The 57th Wing (57 WG) is an operational unit of the

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 ...

(USAF) Warfare Center, stationed at

Nellis Air Force Base Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloq.) is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in " Military ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations.

Mission

The 57 WG is home to advanced air combat training. The wing provides training for composite strike forces which include every type of

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

in the USAF inventory. Training is conducted in conjunction with air and ground units of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, U.S. Marine Corps and air forces from US allied nations. The crews do not come to learn how to fly, but instead learn how to be combat aviators.

Units

The wing was reorganized in 2005 to reflect its current structure. * 57th Operations Group (57 OG) (tail code: WA he code for the 57th Wing : The 57th OG consists of Aggressor squadrons that replicate adversary threat tactics while training combat air forces aircrews. :

64th Aggressor Squadron The 64th Aggressor Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 57th Adversary Tactics Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 64th AGRS is assigned 24 F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft, painted in camouflage schemes i ...

: 15 Sep 2005-Present :

65th Aggressor Squadron The 65th Aggressor Squadron is a United States Air Force unit currently operating the F-35A Lightning II. It is assigned to the 57th Operations Group at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Overview The 65th Aggressor Squadron currently flies the F- ...

: 9 June 2022-Present : 57th Adversary Tactics Support Squadron : 57th Information Aggressor Squadron : 507th Air Defense Aggressor Squadron : 547th Intelligence Squadron *

USAF Weapons School The USAF Weapons School is a unit of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, assigned to the 57th Wing and Space Delta 1. It is located at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Mission The mission of the USAF Weapons School is to teach gradu ...

: Composed of 16 squadrons, the U.S. Air Force Weapons School teaches graduate-level instructor courses that provide advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces. *

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron ("Thunderbirds") is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Created in 1953, the USAF Th ...

- The Thunderbirds : "America's Ambassadors in Blue," the Thunderbirds have performed for more than 300 million people in all 50 states and 60 countries around the world. * 57th Maintenance Group : USAF's most diverse maintenance group with over 2,200 Airmen, civilians and contractors in 3 squadrons, 8 Aircraft Maintenance Units, 13 flying hour programs and Air Combat Command's largest A-76 backshop service provider contract worth over $230M. Provides sortie generation, munitions and on- and off-equipment maintenance for 132 assigned

A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

, F-15 Eagle,

F-15E Strike Eagle The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without rely ...

, F-16 Fighting Falcon,

F-35A Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

and F-22A Raptor aircraft to support the test, tactics and training missions. * United States Air Force Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School : Provides graduate-level instruction to maintenance and munitions officers and senior non-commissioned officers to perform as expert field level logistics leaders. The Thunderbirds and the USAF Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School report directly to the 57th Wing commander.

History

:''See 57th Operations Group for complete lineage and timeline information.'' :''See 57th Adversary Tactics Group and

for the flying components of the 57th Wing.'' :''See

for the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.'' Established on 15 March 1948, the 57th Fighter Wing replaced 57th Fighter Wing (Provisional) in April 1948. It operated

Elmendorf AFB Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command (AL ...

, Alaska, and several satellite bases, and provided air defense of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, April 1948-December 1950. In addition, the wing provided intra-theater troop carrier and airlift support, 1948–1950, using several attached troop carrier squadrons. In January 1951, it was replaced by 39th Air Depot Wing. The 57th moved to

and replaced the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing at

, in October 1969. At Nellis, it trained tactical fighter aircrews, conducted operational tests and evaluations, demonstrated tactical fighter weapon systems, and developed fighter tactics and from February 1970 to October 1979 and operated Nellis AFB for all base tenants. The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron (the " Thunderbirds") was assigned to the wing in February 1974 and has remained an integral part of the wing to present. The 57th assumed operational control of " Red Flag" exercises in October 1979; developing realistic combat training operations featuring adversary tactics, dissimilar air combat training, and

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

. It incorporated

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

training after March 1980. In 1990 the aggressor mission transferred to 4440th TFTG and later to the 414th CTS. The wing added instruction in hunter/killer counter electronic warfare tactics until 1996.

Modern era

From 1992–1999, the wing operated detachments at

Cannon AFB Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operatio ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

Ellsworth AFB Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located about northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota, just north of the town of Box Elder. The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW). Assigned to the Global Stri ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

, and

Barksdale AFB Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in northwest Louisiana, United States, in Bossier Parish. It is contiguous to Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale AFB ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, that flew and tested the

F-111 Aardvark The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included attack aircraft, ground attack (e.g. Air interdiction, i ...

B-1B Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along with ...

and B-52 Stratofortress respectively. It added the 66th Rescue Squadron, equipped with HH-60 helicopters, on February 1, 1993, while the squadron was deployed in

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

. From 1991 to present, the 57th provided combat aircrew capabilities, operating the USAF Weapons and the USAF Combat Rescue Schools, developing techniques and procedures and conducting operational test and evaluation on all major aircraft in the AF inventory. With the reactivation of the 432d Wing at

Creech Air Force Base Creech Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) command and control facility in Clark County, Nevada used "to engage in daily Overseas Contingency Operations …of remotely piloted aircraft systems which fly missions across the globe." ...

on May 1, 2007, the elements that comprised the 57th Operations Group, were transferred to the 432nd Wing. The 57th Adversary Tactics Group, which was established in 2005, merged into the 57th Operations Group on 31 March 2020.

