16th Air Expeditionary Wing
Encyclopedia
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
's 16th Air Expeditionary Wing (16 AEW) was an Air Expeditionary unit of the United States Air Forces in Europe
United States Air Forces in Europe
The United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...
until c.2005–06.
The unit's origins begin with its predecessor, the World War II 16th Bombardment Wing (16th BW) was part of Twentieth Air Force
Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...
. The 16th BW engaged in very heavy bombardment B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
operations against Japan. It's aircraft were identified by a "B" with a diamond painted on the tail.
Mission
The 16th AEW was activated as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe in 1998, initially as a component of Operation Allied Force, the 1998 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was deactivated by 2006.Units
The Wing was located at Aviano AB, Italy. It operated expeditionary sites at Camp Bondsteel, KosovoKosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
; Camp Able Sentry, Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
; Sarajevo and Tuzla AB, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
; Taszar AB, Hungary; Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Croatia and Naval Air Station Sigonella and San Vito Air Station, Italy; in addition to a contingency processing center at Rhein-Main AB, Germany.
- 16th Expeditionary Operations Group, Istres AB
- 401st Expeditionary Air Base Group, Tuzla AB
- 406th Expeditionary Air Base Group, Taszar AB
- 620th Expeditionary Air Base Group, Camp Able Sentry
- 2nd Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron, Camp BondsteelCamp BondsteelCamp Bondsteel is the main base of the United States Army under KFOR command in Kosovo. Located near Uroševac in the eastern part of Kosovo, the base serves as the NATO headquarters for KFOR's Multinational Brigade East . The base is named after Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient United States...
- 16th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group, SarajevoSarajevoSarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
- 16th Expeditionary Support Squadron, Rhein-Main AB
- 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, NAS Sigonella
- 775th Expeditionary Support Squadron, San Vito AS
Weapons systems operated
- Boeing KC-135E/R Stratotanker
- General Atomics MQ-1A Predator UAV
- Lockheed U-2RLockheed U-2The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
- General Dynamics F-16 Flying Falcon
reference for Weapons systems operated
Lineage
- Constituted as: 16th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) on 28 March 1944.
- Activated on 1 April 1944.
- Inactivated on 15 April 1946.
- Redesignated as: 16th Air Expeditionary Wing in February 1999 and converted to provisional status
- Activated 1999 (Date TBD)
- Inactivated 2006 (Date TBD)
Assignments
- Second Air ForceSecond Air ForceThe Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
, 1 April 1944 - 315th Bombardment Wing, 14 April 1945 – 15 April 1946
- Attached to 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing (Very Heavy), c. 15 August 1944 – 7 March 1945
- United States Air Forces in EuropeUnited States Air Forces in EuropeThe United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...
- United States Air Forces in Europe
- Attached to: Sixteenth Air ForceSixteenth Air ForceThe 16th Air Expeditionary Task Force is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe...
, February 1999 – 2006 (TBD)
Components
- 15th Bombardment Squadron15th Special Operations SquadronThe 15th Special Operations Squadron is part of the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It operates MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft in support of special operations.-Mission:...
: 1 April 1944 – 15 April 1946 - 16th Bombardment Squadron16th Bombardment SquadronThe 16th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 16th Bombardment Group stationed at Northwest Field, Guam.-History:...
: 1 April 1944 – 15 April 1946 - 17th Bombardment Squadron17th Bombardment SquadronThe 17th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 16th Bombardment Group stationed at Northwest Field, Guam. It was inactivated on 15 April 1946.-History:...
: 1 April 1944 – 15 April 1946 - 21st Bombardment Squadron21st Bombardment SquadronThe 21st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 501st Bombardment Group, based at Northwest Field, Guam in the Mariana Islands. It was inactivated on 10 June 1946....
: 1 April-10 May 1944
Stations
- Dalhart AAFDalhart Municipal AirportDalhart Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three miles southwest of the central business district of Dalhart, Texas, a city straddling the border of Dallam and Hartley counties in the northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle.The airport is not served by any commercial...
, Texas, 1 April 1944 - Fairmont AAFFairmont Army AirfieldFairmont State Airfield is a public use airport located three nautical miles south of the central business district of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics. The airport serves the general aviation community, with no scheduled...
, NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, 15 August 1944 – 7 March 1945 - Northwest FieldNorthwest Field (Guam)Northwest Field is a former World War II airfield on Guam in the Mariana Islands. It was closed in 1949 and is unused.-History:Northwest Field was constructed in 1944–45 near Ritidian Point on the northwest end of the island of Guam as a base for Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortresses to carry...
, GuamGuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, Mariana IslandsMariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, 14 April 1945 – 15 April 1946 - Aviano Air BaseAviano Air BaseAviano Air Base is a NATO Air Base under U.S. Air Force administration in northeastern Italy, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps, or Southern Carnic Alps, about 15 kilometers from Pordenone.-Units:Aviano is hosted by the...
, Italy, February 1999 – 2006 (TBD)
reference for lineage, assignmetns and stations
16th Bombardment Group
Dalhart Municipal Airport
Dalhart Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three miles southwest of the central business district of Dalhart, Texas, a city straddling the border of Dallam and Hartley counties in the northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle.The airport is not served by any commercial...
