The 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing (521 AMOW) is part of

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, ...

and is stationed at

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. It serves as the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and NATO Alli ...

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 the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It coordinates logistical air movements into, out of, and through

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The 521st AMOW expedites warfighting and humanitarian efforts by 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 ...

throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It provides all command and control, en route maintenance support, aeromedical evacuation and air transportation services for air mobility operations in its area of responsibility. It performs this through aircraft maintenance units, maintenance operations centers, quality assurance, regional training center, fuel cell, aerospace ground equipment, forward supply location, and maintenance recovery teams. It operates air terminal operations centers, providing passenger and fleet services, cargo processing, special handling, ramp services, and load planning. The Wing is composed of two groups. These groups are assigned nine squadrons and fourteen other geographically separated units.

History

The wing was originally constituted as the 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion. The unit served as an aircraft warning unit in defense of the

continental United States The contiguous United States, also known as the U.S. mainland, officially referred to as the conterminous United States, consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the District of Columbia of the United States in central North America. The te ...

from 1942 to 1943. The

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

moved to England in 1944 where it provided communications support until the day after the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

when it moved to support the invading forces in France. It moved frequently to support elements of

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...

, arriving in Belgium in September and Germany in March 1945. It continued it mission during the

occupation of Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sove ...

from 1945. At the end of 1945, the battalion was converted to an Air Corps unit, redesignated the 501st Tactical Control Group and its component companies replaced by Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons. It provided

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

coverage and navigational aid to allied aircraft flying over the U.S. Zone of Occupied Germany in 1946 and 1947. It was inactivated in 1947. The unit was reactivated as the 501st Aircraft Control and Warning Group in 1949 to replace the 7402d Aircraft Control and Warning Group. Between 1949 and 1960, it provided tactical control systems, including aircraft control and warning facilities, passive detection devices and guidance units in central Europe. In 1952, it became a tactical control group again. In 1954, the group moved to Landstuhl Air Base. Starting in 1955, it and the 526th Tactical Control Group provided personnel for a provisional Tactical Control Wing, which it replaced as the 501st Tactical Control Wing in 1957 to provide radar and aircraft control for all of

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

. It operated the Tactical Control System to exercise operational control of offensive and defensive units in Europe. In the 1960s, its mission, personnel, and equipment were combined with those of the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, which was redesignated the

86th Air Division The 86th Air Division (86 AD) is a former designation of the 86th Airlift Wing, a United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. It was inactivated on 14 November 1 ...

(Defense). Today the two subordinate groups include: * The 521st Air Mobility Operations Group (

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota (), is a Spanish naval base, that is jointly used by the Spanish Navy and the United States Navy. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in ...

, Spain) ** 724th Air Mobility Squadron (Aviano AB, Italy) ** 725th Air Mobility Squadron (Naval Station Rota, Spain) ** 728th Air Mobility Squadron (

Incirlik Air Base Incirlik Air Base () is a Republic of Turkey, Turkish air base of slightly more than 3320 ac (1335 ha), located in the İncirlik quarter of the city of Adana, Turkey. The base is within an urban area of 1.7 million people, east of the city ...

, Turkey) ** 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron * The 721st Air Mobility Operations Group (Ramstein AB, Germany) ** 721st Aerial Port Squadron ** 721st Mobility Support Squadron ** 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron ** 726th Air Mobility Squadron (Spangdahlem AB, Germany) ** 727th Air Mobility Squadron (RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom)

Lineage

* Constituted as the 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (Separate) on 28 February 1942 : Activated on 4 July 1942 : Redesignated as 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion on 11 March 1943 : Converted from the

Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...

to the Air Corps and redesignated 501st Tactical Control Group on 31 December 1945 : Inactivated on 25 September 1947 * Redesignated 501st Aircraft Control and Warning Group on 11 May 1949 : Activated on 10 June 1949 : Redesignated 501st Tactical Control Group on 16 March 1952 : Redesignated 501st Tactical Control Wing on 18 December 1957 : Inactivated on 18 November 1960 * Redesignated 521st Tactical Control Wing 31 July 1985 (remained inactive) * Redesignated 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing on 18 August 2008 : Activated on 4 September 2008

Assignments

III Fighter Command The III Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was at MacDill Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 8 April 1946. History Background GHQ Air Force (GHQ, AF) had been established with two major comba ...

, 4 July 1942 * Aircraft Warning Unit Training Center, 8 October 1942 * 70th Fighter Wing, December 1943 *

IX Tactical Air Command The IX Tactical Air Command was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. It fought in the European theater of World War II. Its last assignment was at Camp Shanks, New York, where it was inactivated on 25 October 1945. History Formed ...

, 13 September 1944 * 70th Fighter Wing, 22 February 1945 * XXIX Tactical Air Command, 19 July 1945 * 70th Fighter Wing, 6 August 1945 *

XII Tactical Air Command The XII Tactical Air Command was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe at Bad Kissingen, Germany, where it was inactivated on 10 November 1947. History The 12th Gr ...

, 15 November 1945 *

51st Troop Carrier Wing The 51st Troop Carrier Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The wing (military aviation unit), wing was formed during World War II and was the first troop carrier wing in the Army Air Forces (AAF) organized for deployment overseas. ...

