The 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron is part of the

379th Air Expeditionary Wing The 379th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time. The Wing is one of the largest, most diverse expeditionary win ...

at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. It operates the E-8 Joint STARS aircraft, conducting airborne command and control missions. The squadron has performed the airborne command and control mission since 1968, when it was activated in Vietnam. In 1985, the squadron was consolidated with three earlier units: The 7th Ferrying Squadron, which helped deliver aircraft to the Soviet Union from 1942 until 1944; the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron, which performed combat

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...

missions in the Southwest Pacific Theater from 1944 until V-J Day, then became part of the

Occupation Forces Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

in Japan until inactivating in 1948; and the 7th Air Transport Squadron, Special, which provided airlift support for the United States' special weapons program from 1954 to 1966.

History

World War II ferrying operations

The squadron's first predecessor was activated at Seattle Airport, Washington in March 1942 as the 7th Ferrying Squadron. The 7th ferried lend-lease aircraft to Alaska for turnover to the Soviet Union from June 1942 until disbanding in March 1944.

Southwest Pacific combat airlift

The second predecessor of the squadron was activated at

Syracuse Army Air Base Hancock Field Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, co-located with Syracuse Hancock International Airport. It is located north-northeast of Syracuse, New York, at 6001 East Molloy Road, Mattydale, NY 13211. The installation ...

, New York on 1 May 1944 as the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron. It deployed to the Southwest Pacific Theater later that year and performed

until September 1945. It became part of the

in Japan until inactivating in early 1946. It was disbanded in inactive status on 8 October 1948.

Special weapons airlift

The 7th Logistic Support Squadron is the squadron's third predecessor. It was established at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia in 1954 as an Air Materiel Command unit. Its mission was to provide worldwide airlift of nuclear weapons and related equipment, with a secondary mission to airlift other Department of Defense cargo as required when space was available, using its

Douglas C-124 Globemaster II The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Force (USAF ...

s. The squadron also provided airlift support during

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

from 17–28 October 1962. In 1963, the squadron was transferred to

Military Air Transport Service The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) and the United States Air Force's ...

(MATS) in a trial to see if MATS airlift units could perform the special weapons transport mission. C-124 Globemaster II strategic transport squadron flying worldwide airlift operations. A year later it became the 7th Air Transport Squadron, Special. The squadron was inactivated on 8 January 1966, when MATS became Military Airlift Command and its squadrons became Military Airlift Squadrons. Its personnel and equipment were transferred to the

58th Military Airlift Squadron The 58th Airlift Squadron is part of the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates C-17 Globemaster III aircraft training pilots for airlift and airdrop operations. Mission The 58 AS is responsible for providing pilo ...

, which was simultaneously activated.The squadron could not be redesignated as a Military Airlift Squadron because the 7th Troop Carrier Squadron took the designation 7th Military Airlift Squadron.

Airborne command and control

The 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron was activated at

Da Nang Air Base Da Nang Air Base ( vi, Căn cứ không quân Đà Nẵng) (1930s–1975) (also known as Da Nang Airfield, Tourane Airfield or Tourane Air Base) was a French Air Force and later Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) facility located in the city ...

, South Vietnam in March 1968 and performed airborne battlefield command and control (ABCCC) mission in Southeast Asia from its activation until 15 August 1973 and controlled airborne forces during the recovery of the SS Mayagüez in May 1975, in

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

from, 23 October–21 November 1983, in Panama from, December 1989–January 1992, and in Southwest Asia from, 1 September 1990 – 16 March 1991. In 1994, the 7th

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

was moved from

Keesler Air Force Base Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler Jr., a Mississippi nati ...

, Mississippi, to

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 Air ...

, Nebraska where it transitioned from Lockheed EC-130 aircraft flying the ABCCC mission to the Boeing EC-135 aircraft flying the Operation Looking Glass mission in support of nuclear command and control for United States Strategic Command. The EC-130E aircraft and all squadron personnel moved to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona where they continued performing the ABCCC mission as the 42d ACCS. In October 1998, the Looking Glass mission was transferred to the Navy's Boeing E-6 Mercury fleet, the last of the US Air Force's EC-135 fleet was retired, and the 7th was inactivated. In March 2008, the unit was converted to provisional status and reactivated - this time as the 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron to be the forward operating squadron for E-8 Joint STARS, supporting the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility.

Lineage

; 7th Ferrying Squadron * Constituted as the 7th Air Corps Ferrying Squadron on 18 February 1942 : Activated on 24 March 1942 : Redesignated 7th Ferrying Squadron on 12 May 1943 : Disbanded on 1 April 1944 * Reconstituted and consolidated with the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron, the 7th Air Transport Squadron and the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron as the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron on 19 September 1985 ; 7th Combat Cargo Squadron : Constituted as the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron on 25 April 1944 : Activated on 1 May 1944 : Inactivated on 15 January 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948 * Reconstituted and consolidated with the 7th Ferrying Squadron, the 7th Air Transport Squadron and the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron as the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron on 19 September 1985 ; 7th Air Transport Squadron : Constituted as the 7th Logistics Support Squadron on 22 June 1954 : Activated on 18 October 1954 : Redesignated 7th Air Transport Squadron, Special on 1 July 1964This squadron is not related to the 7th Airlift Squadron, which was designated the 7th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy from 1 January 1965 to 8 January 1966, or to the 7th Air Transport Squadron (Transition Training Unit), which was organized by

Great Falls Air Force Base Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place (CDP) in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls, Montana, Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Ei ...