, Texas. Equipped with the Boeing B-29B Superfortresses, the operational bomb squadrons were the 15th, 16th, 17th and 21st. The unit trained for combat initially at Dalhart, then moving to Fairmont AAF
Fairmont Army Airfield
Fairmont State Airfield is a public use airport located three nautical miles south of the central business district of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics. The airport serves the general aviation community, with no scheduled...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
on 15 August 1944.
The B-29B was a limited production aircraft, built solely by Bell-Atlanta. It had all but the tail defensive armament removed, since experience had shown that by 1944 the only significant Japanese fighter attacks were coming from the rear. The tail gun was aimed and fired automatically by the new AN/APG-15B radar fire control system that detected the approaching enemy plane and made all the necessary calculations. The elimination of the turrets and the associated General Electric computerized gun system increased the top speed of the Superfortress to 364 mi/h at 25000 feet (7,620 m) and made the B-29B suitable for fast, unescorted hit-and-run bombing raids and photographic missions.
The 16th was assigned to Twentieth Air Force
Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...
on 7 March 1945 and was deployed to Northwest Field, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
as part of the 315th Bombardment Wing
315th Air Division
The 315th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces, based at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. It was inactivated in April 1969.-History:...
. Its B-29s were marked with a Diamond-B tail code. The group entered combat on 16 June 1945 with a bombing raid against an airfield on Moen
Moen (island)
Moen, also called Weno or Wono, is an island in Truk Lagoon, the main island group of the state of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia....
. Flew first mission against the Japanese home islands
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on 26 June 1945 and afterwards operated principally against the enemy's petroleum industry.
Flying unescorted in the face of severe enemy attack, the 16th bombed the Maruzen Oil Refinery at Shimotsu
Shimotsu, Wakayama
was a town located in Kaisō District, Wakayama, Japan.On April 1, 2005 Shimotsu was merged into the city of Kainan.As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 14,481 and a density of 363.57 persons per km². The total area was 39.83 km²....
on the night of 2 July; the Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
refinery and Kawasaki oil installations at Kawasaki
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....
on the night of 12–13 July, and the coal liquefication plants at Ube
Ube, Yamaguchi
is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan on the Seto Inland Sea.As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 179,000 and the density of 622 persons per km². The total area is 287.69 km².The city was founded on November 1, 1921....
on 22–23 July 1945. The unit was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for the missions.
There were several missions flown during the month of August and each resulted in the virtual destruction of an important Japanese petroleum refinery. The tactics of radar bombing from individual aircraft were used during attacks on the Mitsubishi-Hayama Petroleum Complex on the night of 1–2 August; the Nippon Oil Refinery and Tank Farm at Amagasaki on 9–10 August, and the final target of the war for the 16th Group was the Nippon Oil Refinery at Tsuchizaki on 15 August 1945.
After the war the group dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners gf war in
Japan, Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and participated in several show-of-force missions over Japan. The problem of dropping supplies to Prisoners of War was difficult. In the first place, most of the camps were small and hard to locate. Even more important was the great distance that had to be flown on some of the missions. Accurate information was lacking on several of the camps, especially those located in Manchuria and Korea. The Japanese had apparently shifted many of the prisoners around and closed down some of the concentration centers. Most of the supplies were dropped with the aid of a parachute but certain types of packages were permitted to fall free. The bombardier on each B-29 had quite a problem in determining the exact moment of release.
On 2 September, the 16th Group participated in the "Show of Force" mission over Tokyo which took place while the surrender terms were being signed on the battleship Missouri
USS Missouri (BB-63)
|USS Missouri is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship, and was the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri...
in Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
. The mission was carefully planned as it represented the first attempt at formation flying that the organization had made since its arrival overseas. The aircraft flew over Tokyo Bay just as the surrender terms were signed and the men could watch the Missouri at the same time that they heard the broadcast of the ceremony over the radio. The B-29s flew at approximately 3000 feet (914.4 m) and could see clearly through a scattered undercast.
The 16th Bombardment Group was inactivated on Guam on 15 April 1946.
16th Air Expeditionary Wing
The 16th Air Expeditionary Wing was a redesignation of the 31st Air Base Squadron, assigned to Aviano Air BaseAviano Air Base
Aviano Air Base is a NATO Air Base under U.S. Air Force administration in northeastern Italy, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. It is located in Aviano municipality, at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps, or Southern Carnic Alps, about 15 kilometers from Pordenone.-Units:Aviano is hosted by the...
, Italy in February 1999. Its initial mission was a component of Operation Allied Force (OAF), which was the NATO response to Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n aggression against ethnic Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
n in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
.
In June 2003 the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing was reactivated at Aviano Air Base, Italy, replacing the 16th AEW, deactivating so as to eliminate an overlap in heraldry with the 16th SOW at Hurlburt Field
Hurlburt Field
Hurlburt Field is a U.S. Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the Town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation, and is home to Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command , the 1st Special Operations Wing , the...
, Florida.
The 16th AEW may have operated over Kosovo and elsewhere in southern Europe until 2005–2006.