, 25 July 1947 – 25 September 1947 *

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, 10 June 1949 * 2d Air Division, 10 October 1949 *

, 1 August 1951 * United States Air Forces in Europe, 1 January 1957 * Seventeenth Air Force, 15 November 1959 – 18 November 1960 * 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, 4 September 2008 * United States Air Force Expeditionary Center, 19 March 2012 – present

Stations

Drew Field Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective May 15, 2025. The airp ...

, Florida, 4 July 1942 * Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, 20 November 1943 – 28 December 1943 (Port of Embarkation) * Popham Airfield, England, 7 January 1944 *

RAF Boxted Royal Air Force Boxted or more simply RAF Boxted is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located north-northeast of Colchester, Essex England. Opened in 1943, it was used by the United States Army Air Force ...

(Station 150), England, 2 February 1944 * RAF Ibsley (Station 347), England, 18 April 1944 *

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, England, 19 May 1944 – 6 June 1944 *

Vierville-sur-Mer Vierville-sur-Mer (, literally ''Vierville on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. History World War II On 6 June 1944 (D-Day), the U.S. Army's 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infan ...

, France, 7 June 1944 *

Cricqueville-en-Bessin Cricqueville-en-Bessin (, literally ''Cricqueville in Bessin'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The municipality takes its name from its deep-water creek that forms a natural harbor, fr ...

(A-2), France, 2 July 1944 * Villedieu-les-Poêles, France, 5 August 1944 * Le Teilleul, France, 14 August 1944 * Aillieres, France, 23 August 1944 * Les Loges-en-Josas, France, 31 August 1944 *

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, 4 September 1944 * Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes, Belgium, 16 September 1944 *

Verviers Verviers (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the cent ...

, Belgium, 26 September 1944 *

Gosselies Gosselies (; ) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowl ...

(A-87), Belgium, 18 December 1944 * Verviers, Belgium, 7 January 1945 * Brühl, Germany, 23 March 1945 *

Bad Wildungen Bad Wildungen () is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location Bad Wildungen lies in the eastern foothills of the Kellerwald range in the ...

, Germany, 11 April 1945 *

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, Germany, 12 April 1945 *

Nohra Nohra () is a village and a former municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia, Germany. On 1 December 2007, the municipality of Utzberg was incorporated into Nohra. Nohra later became part of Grammetal municipality in December 2019 ...

, Germany, 26 April 1945 *

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...

(Y-86), Germany, 25 June 1945 *

Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base ( German: "Fliegerhorst Fürstenfeldbruck" or "Flugplatz Fürstenfeldbruck") is a former German Air Force airfield near the town of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria, near Munich, Germany. Fürstenfeldbruck became famous fir ...

(R-72), Germany, 19 July 1945 *

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen () is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and County town, seat of the Bad Kissingen (district), district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale, Franconia ...

, Germany, 3 February 1946 *

Wiesbaden Air Base Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden forms a conurbation with a population of aro ...

(Y-80), 5 July 1947 – 25 September 1947 * Zwingenberg, Germany, 10 June 1949 * Landsberg Air Base (R-54), Germany, 17 July 1945 *

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

, Germany, 23 September 1952 * Landstuhl AB (later Ramstein-Landstuhl AB, Ramstein AB, Germany, 17 November 1954 – 18 November 1960 * Ramstein Air Base, Germany, 4 September 2008 – present

Components

Groups * 521st Air Mobility Operations Group, 4 September 2008 – present * 721st Air Mobility Operations Group, 4 September 2008 – present Squadrons * 3d SHORAN Beacon Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 1 May 1958 :

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

, Germany * 6th SHORAN Beacon Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 1 May 1958 * 601st Tactical Control Squadron (Formed from Company A, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 601st Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron), 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957) : Rothwesten AB, Germany * 602d Tactical Control Squadron (Formed from Company B, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 602d Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron), 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957) : Giebelstadt AB, Germany * 603d Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (Formed from Company C, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 603d Tactical Control Squadron, 603d Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron), 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957) : Langerkopf, Germany * 604th Tactical Control Squadron (Formed from Company D, 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, later 604th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron), 31 December 1945 – 25 September 1947, 10 June 1949 – 18 November 1960 (detached to Tactical Control Wing, Provisional 1955–1957) :

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

AB, Germany * 615th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron, Fixed, 18 December 1957 – 18 November 1960 : Schonfeld, Germany * 616th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 18 November 1960 :

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

, Germany; Turkheim, Germany * 619th Tactical Control Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 18 January 1959 :

Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld (district), Birkenfeld Districts of Germany, district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the Birkenfeld (Verbandsgemeinde), like-named ''Verbandsge ...

, Germany * 807th Tactical Control Squadron, 1 August 1951 – 18 November 1960

Awards

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 ...

(search) : 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009 * * American Theater of World War II * European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer

European theater of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

* Campaigns: : Normandy : Northern France : Ardennes-Alsace : Central Europe : Rhineland * Streamer NOS E

* World War II Army of Occupation

Notes

Bibliography

* (for designation of airfields in the United Kingdom) * (for designation of airfields in France, Belgium, and Germany) * (86th Air Division organization)