The 595th Command and Control Group is an inactive 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 ...

. It was organized under

Air Force Global Strike Command The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC provides combat-ready fo ...

(AFGSC), and its operations were centered at

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 ...

, Nebraska. It was activated in a ceremony held on 6 October 2016.

History

Missile Testing

The unit was first organized by

Air Force Systems Command The Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command. It was established in April 1951, being split off from Air Materiel Command. The mission of AFSC was Research and Development for new weapons systems. AFS ...

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

, California in May 1970 as the 6595 Missile Test Group. In early 1970s, the

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

conducted ground and flight tests of the

LGM-30 Minuteman The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G (Version 3) is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and represents th ...

weapon system. It also launched and tested missile, space and aeronautical systems in support of

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

programs. After the loss of the

Space Shuttle Challenger Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' (OV-099) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after HMS Challenger (1858), the commanding ship of a Challenger expedition, nineteenth-century scientific exp ...

in January 1986, the space program was grounded for 34 months until the launch of

Space Transportation System The Space Transportation System (STS), also known internally to NASA as the Integrated Program Plan (IPP), was a proposed system of reusable crewed spacecraft, space vehicles envisioned in 1969 to support extended operations beyond the Apollo ...

-26 in September 1988. After 11 Sep 2001, the group examined vulnerabilities of US space facilities at home and abroad. The Air Force's Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities Program transferred national capabilities to operational commands. The group's Air Force Space Battlelab developed and field tested capabilities to increase productivity of operational commands. Its Aerospace Fusion Center supported space missile launches. The group was inactivated in September 1993. In April 2000, the

, redesignated the 595th Test and Evaluation Group was reactivated at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. It supported

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

through the application of space applications programs during 2003 and 2004. After redesignation as the 595th Space Group in 2002, it was inactivated in 2013

Nuclear command and control

The group was redesignated the 595th Command and Control Group'' at

, Nebraska in October 2016 with four squadrons assigned to provide aircrew, operators and maintenance personnel for nuclear command, control and communications platforms enabling the National Command Authority survivable, real-time strategic assessment and global strike capabilities. Its 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron operated the

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

National Airborne Command Post, maintained by the 595th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Its 625th Strategic Operations Squadron maintained targeting for the nation's

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

fleet and provided personnel to luanch them while airborne in a

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

Boeing E-6B Mercury. The 595th Strategic Communications Squadron provided missile warning and command, control and communications capabilities. They maintained and operated the Strategic Automated Command Control System, providing rapid retargeting of ICBMs. The group had a shared commander with the National Airborne Operations Center. It was inactivated on 28 February 2025 and its resources transferred to the newly activated 95th Wing

Lineage

* Designated as the 6595th Missile Test Group and activated on 1 May 1970 : Redesignated 6595th Test and Evaluation Group on 1 January 1988 : Inactivated on 14 September 1993 * Redesignated 595th Test and Evaluation Group on 1 April 2000 : Activated on 7 April 2000 : Redesignated 595th Space Group on 1 August 2002 : Inactivated on 1 April 2013 * Redesignated 595th Command and Control Group on 26 August 2016Department of the Air Force/A1M Letter 691t, 26 August 2016, Subject: Organization Actions Affecting Certain Air Force Global Strike Command Units : Activated 1 October 2016 : Inactivated 28 February 2025

Assignments

* 6595th Aerospace Test Wing, 1 May 1970 * Western Space and Missile Center, 1 October 1979 * Ballistic Missile Organization, 1 October 1990 *

Space and Missile Systems Center Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's research and development, space development, Military acquisition, acquisition, space launch, launch, and Military logistics, logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los An ...

, 2 – 14 Sep 1993 * Space Warfare (later, Space Innovation and Development) Center, 7 April 2000 – 1 April 2013 *

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 ...

, 1 October 2016 – 28 February 2025

Operational Components

* 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron: 1 October 2016 – 28 February 2025 * 17th Test Squadron: 7 April 2000 – 1 April 2013 * 25th Space Control Tactics (later, 25th Space Range) Squadron: 1 July 2004 – 14 April 2006 * 527th Space Aggressor Squadron: 23 October 2002 – 1 April 2013 * 576th Flight Test Squadron: 7 Apr 2000 – 1 December 2009 * 625th Strategic Operations Squadron: 1 October 2016 – 28 February 2025

Stations

* Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, 1 May 1970 – 14 September 1993 * Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, 7 April 2000 – 1 April 2013 * Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, 6 October 2016 – 28 February 2025

Aircraft & Missiles

* LGM-30 Minuteman (1970–1993, 2000–2001) *

LGM-118 Peacekeeper The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle, MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1986 ...

(1983–1989, 2000–2005) *

SM-65 Atlas The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General ...

(1970–1990) *

SM-68 Titan The SM-68 Titan (individual variants later designated HGM-25 Titan I and LGM-25 Titan II) was the designation of two intercontinental ballistic missiles developed for the United States Air Force. The Titan I and LGM-25C Titan II, Titan II missiles w ...

(1970–1993) * Boeing E-4B (2016–2025)

Awards

List of commanders

* Col Paul J. Burnett, 8 June 2000 * Col Michael J. Carey, 20 June 2002 * Col John E. Hyten, 1 July 2004 * Col John S. Riordan, 6 July 2005 * Col Stephen Latchford, 16 April 2007 * Col Shawn J. Barnes, May 2009 * Col Kevin M. Rhoades, 30 June 2011 * Unknown, 14 June 2012 – 1 April 2013 * Col Robert L. Billings, 1 October 2016 – July 2018 * Col. Jeremiah Baldwin, July 2018 - July 2020 * Col. Brian Golden, July 2020 - August 2022 * Col David Leaumont, August 2022 - August 2024 * Col Patrick Hook, August 2024 - 2024 * Col Daid Leaumont, 2024 – 28 February 2025

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations {{USAF Global Strike Command Command and control units and formations of the United States Air Force Groups of the United States Air Force Military units and formations established in 2016