, Montana on 1 June 48 and redesignated 1272d Transition Training Unit on 1 October 1948. : Discontinued and inactivated on 8 January 1966 * Consolidated with the 7th Ferrying Squadron, the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron and the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron as the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron on 19 September 1985 ; 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron * Constituted as the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron and activated on 13 February 1968 (not organized) : Organized on 1 March 1968 : Consolidated with the 7th Ferrying Squadron, the 7th Combat Cargo Squadron and the 7th Air Transport Squadron on 19 September 1985 : Inactivated on 1 October 1998 * Redesignated 7th Expeditionary Airborne Command and Control Squadron and converted to provisional status on 19 March 2008 : Activated on 27 March 2008

Assignments

* Northwest Sector, Ferrying Command (later 7th Ferrying Group), 18 February 1942 – 1 April 1944 *

2d Combat Cargo Group The 2d Combat Cargo Group is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. The unit was organized at Syracuse Army Air Base in New York. It operated during World War II in the Southwest Pacific, transporting passengers and cargo. Its last d ...

, 1 May 1944 – 15 January 1946 * Warner Robins Air Materiel Area, 18 October 1954 *

3079th Aviation Depot Wing The 3079th Aviation Depot Wing, Air Materiel Command, United States Air Force, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was a weapons of mass destruction unit of key strategic importance and special weapons storage wing active until ...

, 6 February 1955 * 39th Logistics Support Group, 1 July 1962 *

62d Troop Carrier Wing 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, 1 July 1963 * 63d Troop Carrier Wing, 1 July 1964 – 8 January 1966 * Pacific Air Forces, 13 February 1968 (not organized) * Seventh Air Force, 1 March 1968 *

432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing The 432nd Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command at Creech Air Force Base near Indian Springs, Nevada. It flies General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-170 Sentinel Unmanned aerial vehicles. The group operates unmanned ...

, 31 October 1968 (attached to Seventh Air Force) *

388th Tactical Fighter Wing The 388th Fighter Wing (388FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Fifteenth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Units 388th Operations Group (388 OG) *4th Fighter Squadron (4 FS) ...

, 30 April 1972 (attached to Seventh Air Force to 15 August 1973, U.S. Support Activities Group/Seventh Air Force to c. 21 May 1974) *

374th Tactical Airlift Wing The 374th Airlift Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Fifth Air Force. It is stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is part of Pacific Air Forces. The 374th Airlift Wing is the only airlift wing in PACAF and provides airl ...

, 22 May 1974 (attached to Thirteenth Air Force) *

3d Tactical Fighter Wing The 3rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The Wing is the largest and ...

, 31 March 1975 (attached to Thirteenth Air Force) * 507th Tactical Air Control Group, 14 August 1975 *

552d Airborne 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 Division), 1 October 1976 *

28th Air Division The 28th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It was inactivated on 29 May 1992. History Established in December 1 ...

, 1 April 1985 (attached to Air Division Provisional, 15, 5 December 1990 – c. 16 March 1991) *

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 ...

, 29 May 1992 *

55th Operations Group The 55th Operations Group (55 OG) is a component of the 55th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Offut Air Force Base, Nebraska. During World War II the group was an Eighth Air Force figh ...

, 19 July 1994 – 1 October 1998 *

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 ...

to activate or inactivate any time after 19 March 2008 ::

, 27 March 2008 – present

Stations

* Seattle Airport, Washington, 24 March 1942 *

Gore Field Great Falls International Airport is a public/military airport in city limits three miles southwest of central Great Falls in Cascade County, Montana, United States. The airport has also been called Great Falls Municipal Airport. The Nation ...

, Montana, 22 June 1942 – 1 April 1944 * Syracuse Army Air Base, New York, 1 May 1944 * Baer Field, Indiana, 7–27 October 1944 * Mokmer Airfield, Biak, Netherlands East Indies, 11 November 1944 * Dulag Airfield, Leyte, Philippine Islands, May 1945 * Okinawa, 19 August 1945 * Yokota Air Base, Japan, 22 September 1945 – 15 January 1946 * Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, 19 October 1954 – 8 January 1966 * Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, 1 March 1968 (operated from Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand) * Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 31 October 1968 * Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 15 April 1972 *

Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located west of Angeles City, about northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U.S. Air Forc ...

, Philippines, 22 May 1974 – 14 August 1975 *

, Mississippi 14 August 1975 – 18 July 1994 : Deployed at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, 1–25 September 1991 : Deployed at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 25 September 1990–16 March 1991 : Deployed at Aviano AB Italy, Support Bosina. 12 April 1993-18 July 1994 *

, Nebraska, 19 July 1994 – 1 October 1998 * Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, 27 March 2008 – present

Aircraft

* Douglas C-47 Skytrain (1944–1945) *

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

(1944–1945) * Douglas C-124 Globemaster II (1954–1966) * Lockheed EC-130 (1968–1994) * Boeing EC-135 (1994–1998) * Boeing E-8 Joint STARS (2008–present)

Operations

* World War II * Vietnam War *

Operation Urgent Fury The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

* Operation Just Cause * Operation Desert Storm * Operation Deny Flight * Operation Deliberate Force * Operation Decisive Endeavor * Operation Uphold Democracy *

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

References

Notes

: Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * {{cite book, last=Ravenstein, first=Charles A., title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977, url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave, access-date=December 17, 2016, year=1984, publisher=Office of Air Force History, location=Washington, DC, isbn=0-912799-12-9, url-access=registration 0007 Command and control squadrons of the United States Air Force