57th Wing
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The 57th Wing (57 WG) is an operational unit 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 ...
(USAF) Warfare Center, stationed at
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 Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
. The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations.


Mission

The 57 WG is home to advanced
air combat ''Air Combat'' is a 1995 Combat flight simulation game, combat flight simulation video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, and the first title of the ''Ace Combat'' franchise. Players control an airc ...
training. The wing provides training for composite strike forces which include every type of
aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
in the USAF inventory. Training is conducted in conjunction with air and ground units of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and air forces from US allied nations. The crews do not come to learn how to fly, but instead learn how to be combat aviators.


Units

The wing was reorganized in 2005 to reflect its current structure. * 57th Operations Group (57 OG) (tail code: WA he code for the 57th Wing : The 57th OG consists of Aggressor squadrons that replicate adversary threat tactics while training combat air forces aircrews. : 64th Aggressor Squadron: 15 Sep 2005 – present : 65th Aggressor Squadron: 9 June 2022 – present : 57th Adversary Tactics Support Squadron : 57th Information Aggressor Squadron : 507th Air Defense Aggressor Squadron : 547th Intelligence Squadron * USAF Weapons School : Composed of 16 squadrons, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School teaches graduate-level instructor courses that provide advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces. * USAF Air Demonstration Squadron - The Thunderbirds : "America's Ambassadors in Blue," the Thunderbirds have performed for more than 300 million people in all 50 states and 60 countries around the world. * 57th Maintenance Group : USAF's most diverse maintenance group with over 2,200 Airmen, civilians and contractors in 3 squadrons, 8 Aircraft Maintenance Units, 13 flying hour programs and
Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...
's largest A-76 backshop service provider contract worth over $230M. Provides sortie generation, munitions and on- and off-equipment maintenance for 132 assigned
A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 , also infamously known under the nickname , is a single-seat, twinjet, twin-turbofan, straight wing, straight-wing, Subsonic aircraft, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Aircraft, Fairchild Republic ...
, F-15 Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle,
F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...
, F-35A Lightning II and F-22A Raptor aircraft to support the test, tactics and training missions. * United States Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School : Provides graduate-level instruction to maintenance and munitions officers and senior non-commissioned officers to perform as expert field level logistics leaders. The Thunderbirds and the USAF Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School report directly to the 57th Wing commander.


History

:''See 57th Operations Group for complete lineage and timeline information.'' :''See 57th Adversary Tactics Group and USAF Weapons School for the flying components of the 57th Wing.'' :''See USAF Air Demonstration Squadron for the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.'' Established on 15 March 1948, the 57th Fighter Wing replaced 57th Fighter Wing (Provisional) in April 1948. It operated Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and several satellite bases, and provided air defense of
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
, April 1948-December 1950. In addition, the wing provided intra-theater troop carrier and airlift support, 1948–1950, using several attached troop carrier squadrons. In January 1951, it was replaced by 39th Air Depot Wing. The 57th moved to
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
and replaced the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing at
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 ...
, in October 1969. At Nellis, it trained tactical fighter aircrews, conducted operational tests and evaluations, demonstrated tactical fighter weapon systems, and developed fighter tactics and from February 1970 to October 1979 and operated Nellis AFB for all base tenants. The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron (the " Thunderbirds") was assigned to the wing in February 1974 and has remained an integral part of the wing to present. The 57th assumed operational control of " Red Flag" exercises in October 1979; developing realistic combat training operations featuring adversary tactics, dissimilar air combat training, and electronic warfare. It incorporated
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
training after March 1980. In 1990 the aggressor mission transferred to 4440th TFTG and later to the 414th CTS. The wing added instruction in hunter/killer counter electronic warfare tactics until 1996.


Modern era

From 1992–1999, the wing operated detachments at Cannon AFB,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, Ellsworth AFB,
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
, and Barksdale AFB,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, that flew and tested the F-111 Aardvark,
B-1B Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). , it is one of the United States Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with t ...
and
B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...
respectively. It added the 66th Rescue Squadron, equipped with HH-60 helicopters, on 1 February 1993, while the squadron was deployed in Southwest Asia. From 1991 to present, the 57th provided combat aircrew capabilities, operating the USAF Weapons and the USAF Combat Rescue Schools, developing techniques and procedures and conducting operational test and evaluation on all major aircraft in the AF inventory. With the reactivation of the 432d Wing at Creech Air Force Base on 1 May 2007, the elements that comprised the 57th Operations Group, were transferred to the 432nd Wing. The 57th Adversary Tactics Group, which was established in 2005, merged into the 57th Operations Group on 31 March 2020.


