554th Electronic Systems Wing
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 554th Electronic Systems Wing (554 ELSW) is an inactive
wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
of the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
. It was last stationed at
Hanscom Air Force Base Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. The facility is adjacent to Hanscom Field ...
, Massachusetts, where it was inactivated in 2010.


History


World War II

The wing was first activated in Northern Ireland under VII Air Force Composite Command as the 3d Combat Crew Replacement Center Group. It used
Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in ...
s and
Douglas A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American light bomber, attack aircraft, Intruder (air combat), night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for ...
s to provide combat and theater indoctrination for
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...
combat crews from November 1943 until September 1944, when the need for dedicated
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 ...
training units in the United Kingdom was reduced. The group's resources were used to man and equip provisional air disarmament units participating in Operation Lusty. These units moved to France in February 1945 and advanced with Allied ground forces, seizing, securing, inventorying, and disposing of captured
Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
equipment and materiel through October 1945. The group inactivated the following month. It was disbanded in the fall of 1948.


Support for Nellis Air Force Base and the Continental Range

The group was reconstituted as the 554th Operations Support Wing in 1980. It provided base support functions for
Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...
, Nevada and its associated ranges from 1980 to 1991. The wing developed, operated, and maintained all range facilities and threat simulators and provided combat support functions at
Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
.


Systems Management

The 554th Electronic Systems Wing was consolidated in 2006 with the Operations Support Systems Wing, which had been established in 2004 at
Hanscom AFB Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. The facility is adjacent to Hanscom Fie ...
, Massachusetts. The wing was inactivated in June 2010.


Lineage

554th Operations Support Wing * Constituted on 2 November 1943 as the 3d Combat Crew Replacement Center Group : Activated on 21 November 1943 : Redesignated 3d Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Bomber or Fighter, Special) on 17 July 1944 : Inactivated on 22 November 1945 * Disbanded on 8 October 1948 * Reconstituted on 26 February 1980 and redesignated 554th Operations Support Wing : Activated on 1 March 1980 : Inactivated on 1 November 1991 : Consolidated on 6 April 2006 with the Operations Support Systems Wing 554th Electronic Systems Wing * Constituted as the Operations Support Systems Wing on 23 November 2004 : Activated on 17 December 2004 : Consolidated on 6 April 2006 with the 554th Operations Support Wing : Redesignated as the 554th Electronics Systems Wing on 17 April 2006 : Inactivated on 30 June 2010Lineage, assignments, stations, operational components, and aircraft through April 2008 in AFHRA Factsheet.


Assignments

* VIII Air Force Composite Command, 21 November 1943 * Air Disarmament Command (Provisional), ''ca''. 23 September 1944 * VIII Air Force Composite Command, 10 October 1944 (attached to Air Disarmament Command (Provisional) until 31 January 1945) * IX Air Force Service Command, 1 February 1945 * 1587th Quartermaster Battalion, Mobile (Aviation), 16 October 1945 * Detachment B, 9th Base Air Depot Area, 12 November 1945 – 22 November 1945 * USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center (later USAF Fighter Weapons Center), 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 *
Electronic Systems Center The Electronic Systems Center was a product center of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Its mission was to develop and acquire command and control, communications, computer, and intellige ...
, 17 December 2004 – 30 June 2010


Stations

* RAF Toome (AAF 236),Station number in Anderson. Northern Ireland, 21 November 1943 *
RAF Chipping Ongar Royal Air Force Chipping Ongar or more simply RAF Chipping Ongar is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located northeast of Chipping Ongar, Essex, England. Opened in 1943, it was used by both the Royal Ai ...
(AAF 162), England, September 1944 *
Vittel Vittel (; archaic ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the '' Vittel'' brand. A series of negotiations involving Nestlé, local agr ...
, France, by 15 March 1945 *
Öhringen Öhringen (East Franconian: ''Ähringe'') is the largest town in Hohenlohe (district) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near Heilbronn. Öhringen is on the railline to Schwäbisch Hall and Crailsheim. With a population o ...
, Germany, by 30 April 1945 *
Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; ) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-sized centre between ...
, Germany, by 1 May 1945 * Fillingen, Germany, by 15 May 1945 *
Nellingen Nellingen is a municipality in the Alb-Donau district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and ...
, Germany, by 31 May 1945 *
Kaufbeuren Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent city, independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the Districts of Germany, district of Ostallgäu. ...
, Germany (R-70),Station number in Johnson 15 October 1945 *
Leipheim Leipheim ( Swabian: ''Leiba'') is a town in the district of Günzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Danube, west of Günzburg, and northeast of Ulm. The village Riedheim and the hamlet Weissingen are districts of Leipheim. Since ...
, Germany (R-59), ''ca''. 31 October 1945 – 22 November 1945 *
Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...
, Nevada, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 17 December 2004 – 30 June 2010


Components

Groups * 554th Combat Support Group, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * 554th Electronic Systems Group, 17 April 2006 – 30 June 2010 * USAF Hospital, Nellis (later 554th Medical Group), 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * 554th Range Group, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * 554th Security Police Group, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * 754th Electronic Systems Group, 17 April 2006 – 30 June 2010 * 2069th Communications Group (later 554th Communications Group, 554th Communications Squadron), 1 September 1990 – 1 November 1991 Operational Squadrons * 3d Replacement and Training Squadron (later 3d Replacement and Training Squadron, CCRC Group (Bombardment)), 21 November 1943 – 22 November 1945 (not operational after 10 October 1945) * 4460th Helicopter Squadron, 1 June 1985 – 31 December 1987 :: Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Airfield, Nevada Systems Squadrons * Engineering and Integration Systems Squadron (later 643d Electronic Systems Squadron) 17 December 2004 – 30 June 2010 ::
Gunter Annex Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or ...
, Alabama Support Squadrons * 554th Combat Support Squadron, 1 March 1986 – 31 December 1987 * 554th Supply Squadron, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * 554th Transportation Squadron, 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 :: Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Airfield, Nevada


Aircraft

* Douglas A-20 Havoc, 1944 * Martin B-26 Marauder, 1943–1944 * Fairchild AT-23, 1944 * Bell UH-1N Huey, 1985–1987


Awards and campaigns


See also

Advanced Landing Ground


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * *


External links


Official factsheet
{{USAAF 8th Air Force UK
554 __NOTOC__ Year 554 ( DLIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 554 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...