The 963d Airborne Air Control Squadron is a squadron of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

based at

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City. The base, origin ...

, Oklahoma. The squadron is a subordinate unit of the

552d Operations Group The 552d Air Control Wing is an operational wing of the United States Air Force. It has been based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma since July 1976, operating the Boeing E-3 Sentry. It includes the 552d Operations Group, 552d Maintenance Gro ...

and it flies the

Boeing E-3 Sentry The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an American airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by Boeing. E-3s are commonly known as AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). Derived from the Boeing 707 airliner, it provides all-weat ...

radar surveillance aircraft. The squadron currently falls under the authority of

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 ...

and

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 ...

Emblem

The 963d's mascot is the Blue

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

which is represented on the unit's insignia as a blue colored winged chess knight. The background is a series of black and white squares that resembles a chess board. Three bolts of lightning emitted from the knight's eye shows the lightning fast deployability of the AWACS, and the knight's wings represents the flying mission of the unit.

History

The 963d Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron was activated, on 8 July 1955 at

McClellan Air Force Base McClellan Air Force Base (1935–2001) is a former United States Air Force base located in the North Highlands area of Sacramento County, northeast of Sacramento, California. History For the vast majority of its operational lifetime, McClellan ...

, California. The squadron flew the

EC-121 Warning Star The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was an American airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the United States Navy (USN) and United States Air Force (USAF). The military version of the Lock ...

, which was a military version of the

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its pre ...

aircraft, until the unit's inactivation in April 1976. The inactivation lasted less than a week however, as the Air Force again activated the unit on 5 May 1976 and redesignated it as the 963d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron (963 AWACS). On 1 July 1976, the squadron relocated to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. The squadron was under the command of the 552 AWACW, which reported directly to Headquarters,

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...

. The squadron began flying the new E-3 Sentry aircraft upon being reactivated. This new airframe is a military version of the

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December ...

aircraft.

During the 1980s the squadron flew training missions in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

and throughout the Middle East. In 1990 the squadron deployed to Riyadh AB, Saudi Arabia with the military build-up prior to Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In 1992, the unit (and its superior unit the 552 Wing) came under the authority of the newly formed

. Throughout the early to mid-1990s, 963d aircrews routinely deployed to Incirlik AB, Turkey to support the northern Iraqi no-fly zone (Operation Provide Comfort). Crews from the 963d also continued operations in Saudi Arabia on the southern no-fly zone (Operation Southern Watch). They were also deployed to other trouble spots around the world as a modern form of

Gunboat diplomacy In international politics, the term gunboat diplomacy refers to the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to t ...

. On April 14, 1994, an aircraft and crew from the 963d operating out of

Incirlik Air Base Incirlik Air Base ( tr, İncirlik Hava Üssü) is a 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 ...

, Turkey featured prominently in the

1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident The 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident, sometimes referred to as the Black Hawk Incident, was a friendly fire incident over northern Iraq that occurred on 14 April 1994 during Operation Provide Comfort (OPC). The pilots of two United States Ai ...

. In 1994, the squadron's name was redesignated to 963d Airborne Air Control Squadron. The 963d AACS also participated in the invasion of Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Operations

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

Operation Earnest Will Operation Earnest Will (24 July 1987 – 26 September 1988) was the American military protection of Kuwaiti-owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest na ...

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

Lineage

; 3 Search Attack Squadron * Constituted as the 3d Sea-Search Attack Squadron (Heavy) on 7 December 1942 * Activated on 10 December 1942 : Redesignated 3d Search Attack Squadron (Heavy) on 22 November 1943 * Disbanded on 10 April 1944 * Reconstituted on 19 September 1985 and consolidated with the 163d Liaison Squadron and the 963d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron as the 963d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron ; 163d Liaison Squadron * Constituted as the 163d Liaison Squadron on 11 May 1944 : Activated on 15 May 1944 : Inactivated on 27 January 1946 : Activated on 3 October 1946 : Inactivated on 1 April 1949 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 3d Search Attack Squadron and the 963d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron as the 963d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron ; 963d Airborne Air Control Squadron * Constituted as the 963d Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron on 8 December 1954 : Activated on 8 March 1955 : Inactivated on 30 April 1976 * Redesignated 963d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron on 5 May 1976 : Activated on 1 Jul 1976 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 3d Search Attack Squadron and the 163d Liaison Squadron * Redesignated 963d Airborne Air Control Squadron on 1 July 1994

Assignments

* 1st Sea–Search Attack Group (later 1st Sea-Search Attack Unit; 1st Search Attack Group), 10 December 1942 – 10 April 1944 * III Tactical Air Division, 15 May 1944 * Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas, 20 January 1945 (attached to Tenth Army for operations) *

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations i ...

