The
United States Air Force's 16th Air Expeditionary Wing (16 AEW) was a provisional Air Expeditionary unit of the
United States Air Forces in Europe from 1997 for the purpose of supporting US no-fly zone and other operations in the Balkans. It remained active until June 2003, when it was replaced by the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing at Aviano.
Units
The wing
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
was located at
Aviano Air Base
Aviano Air Base ( it, Base aerea di Aviano) is a base in northeastern Italy, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in the Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps or Southern Carnic Alps, about from Pordenone.
Th ...
, Italy. It operated expeditionary sites at
Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo;
Camp Able Sentry, Macedonia;
Sarajevo and
Tuzla Air Base
Tuzla Air Base was a military airport near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
History
Tuzla International was once the largest military airport of the former Yugoslavia. The 350th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron was active there for a time. It was p ...
, Bosnia;
Taszar Air Base, Hungary;
Zagreb, Croatia and
Naval Air Station Sigonella and
San Vito Air Station, Italy; in addition to a contingency processing center at
Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany.
History
On 1 July 1995,
United States Air Forces Europe activated the 7490th Wing (Provisional) at Aviano Air Base, Italy to control units deployed temporarily on the base in connection with
Operation Deny Flight. The wing was replaced on 11 March 1996 by the 4190th Wing (Provisional) when the
United States Air Force (USAF) began numbering provisional units based on the theater exercising operational control, rather than the Major Command to which they were assigned. The 4190th wing participated in Operation Deny Flight and
Operation Joint Endeavour
The Implementation Force (IFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peace enforcement force in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a one-year mandate from 20 December 1995 to 20 December 1996 under the codename ''Operation Joint Endeavour''.
Background
NATO ...
.
On 1 June 1997 the 16th Air Expeditionary Wing replaced the 4190th as USAF replaced its provisional units with expeditionary units. Its initial mission was as a component of
Operation Allied Force, which was the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization response to
Serbian aggression against ethnic
Albanians in
Kosovo.
In June 2003 the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing was activated at Aviano Air Base, Italy, replacing the 16th Air Expeditionary Wing, which inactivated to eliminate an overlap in designation with the 16th Special Operations Wing at
Hurlburt Field, Florida.
[US Air Forces in Europe News]
Aviano AEW gets new designation, new commander
6/16/2003
Lineage
* Designated as the 16th Air Expeditionary Wing, a provisional unit
: Activated 1 June 1997
: Inactivated 12 June 2003
Assignments
* United States Air Forces in Europe (attached to
Sixteenth Air Force
The Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) (16 AF) is a United States Air Force (USAF) organization responsible for information warfare, which encompasses intelligence gathering and analysis, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber warfare and ele ...
), 1 June 1997 – 12 June 2003
Components
* 16th Expeditionary Operations Group,
Istres Air Base
* 401st Expeditionary Air Base Group, Tuzla Air Base
* 406th Expeditionary Air Base Group, Taszar Air Base
* 620th Expeditionary Air Base Group, Camp Able Sentry
* 2nd Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron, Camp Bondsteel
* 16th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group, Sarajevo
* 16th Expeditionary Support Squadron, Rhein-Main Air Base
* 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, NAS Sigonella
* 775th Expeditionary Support Squadron, San Vito Air Station
* 525th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron, Zagreb
Stations
* Aviano Air Base, 1 June 1997 – 12 June 2003
Weapons systems
*
Boeing KC-135E/R Stratotanker[Airman Magazine United States Air Forces Europe]
Jan 2001
*
General Atomics MQ-1A Predator UAV[
*]Lockheed U-2R
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single- jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides d ...
[
* General Dynamics F-16 Flying Falcon
]
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
16th AEW Globalsecurity.org
{{US Air Force navbox, state=collapsed
016
HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist".
...
Military units and formations established in 1997