military district, of the United States Army from 1921 to the 1940s. The headquarters was established at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, in August 1920, from portions of the former Central Department, but t ...

, 17 May 1929 *

, June 1929 *

III Air Support Command The III Tactical Air Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. It was disbanded on 24 October 1945. The command was established in 1941 as the 3 ...

(attached to Field Artillery School), 1 September 1941 – 6 February 1942 * California Sector, Air Corps Ferrying CommandThe Sector was redesignated on 25 April 1942. (later

), 15 April 1942 – 1 April 1944 * 1st Composite Wing, 1 July 1969 * 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 1 November 1975 *

55th Operations Group The 55th Operations Group (55 OG) is a component of the 55th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Offut Air Force Base, Nebraska. During World War II the group was an Eighth Air Force fi ...

, 1 September 1991 *

, 1 October 2016

Stations

* Fort Omaha, Nebraska, 25 September 1917 *

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located withi ...

, 30 November–7 December 1917 * Camp de Souge, Gironde, France, 3 January 1918 *

Brouville Brouville () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department o ...

, France, 15 April 1918 * Les Ecoliers (near

Montreuil-aux-Lions Montreuil-aux-Lions is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population Mayors * Charles Bauchot (1983-1989) * Jacques Delammare (1989-2001) * Yves Fouquet (2001-2008) * Olivier Devron (2008-) See also *C ...

), France, 19 July 1918 * Epaux-Bezu, France, 22 July 1918 * Épieds, France, 25 July 1918 * Artois Ferme (near Courpoil), France, 28 July 1918 * Mareuil-en-Dole, France, 5 August 1918 *

Courcelles-sur-Vesle Courcelles-sur-Vesle (, literally ''Courcelles on Vesle'') is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 Communes of ...

, France, 13 August 1918 * Tremblecourt, France, 23 August 1918 * La Queue de Theinard (near Domevre-en-Haye), France, 29 August 1918 * Bois de Brule (near Neuvilly-en-Argonne), France, 27 September 1918 *

Varennes-en-Argonne Varennes-en-Argonne (, literally ''Varennes in Argonne'') or simply Varennes (German: Wöringen) is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 639. Geography Varennes-en-A ...

, France, 2 October 1918 * Chatel-Chehery, France, 11 October 1918 * Auzeville-en-Argonne, France, 17 October 1918 *

Mercy-le-Bas Mercy-le-Bas () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overse ...

, France, 21 November 1918 * Euren, Germany, 8 December 1918 *

Niederburg Niederburg is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrü ...

(near Koblenz), Germany, 19 December 1918 *

Colombey-les-Belles Colombey-les-Belles () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.< ...

, France, 17 April 1919 *

St Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

, France, c. 5 May 1919–c. late May 1919 *

Camp Lee Fort Lee, in Prince George County, Virginia, United States, is a United States Army post and headquarters of the United States Army Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM)/ Sustainment Center of Excellence (SCoE), the U.S. Army Quartermaster Scho ...

, Virginia, c. 6 June 1919 * Ross Field, California, July 1919 – 25 July 1922 * Scott Field, Illinois, 17 May 1929 * Post Field, Oklahoma, 24 June 1929 – 6 February 1942 * Long Beach Army Air Base, California, 15 April 1942 – 1 April 1944 * Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, 1 July 1969 * Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, 1 July 1977 – present

Aircraft and Balloons

* Type R Observation Balloon, 1918-1919, 1919-1922 * A-6 Spherical Balloon, 1929-1942 * A-7 Spherical Balloon, 1929-1942 * C-3 Observation Balloon, 1929-c. 1939 * C-6 Observation Balloon, 1937, 1938-c. 1942 * D-2 Barrage Balloon, 1939 * D-3 Barrage Balloon, 1940-1942 * D-4 Barrage Balloon, 1940-1942 * D-5, Barrage Balloon, 1940-1942 * D-6 Barrage Balloon, 1940-1942 * Ferried various aircraft, 1942-1944 * Boeing EC-135J, 1969-1975 * Boeing E-4, 1974 – Present

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{US Air Force navbox Military units and formations in Nebraska

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

United States nuclear command and control Command and control squadrons of the United States Air Force