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

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from elements ...

and is stationed at

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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

throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It provides all

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

, en route maintenance support 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 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 ide ...

. These groups are assigned twelve 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 (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

from 1942 to 1943. The

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

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 Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

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 De ...

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

occupation of Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...

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 detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

coverage and navigational aid to

allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

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 Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

. 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 ...

. 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 The 86th Airlift Wing (86 AW) is a United States Air Force wing, currently assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The 86th AW is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The wing's primary mi ...

, 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 ...

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

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota ( es, Base Naval de Rota, links=no), is a Spanish-American naval base commanded by a Spanish Rear Admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military c ...

, Spain) ** 725th Air Mobility Squadron (Naval Station Rota, Spain) ** 728th Air Mobility Squadron (

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) ** 5th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron ** 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron * The

721st Air Mobility Operations Group The 721st Air Mobility Operations Group (721 AMOG) is a United States Air Force (USAF) unit assigned to the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing, stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. History The squadron was reactivated in 1977 to operate the ...

** 721st Mobility Support Squadron ** 721st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron ** 724th Air Mobility Squadron ** 726th Air Mobility Squadron ** 727th Air Mobility Squadron ** 721st Aerial Port Squadron

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 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 combat ...

, 4 July 1942 * Aircraft Warning Unit Training Center, 8 October 1942 *

70th Fighter Wing The 70th Fighter Wing (70th FW) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, based at Neubiberg Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1947. History Established ...

, 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 The XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) was a provisional United States Army Air Forces unit, primarily formed from units of IX Fighter Command. Its last assignment was with Ninth Air Force at Weimar, Germany, where it was inactivated on 25 O ...

, 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, 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 fi ...

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

, 1 August 1951 * United States Air Forces in Europe, 1 January 1957 *

Seventeenth Air Force The Seventeenth Expeditionary Air Force (17 EAF) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The command served the United States Air Forces in Europe during (1953–1996) and AFAFRICA, United Sta ...

, 15 November 1959 – 18 November 1960 * 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, 4 September 2008 *

United States Air Force Expeditionary Center The United States Air Force Expeditionary Center is the Air Force's Center of Excellence for advanced expeditionary combat support training and education. It consists of nine units with approximately 14,000 Airmen in 28 countries. History The U ...

, 19 March 2012 – present

Stations

* Drew Field, Florida, 4 July 1942 *

Camp Myles Standish Camp Myles Standish was a U.S. Army camp located in Taunton, Massachusetts during World War II. It was the main staging area for the Boston Port of Embarkation, with about a million U.S. and Allied soldiers passing through the camp on their wa ...

, 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 station located north-northeast of Colchester, Essex England. Opened in 1943, it was used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). RAF Boxted has the distinction ...

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

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, 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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. ...

, 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, from ...

(A-2), France, 2 July 1944 *

Villedieu-les-Poêles Villedieu-les-Poêles is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Villedieu-les-Poêles-Rouffigny.Le Teilleul Le Teilleul () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, the former communes of Ferrières, Heussé, Husson and Sainte-Marie-du-Bois were merged into Le Teilleul.Les Loges-en-Josas Les Loges-en-Josas () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yvelines department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designe ...

, France, 31 August 1944 *

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, 4 September 1944 *

Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes (; wa, Han-so-Eure-Nålene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Ham-sur-Heure-Nalinnes had a total population of 13,529. The land area is , which gives a populatio ...

, Belgium, 16 September 1944 *

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) 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 ...

, Belgium, 26 September 1944 *

Gosselies Gosselies ( wa, Gochliye) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Located in the north of Charleroi, it was a city and a municipality of its own before the merger of the ...

(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 s ...

, Germany, 11 April 1945 *

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) 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. At the end of 2019, t ...

, Germany, 12 April 1945 *

Nohra Nohra is a village and a former municipality in the Weimarer Land district of Thuringia, Germany. Since December 2019, it is part of the municipality Grammetal. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Utzberg was incorporated by Nohra. Nohr ...

, Germany, 26 April 1945 * Fritzlar (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 firs ...

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

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which be ...

, Germany, 3 February 1946 *

Wiesbaden Air Base Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

(Y-80), 5 July 1947 – 25 September 1947 * Zwingenberg, Germany, 10 June 1949 *

Landsberg Air Base Landsberg-Lech Air Base (German language, German: ''Fliegerhorst Landsberg/Lech'', International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO: ETSA) is a former German Air Force base located near the town of Landsberg am Lech in Bavaria. Landsberg was used ...

(R-54), Germany, 17 July 1945 *

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city 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 Frankfur ...

, 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 *

, 4 September 2008 – present Squadrons * 3d SHORAN Beacon Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 1 May 1958 :

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

, 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 ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...

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 a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

, Germany; Turkheim, Germany * 619th Tactical Control Squadron, 18 December 1957 – 18 January 1959 : Birkenfeld, 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 Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force, unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the A ...

(search) : 1 October 2008 – 30 September 2009 * World War II - American Campaign Streamer (Plain)

American Theater of World War II The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean. Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of ...

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 theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with 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)