, 14 July 1945 (remained attached to Tenth Army until 10 August 1945) *

VII Bomber Command The VII Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Seventh Air Force, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946. It engaged in patrol operations from Hawaii from January 1942. On the ...

, 1 December 1945 * Pacific Air Command, United States Army, 25 December 1945 – 27 January 1946 *

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 De ...

, 3 October 1946 * Tenth Air Force, 1 December 1948 – 1 April 1949 * 8th Air Division, 8 March 1955 (attached to Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, Provisional until 7 July 1955) *

552d Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing The 552d Air Control Wing is an operational wing of the United States Air Force. It has been based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma since July 1976, operating the Boeing E-3 Sentry. It includes the 552d Operations Group, 552d Maintenance Gr ...

(later 552d Airborne Warning and Control Group), 8 July 1955 – 30 April 1976 * 552d Airborne Warning and Control Wing (later 552d Airborne Warning and Control Division, 552d Airborne Warning and Control Wing, 552d Air Control Wing), 1 July 1976 *

, 29 May 1992 – present

Bases stationed

Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

, Virginia, 10 December 1942 – 10 April 1944 *

Cox Field Cox Field is an airport seven miles east of Paris, in Lamar County, Texas. It is owned by the city of Paris but is operated and maintained by J.R. Aviation, the airport's fixed-base operator (FBO). History The airport opened in August 1943 as ...

, Texas, 15 May 1944 *

Brownwood Army Air Field Brownwood Regional Airport is six miles north of Brownwood, in Brown County, Texas. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. The 21st Cavalry Brigade of the III Corps, ...

, Texas, 8 October 1944 – 1 January 1945 *

Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the ...

, Hawaii, 20 January – 6 April 1945 * Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, 3 May 1945 *

Fort William McKinley Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly named Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Metro Manila, Philippines. It is located near the national headquarte ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, ...

, Philippines, c. 24 December 1945 – 27 January 1946 *

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and custome ...

(later Marshall Air Force Base), Kansas, 3 October 1946 – 1 April 1949 *

, California, 8 March 1955 – 30 April 1976 *

, Oklahoma, 1 July 1976 – present)

Aircraft

Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company ...

(1942–1943) *

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

(1943–1944) *

Stinson L-5 Sentinel The Stinson L-5 Sentinel is a World War II-era liaison aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces, U.S. Army Ground Forces, U.S. Marine Corps and the British Royal Air Force. It was produced by the Stinson Division of the Vultee Airc ...

(1944–1945) (1946–1949) *

Noorduyn C-64 Norseman The Noorduyn Norseman, also known as the C-64 Norseman, is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable. Introd ...

(1944) *

Piper L-4 Grasshopper The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

(1945) *

Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat, twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to Novembe ...

(1946–1947) * Sikorsky R-5 (later H-5) (1947–1949) *

Sikorsky R-6 The Sikorsky R-6 is an American light two-seat helicopter of the 1940s. In Royal Air Force and Royal Navy service, it was named the Hoverfly II. Development The R-6/Hoverfly II was developed to improve on the successful Sikorsky R-4. In order to ...

(1947) * Stinson L-13 (1948–1949) * Lockheed RC-121 Constellation (1955–1959 & 1961–1963) * Lockheed TC–121 (1959–1961 & 1972–1975) *

Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star was an American airborne early warning and control radar surveillance aircraft operational in the 1950s in both the United States Navy (USN) and United States Air Force (USAF). The military version of the Lock ...

(1963–1972) *

Lockheed C-121 Constellation The Lockheed C-121 Constellation is a military transport version of the Lockheed Constellation. A total of 332 aircraft were constructed for both the United States Air Force and United States Navy for various purposes. Numerous airborne early wa ...

(1969–1976) *

(1976–Present)

References

External links

*
GlobalSecurity.org 963d Airborne Air Control Squadron (963 AACS)

{{US Air Force navbox Military units and formations in Oklahoma 963