The 730th Air Mobility Squadron (730 AMS) is a unit of the 515th Air Mobility Operations Group, based at Yokota AB, Japan and the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing, based at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

Mission

AMC has one numbered air force, the 18th Air Force, headquartered at Scott AFB. Two expeditionary mobility task forces, the 15th EMTF at Travis AFB, California, and the 21st EMTF at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, report to the 18th AF. The Tanker Airlift Control Center, located at Scott AFB, also reports to the 18th AF along with AMC's wings and groups located inside the continental United States. AMC's Air Mobility Operations Groups at Travis AFB and Hickam AFB, Hawaii, report to the 18th AF through the 15th EMTF; those at McGuire AFB and Ramstein Air Base

Ramstein Air Base

Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...

, Germany, report to the 18th AF through the 21st EMTF.

The two EMTFs serve as lead agencies for conducting mobility operations worldwide. Each of the EMTFs is commanded by a general officer responsible for leading the efforts of the four Air Mobility Operation Groups and their subordinate units providing worldwide expeditionary mobility support.

The TACC is the agency for centralized command and control of Air Force and commercial contract air mobility assets. It plans, schedules and tracks airlift, aeromedical evacuation and aerial refueling

Aerial refueling

Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....

 aircraft worldwide to efficiently and effectively accomplish Air Mobility Command's Global Reach mission.

History

Prior to being activated as the 730 AMS, the squadron was designated as the 630th Air Mobility Support Squadron [AMSS]. The change in designation became effective on March 15, 2001, when the 630th AMSS was inactivated and the 730th AMS activated at Yokota AB. The change was enacted to better reflect the role of the unit as more operational than support oriented.

For the six years previous to the unit's inactivation, the 630th AMSS provided fixed, deployed command and control, aerial port, and maintenance required for the United States' Global Reach in the western Pacific.

The squadron is part of AMC's en route system to provide fixed and deployed maintenance, aerial port and command and control support to deployed AMC forces. The squadron's mission is to provide critical en route services to deployed forces worldwide.

The 630th Air Mobility Support Squadron was one of Air Mobility Command's primary Pacific hubs for air traffic. It was AMC's senior activity at Yokota and it represented other AMC organizations in the Pacific including operating locations at Fukuoka Airport

Fukuoka Airport

, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Japan. It is officially designated a second class airport. It is operating at full capacity, and cannot be further expanded. Flights stop at 10 p.m...

 and Misawa Air Base

Misawa Air Base

right|thumb|A US Navy C-2 at Misawa is a United States military facility located northeast of the railway station in Misawa, west of the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Towada, northwest of Hachinohe, and north of Tokyo, in Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region in the northern part of the...

, Japan. The 630th supported all strategic/commercial airlift throughout the Pacific. The air transportation function operated the primary U.S. aerial port in Japan, providing support to U. S. military passengers and cargo arriving or departing from Yokota.