The 270th Engineering Installation Squadron (270th EIS) is a cyberspace engineering & installation unit located at Horsham Air Guard Station,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

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History

The 270th Engineering Installation Squadron was originally activated at

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the 603rd Signal Light Construction Company on 12 April 1949. Federal recognition of the unit was extended on 17 May 1949 when the unit's manpower consisted of 2 officers and 11 Airmen. By 1 Jan. 1951, the unit reached strength of 5 officers and 86 Airmen. When the

111th Bombardment Group The 111th Attack Wing (111 ATKW) is a unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, headquartered at Biddle Air National Guard Base in Horsham, Pennsylvania. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air ...

, the unit's

Pennsylvania Air National Guard The Pennsylvania Air National Guard (PA ANG) is the aerial militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States of America. It is, along with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, an element of the Pennsylvania National Guard. As commonw ...

host, was mobilized on 10 April 1951 for the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

, the 603rd was left as the only Air Guard unit in Philadelphia. Due to the large amount of military air traffic in the area, one officer and six Airmen were placed on permanent duty with a mission to refuel and service military aircraft; maintain operational service and logging record on a 24-hour, 7-day per week basis. The wire construction mission continued with the unit winning several awards for military professionalism. On 1 Oct. 1952 the unit was reorganized and designated as the 270th Communications Squadron, Operations. The mission was changed from installation to operation of base communications equipment facilities to include telephone and teletype equipment. During annual training periods, unit members were integrated with active-duty Air Force communications units. When the

returned to

from Spokane, Washington, the 270th was relocated to the First Regiment Armory of the National Guard at 335 – 347 North Broad and Callowhill Streets in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. The unit then returned to the

and occupied temporary hangars where

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, now

Macquarie Infrastructure Company Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation (MIC) owns, operates and invests in a diversified group of infrastructure businesses. Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation's business consists of the largest network of fixed-base operations in the United St ...

operates a

Fixed-Base Operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instructio ...

Facility. In October 1960 the unit was reorganized and designated the 270th Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency (GEEIA) Squadron, and returned to the fixed communications installation mission. The gaining command at the time was the

Air Materiel Command Air Materiel Command (AMC) was a United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force command. Its headquarters was located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In 1961, the command was redesignated the Air Force Logistics Command w ...

. They were then relocated to

Fort Mifflin Fort Mifflin, originally called Fort Island Battery and also known as Mud Island Fort, was commissioned in 1771 and sits on Mud Island (or Deep Water Island) on the Delaware River below Philadelphia, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia International ...

, Philadelphia until 1963 when the 111th Air Transport Group was reestablished to Willow Grove Naval Air Station, in Horsham, Pennsylvania. At that time, the 270th returned to the

to become the sole military occupant and only Air National Guard unit in Philadelphia. In May 1970, GEEIA was absorbed into the Air Force Communications Service, which later became the

Air Force Communications Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing ...

(AFCC). The 270th was designated the 270th Electronics Installation Squadron at that time. The unit was then rebranded in December 1982, to the designation of the 270th Engineering Installation Squadron with no change in mission or command. The 270th was relocated from

to its current modern facilities at Willow Grove Air Reserve Station 15 Oct. 1985. Finally in July 2005, the 270th EIS, along with the other 19 Air National Guard and active duty Engineering Installations Squadrons, transferred from

Air Force Materiel Command Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) is a major command ( MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF). AFMC was created on July 1, 1992, through the amalgamation of the former Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) and the former Air Force Systems Co ...

(AFMC) to

Air Combat Command Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and i ...

(ACC). At present, the 270th EIS now falls under the

24th Air Force Twenty-Fourth Air Force / Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER) was a Numbered Air Force within the United States Air Force. The Air Force consolidated its cyberspace combat and support forces into 24 AF. 24 AF was the Air Force component of U.S. Cyber Co ...

and

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. When fully mobilized as a wartime asset, the unit is gained by the 253rd Combat Communications Group located at

Otis Air National Guard Base Otis Air National Guard Base is an Air National Guard installation located within Joint Base Cape Cod, a military training facility located on the western portion of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It was known ...

, Mass. The 270th Engineering Installation Squadron typically performs thousands of hours of real world engineering and installation of command, control, communications, and computer systems annually for the US Air Force as an adjunct to training.

Previous designations

*603rd Signal Light Construction Company – 12 April 1949 – 1 October 1952 *270th Communications Squadron, Operations – 1 October 1952 – October 1960 *270th Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency (GEEIA) Squadron – October 1960 – May 1970 *270th Electronics Installation Squadron – May 1970 – December 1982 ----

Bases stationed

* First Regiment Armory of the National Guard,

* Willow Grove Air Reserve Station,

Willow Grove, Pennsylvania Willow Grove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. A community in Philadelphia's northern suburbs, the population was 15,726 at the 2010 census. It is located in Upper Dublin Township, Abington Town ...

* Horsham Air Guard Station,

References

{{Reflist Engineering squadrons of the United States Air Force