The 96th Test Group was a

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, based at

Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, and a census-designated place in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. Th ...

, New Mexico. It was a

Geographically Separate Unit In the United States military a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU) is a base that is physically separate from, yet not autonomous of its "parent" base. GSUs are "owned" by their parent organization and are typically quite small. Assignment to a ...

(GSU), assigned to the

96th Test Wing The 96th Test Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Test Center of Air Force Materiel Command at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The wing was activated at Eglin in 1994 as the 96th Air Base Wing, the headquarters for ...

, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The Test Group's function was to operate test facilities for high speed sled track testing, navigation and guidance system testing, radar signature measurements, weapon systems flight testing, and Air Force liaison for all AF programs tested at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). The group consisted of 90 authorized military, 239 authorized civilians, and 161 authorized contractor personnel with two-thirds of these being scientists, engineers, and technicians. It was established as a replacement for the 46th Test Group, which was inactivated due to an administrative reorganization. Assumed personnel and equipment of the inactivated unit. Circa 2016 it was itself replaced by the 704th Test Group.

Units

* 586th Flight Test Squadron : Provides deployable operational support for test aircraft staging out of Holloman AFB. The squadron flight tests guidance systems, laser systems, air-to-air/air-to-ground systems, long-range and standoff weapons, live warheads, and provides target and photo/safety chase. It operates four highly modified T-38C and one C-12J aircraft equipped to support a wide variety of flight test operations. * 746th Test Squadron : Also known as the Central Inertial and GPS Test Facility (CIGTF), is the DoD's designated lead test organization chartered to test and evaluate Global Positioning System (GPS) user equipment (UE) and integrated GPS based guidance and navigation systems. To this end, the 746 TS manages the tri-service GPS Test Center of Expertise (COE) composed of Army, Navy, and Air Force test agencies chartered to support GPS test and evaluation initiatives. In addition, CIGTF's inclusive ground, field, and flight-testing capabilities offer the customer a means to evaluate their guidance and navigation systems. * 796th Test Support Squadron * 846th Test Squadron - rocket sled tests to include: : High speed tests : Ejection seat tests : Supersonic track tests : Hypersonic tests : The squadron operates the

Holloman High Speed Test Track The Holloman High Speed Test Track (HHSTT) is a United States Department of Defense/Air Force aerospace ground test facility located at Holloman Air Force Base in south-central New Mexico. It is adjacent to the White Sands Missile Range and is ope ...

(HHSTT) which simulates selected portions of the flight environment under accurately programmed and instrumented conditions. This capability fills the gap between laboratory investigations and full scale flight tests. The squadron is also DoD's "Center of Expertise" for all ejection seat testing and the lead facility for all supersonic tracks * Det 1, 96th Test Group : Serves as a sponsor for all Air Force programs testing on

White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...

(WSMR). It assists users in preparing documentation for supporting services and obtaining WSMR logistic and support resources. In addition, this office acts as lead agent for scheduling all Air Force training and mission requirements for the

49th Fighter Wing "Thank God for Mississippi" is an adage used in the United States, particularly in the South, that is generally used when discussing rankings of U.S. states. Since the U.S. state of Mississippi commonly ranks at or near the bottom of such rankings ...

, 96th Test Group, and weapon system program's use of WSMR airspace. * Det 2, 96th Test Group

Lineage

* Constituted as the 96th Test Group on 18 June 2012 : Activated on 1 October 2012

Assignments

, 1 October 2012 – present

Stations

, New Mexico, 1 October 2012 – present

Components

586th Flight Test Squadron The 586th Flight Test Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The squadron's first predecessor is the 586th Bombardment Squadron, a Martin B-26 Marauder unit that was organized and trained ...

, 1 October 2012 – 1 Dec 2016. * 746th Test Squadron, 1 October 2012 – c. 2016. * 796th Test Support Squadron, 1 October 2012 – present * 846th Test Squadron, 1 October 2012 – present

References

External links

96th Test Group Factsheet

96th Test Group History
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Test and evaluation units and formations of the United States Air Force Military units and formations established in 2012 2012 establishments in the United States Military units and formations disestablished in 2016