Lineage

* Established as 57th Fighter Wing c. 15 March 1948* : Organized on 20 April 1948 : Redesignated 57th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 20 January 1950 : Inactivated on 1 January 1951 * Redesignated 57th Fighter Weapons Wing on 22 August 1969 : Activated on 15 October 1969 by redesignation of 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing : Redesignated: 57th Tactical Training Wing on 1 April 1977 : Redesignated: 57th Fighter Weapons Wing on 1 March 1980 : Redesignated: 57th Fighter Wing on 1 October 1991 : Redesignated: 57th Wing on 15 June 1993. *Note: The 57th Fighter Wing (Provisional) was established on 16 April 1947 at Fort Richardson, Alaska, as one of the "Base-Wing" concept provisional Table of Distribution (T/D) organizations. The provisional wing was inactivated and replaced by the 57th Fighter Wing in March 1948 (exact date unknown).


Assignments

* Alaskan Air Command, 20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951 * USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons (later, USAF Fighter Weapons; USAF Weapons and Tactics; Air Warfare) Center, 15 October 1969–present


Components

Groups * 57th Fighter (later, 57th Fighter-Interceptor; 57th Operations) : 20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951 (detached 10 December 1950 – 1 January 1951) : 1 November 1991 – * 57th Adversary Tactics Group, 1 July 2005–present * 57th Test Group: 1 November 1991 – 1 October 1996 * 4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group (Red Flag) : Attached 1 October 1979 – 28 February 1980 : Assigned 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991 * 4443d Tactical Training Group: 26 January 1990 – 1 November 1991. Squadrons * 4th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 2 Dec 1948-28 Feb 1949 and 14 Aug-14 Nov 1949 * 7th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 28 Feb-1 Jun 1949 * 8th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 1 Sep-2 Dec 1948 and 1 Jun-15 Aug 1949 * 37th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 4 Jul-1 Sep 1948 * 54th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached c. 20 Apr-c. 1 Jul 1948 and 20 Sep 1949 – 31 Dec 1950 * 64th Fighter Weapons (later, 64th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 64th Aggressor) Squadron: 15 Oct 1972 – 5 Oct 1990. * 65th Fighter Weapons (later, 65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 65th Aggressor) Squadron: 15 Oct 1969 – 7 Apr 1989 * 66th Fighter Weapons Squadron: 15 Oct 1969 – 30 Dec 1981 * 414th Fighter Weapons Squadron: 15 Oct 1969 – 30 Dec 1981 * 422d Fighter Weapons (later, 422d Test and Evaluation) Squadron: 15 Oct 1969 – 1 Nov 1991 * 431st Fighter Weapons (later, 431st Test and Evaluation) Squadron: 1 Oct 1980 – 1 Nov 1991 * 433d Fighter Weapons Squadron: 1 Oct 1976 – 30 Dec 1981 * 509th Weapons Squadron: 2006 – present. Located at Fairchild AFB WA. * 4460th Helicopter Squadron: 1 Nov 1983 – 1 Jun 1985 * 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (later, 4477 Test and Evaluation Squadron) Squadron: 1 Apr 1977 – 15 Jul 1990. * USAF Air Demonstration Squadron: 15 Feb 1974 – present Schools * USAF Fighter Weapons (later, USAF Weapons) School: 30 December 1981 – present * USAF Combat Rescue School: 2 July 1993 – 15 July 1995.


Stations

* Elmendorf Air Force Base,
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
, 20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951 *
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 Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
, 15 October 1969–present


Aircraft operated

*
P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...
(1948) * P-80 Shooting Star (1948–1950) * C-47 Skytrain (1948) * C-54 Skymaster (1948–1950) * A-7 Corsair II (1969–1975) * F-4 Phantom II (1969–1985, 1993–1995) * F-100 Super Sabre (1969) * F-105 Thunderchief (1969–1975) * F-111 Aardvark (1969–1995) * T-39 Sabreliner (1969–1972) * T-38 Talon (1972–1990) * F-5 Freedom Fighter (1975–1989) * F-15 Eagle (1976 – present) *
A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 , also infamously known under the nickname , is a single-seat, twinjet, twin-turbofan, straight wing, straight-wing, Subsonic aircraft, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Aircraft, Fairchild Republic ...
(1977 – present) * F-16 Falcon (1980 – present) * UH-1 Iroquois (1981–1985) * B-1 Lancer (1993–1999) *
B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...
(1993–1999) * HH-60 Pave Hawk (1993 – present) * MQ-1 Predator (1995–2007) * KC-135R Stratotanker (2006-) * MQ-9 Reaper (2007-) * F-22 Raptor (2010-) * F-35 (2013-)


List of commanders

Brig Gen Joel T. Hall * Brig Gen Joseph W. Ashy, May 1984 * Brig Gen Stephen L. Hoog * Brig Gen Russell J. Handy, 18 January 2008 * Brig Gen Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, 16 July 2010 * Brig Gen Charles L. Moore Jr., 26 March 2012 * Brig Gen Christopher M. Short, 28 February 2014 * Brig Gen Jeannie Leavitt, 15 April 2016 * Brig Gen Robert Novotny, 8 June 2018 * Brig Gen Michael Drowley, 7 August 2020 * Brig Gen Richard Goodman, 30 June 2022


References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. .


External links


Nellis AFB Home Page
{{Aerospace Defense Command Military units and formations in Nevada 0057