PropertyValue
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • 416th Air Expeditionary Wing
rdfs:comment
  • The 416th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) is a provisional unit assigned to the Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force to activate or inactivate as needed. The wing began life in World War II as the 416th Bombardment Group (BG). The group was a Douglas A-20 Havoc light bomb group assigned to Ninth Air Force in Western Europe. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions in France when, in spite of intense resistance, the group bombed bridges, railways, rolling stock, and a radar station to disrupt the German retreat through the Falaise-Argentan gap. It converted to Douglas A-26 Invaders while engaged in combat and continued to support ground forces through the end of the war.
owl:sameAs
award date
  • --06-01
  • --07-01
  • --08-06
  • --09-15
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/property/wikiPageUsesTemplate
identification symbol 3 label
  • ACC tail marking at Griffiss AFB)
Role
  • Combat Support
identification symbol
  • 5
  • 175
  • GR
Type
  • Air Expeditionary
identification symbol label
  • 416
award notes
  • 416
  • France, 416th Bombardment Group
Caption
  • A 416th Air Expeditionary Group airman positions a fire bottle while preparing a C-17 Globemaster III for parking
Dates
  • 1943
award image
  • AF OUA
  • AF PUC
  • AF OUA w/ v
Unit Name
  • 416
Battles
decorations
award name
identification symbol 2 label
  • World War II Fuselage Identification Codes
abstract
  • The 416th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) is a provisional unit assigned to the Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force to activate or inactivate as needed. The wing began life in World War II as the 416th Bombardment Group (BG). The group was a Douglas A-20 Havoc light bomb group assigned to Ninth Air Force in Western Europe. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions in France when, in spite of intense resistance, the group bombed bridges, railways, rolling stock, and a radar station to disrupt the German retreat through the Falaise-Argentan gap. It converted to Douglas A-26 Invaders while engaged in combat and continued to support ground forces through the end of the war. The group's heritage was continued by the 416th Bombardment Wing (BW), a Strategic Air Command B-52 Stratofortress wing that conducted strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations on a global scale based at Griffiss Air Force Base in New York. 416th BW crews and aircraft deployed to the Pacific during the Vietnam War era to support SAC operations during the conflict. In 1984, the wing and group were consolidated and became a single unit. In 1991, wing crews and aircraft participated in the war in Southwest Asia. The 416th was inactivated as part of the Post-Cold War drawdown of United States strategic forces in 1995 (BRAC 1993) and the closure of Griffiss AFB. In 2002 the wing was converted to provisional status as the 416th Air Expeditionary Group It served as the host unit at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base (K2), in Qarshi, Uzbekistan, from 2002–2005, where it supported operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. It was redesignated as the 416th Air Expeditionary Wing in 2010, but the current status of this unit is not publicly known.