Lineage

* Established as 57th Fighter Wing c. 15 March 1948* : Organized on 20 April 1948 : Redesignated 57th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 20 January 1950 : Inactivated on 1 January 1951 * Redesignated 57th Fighter Weapons Wing on 22 August 1969 : Activated on 15 October 1969 by redesignation of 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing : Redesignated: 57th Tactical Training Wing on 1 April 1977 : Redesignated: 57th Fighter Weapons Wing on 1 March 1980 : Redesignated: 57th Fighter Wing on 1 October 1991 : Redesignated: 57th Wing on 15 June 1993. *Note: The 57th Fighter Wing (Provisional) was established on 16 April 1947 at Fort Richardson, Alaska, as one of the "Base-Wing" concept provisional Table of Distribution (T/D) organizations. The provisional wing was inactivated and replaced by the 57th Fighter Wing in March 1948 (exact date unknown).

Assignments

Alaskan Air Command Alaskan Air Command (AAC) is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command originally established in 1942 under the United States Army Air Forces. Its mission was to organize and administer the air defense system of Alaska, exercise dire ...

, 20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951 * USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons (later, USAF Fighter Weapons; USAF Weapons and Tactics; Air Warfare) Center, 15 October 1969–present

Components

Groups * 57th Fighter (later, 57th Fighter-Interceptor; 57th Operations) : April 20, 1948 – January 1, 1951 (detached December 10, 1950 – January 1, 1951) : November 1, 1991 – * 57th Adversary Tactics Group, 1 July 2005–present * 57th Test Group: November 1, 1991 – October 1, 1996 *

4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group Year 444 ( CDXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Aginatius (or, less frequently, year 1197 ''Ab urbe ...

(Red Flag) : Attached October 1, 1979 – February 28, 1980 : Assigned March 1, 1980 – November 1, 1991 * 4443d Tactical Training Group: January 26, 1990 – November 1, 1991. Squadrons * 4th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 2 Dec 1948-28 Feb 1949 and 14 Aug-14 Nov 1949 * 7th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 28 Feb-1 Jun 1949 * 8th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 1 Sep-2 Dec 1948 and 1 Jun-15 Aug 1949 * 37th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached 4 Jul-1 Sep 1948 * 54th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached c. 20 Apr-c. 1 Jul 1948 and 20 Sep 1949-31 Dec 1950 * 64th Fighter Weapons (later, 64th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 64th Aggressor) Squadron: 15 Oct 1972-5 Oct 1990. * 65th Fighter Weapons (later, 65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 65th Aggressor) Squadron: 15 Oct 1969-7 Apr 1989 * 66th Fighter Weapons Squadron: 15 Oct 1969-30 Dec 1981 * 414th Fighter Weapons Squadron: 15 Oct 1969-30 Dec 1981 * 422d Fighter Weapons (later, 422d Test and Evaluation) Squadron: 15 Oct 1969-1 Nov 1991 * 431st Fighter Weapons (later, 431st Test and Evaluation) Squadron: 1 Oct 1980-1 Nov 1991 * 433d Fighter Weapons Squadron: 1 Oct 1976-30 Dec 1981 *

509th Weapons Squadron The 509th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. The squadron is a geographically separated unit of the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada ...

: 2006–Present. Located at Fairchild AFB WA. * 4460th Helicopter Squadron: 1 Nov 1983-1 Jun 1985 * 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (later, 4477 Test and Evaluation Squadron) Squadron: 1 Apr 1977-15 Jul 1990. *

: 15 Feb 1974–Present Schools * USAF Fighter Weapons (later, USAF Weapons) School: 30 December 1981–Present * USAF Combat Rescue School: July 2, 1993 – July 15, 1995.

Stations

Elmendorf Air Force Base Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command (AL ...

, 20 April 1948 – 1 January 1951 *

, 15 October 1969–present

Aircraft operated

* P-51 Mustang (1948) *

P-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, prod ...

(1948–1950) *

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

(1948) *

C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...

(1948–1950) *

A-7 Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design w ...

(1969–1975) * F-4 Phantom II (1969–1985, 1993–1995) * F-100 Super Sabre (1969) *

F-105 Thunderchief The Republic F-105 Thunderchief is an American supersonic fighter-bomber that served with the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1984. Capable of Mach 2, it conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Viet ...

(1969–1975) *

(1969–1995) *

T-39 Sabreliner The North American Sabreliner, later sold as the Rockwell Sabreliner, is an American mid-sized business jet developed by North American Aviation. It was offered to the United States Air Force (USAF) in response to its Utility Trainer Experimen ...

(1969–1972) *

T-38 Talon The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first, and the most produced, supersonic trainer. The T-38 remains in service in several air forces. The United States Air Force (USAF) operates the most ...

(1972–1990) * F-5 Freedom Fighter (1975–1989) * F-15 Eagle (1976 – present) *

(1977 – present) *

F-16 Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

(1980 – present) *

UH-1 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility helicopter, utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Bell Huey family, Huey family, as we ...

(1981–1985) *

B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along with ...

(1993–1999) * B-52 Stratofortress (1993–1999) * HH-60 Pave Hawk (1993 – present) *

MQ-1 Predator The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ...

(1995–2007) *

KC-135R Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transport ...

(2006-) * MQ-9 Reaper (2007-) *

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

(2010-) *

F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

(2013-)

List of commanders

Brig Gen Joel T. Hall * Brig Gen Joseph W. Ashy, May 1984 * Brig Gen Stephen L. Hoog * Brig Gen

Russell J. Handy Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia * Russell, Australian Capital Territory * Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) ** ...

, 18 January 2008 * Brig Gen Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, 16 July 2010 * Brig Gen Charles L. Moore Jr., 26 March 2012 * Brig Gen

Christopher M. Short Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

, 28 February 2014 * Brig Gen Jeannie Leavitt, 15 April 2016 * Brig Gen Robert Novotny, 8 June 2018 * Brig Gen Michael Drowley, 7 August 2020 * Brig Gen Richard Goodman, 30 June 2022

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. .

External links

Nellis AFB Home Page
{{Aerospace Defense Command Military units and formations in Nevada 0057