The 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron is an active

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, 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 ...

unit is assigned to the 552d Training Group, 552d Air Control Wing 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, origina ...

, Oklahoma. It operates the E-3 Sentry (AWACS) aircraft conducting airborne command and control missions. The squadron is the E-3 Sentry formal training unit (FTU) for all Airborne Warning and Control System aircrew and currently falls under the authority of Air Combat Command and Fifteenth Air Force.

Mission

The 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron is Air Combat Command's largest flying training unit, providing training for all active and reserve E-3 Sentry pilots and mission crew. Training approximately 500 students every year. Provide the Combat Air Force with airborne systems and personnel for surveillance, warning and control of strategic,

tactical Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics ** Political tacti ...

, and special mission forces.

History

World War II

The squadron conducted replacement training from August 1942 – November 1943 and flew evacuation missions and light transport services for ground forces in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

from 13 November 1944 – 10 May 1945.

Airborne warning and control

It provided airborne

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, we ...

surveillance from 1962 to 1969 and rotated aircrews to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

from c. 4 April 1965 – c. December 1969. The 966th has trained aircrews since 1977.

Lineage

; 466th Bombardment Squadron * Constituted as the 466th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 9 July 1942 : Activated on 15 July 1942 : Inactivated on 1 April 1944 : Consolidated with the 166th Liaison Squadron and the 966th Airborne Warning and Control Training Squadron as the 966th Airborne Warning and Control Training Squadron on 19 September 1985 ; 166th Liaison Squadron * Constituted as the 166th Liaison Squadron (Commando) on 9 August 1944 : Activated on 3 September 1944 : Inactivated on 3 November 1945 : Consolidated with the 466th Bombardment Squadron and the 966th Airborne Warning and Control Training Squadron as the 966th Airborne Warning and Control Training Squadron on 19 September 1985 : 966th Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron * Constituted as the 966th Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron and activated on 18 December 1961 (not organized) : Organized on 1 February 1962 : Inactivated on 31 December 1969 : Redesignated 966th Airborne Warning and Control Training Squadron on 5 May 1976 : Activated on 1 July 1976 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron *Consolidated with the 166th Liaison Squadron and the 466th Bombardment Squadron on 19 September 1985 : Redesignated 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron on 1 July 1994

Assignments

* 333d Bombardment Group, 15 July 1942 – 1 April 1944 *

1st Air Commando Group 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

, 3 September 1944 – 3 November 1945 * Air Defense Command, 18 December 1961 (not organized) * 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, 1 February 1962 *

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 Gro ...

, 1 May 1963 * 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, 1 July 1969 * 552d Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, 15 November-31 December 1969 * 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 *

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 – present

Stations

* Topeka Army Air Base, Kansas, 15 July 1942 *

Dalhart Army Air Field Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945. The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...

, Texas, 22 February 1943 – 1 April 1944 *

Burnpur Airfield Burnpur Airport is located at Burnpur in Asansol, India. It is a private airport owned by IISCO Steel Plant IISCO Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Limited is an integrated steel plant located at Burnpur, a neighbourhood in Asa ...

, India, 3 September 1944 * Yazagyo Airfield, Burma, 13 November 1944 * Inbaung Airfield, Burma, 12 December 1944 *

, India, 19 December 1944 (detachment operated from Arakan Airfield, Burma, c. 29 December 1944 – 23 January 1945) * Sinthe Airfield, Burma, 4 February 1945 *

, India, 14 March 1945 * Ondaw Airfield, Burma, 29 March 1945 * Meiktila Airfield, Burma, 5 April 1945 * Toungoo Airfield, Burma, 27 April 1945 *

, India, 14 May – 6 October 1945 *

Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...

, New Jersey, 1–3 November 1945 *

McCoy Air Force Base McCoy AFB (1940–1947, 1951–1975) is a former U.S. Air Force installation located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. From 1951 to 1975, it was a front line Strategic Air Command ...

, Florida, 1 February 1962 – 31 December 1969 *

, Oklahoma, 1 July 1976 – present

Aircraft

* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (1942) * Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1942–1943) * Stinson L-5 Sentinel (1944–1945) * Noorduyn C-64 Norseman (1944–1945) * Lockheed RC-121 Constellation (1962–1963) * Lockheed TC-121 Constellation (1962–1963) *

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 Loc ...

(1963–1969) *

Boeing WC-135 Constant Phoenix The WC-135 Constant Phoenix is a special-purpose aircraft derived from the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter and used by the United States Air Force. Its mission is to collect samples from the atmosphere for the purpose of detecting and identifying nuc ...

(1977–1979) * Boeing E-3 Sentry (1977–present)

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{US Air Force navbox Military units and formations in Oklahoma 966 1942 establishments in Kansas