The
332nd Fighter Group, part of the
Tuskegee Airmen, was a hard-fighting Army Air Forces unit in Europe during the Second World War. The
332nd Fighter Wing was established in July 1947 under the United States Air Force's
Hobson Plan, the wing/base reorganization. The
332nd Fighter Group becoming the operational component of the wing, controlling its flying squadrons. the 332nd Fighter Wing replaced the 447th Composite Group and 580th Air Service Group. The new wing participated in firepower demonstrations, gunnery training, and operational missions to maintain combat proficiency. The African-American segregated unit was inactivated in July 1949 as a result of
Executive Order 9981. EO 9981 abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces. The 332nd's personnel and equipment were reassigned to other units.
Air Expeditionary Wing In August 2002, the Air Combat Command (ACC) 332nd Air Expeditionary Group at
Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, was authorized to expand to a Wing. The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing was activated as a provisional organization on 12 August 2002 by ACC, with the 332nd AEG becoming the Wing's flying organization. A support organization was also activated as part of the 332 AEW, consisting of the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Group; 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group; 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, and the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group. At its peak strength, the 332nd AEW consisted of over 8,000 personnel, including 1,800 Airmen of the 732 AEG, provided operational oversight for Airmen tactically assigned to U.S. Army and Marine units at over 60 forward operating locations throughout Iraq. Employing A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons, HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and HC-130 Hercules aircraft the 332nd AEW initially participated in
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), playing a critical role in the defeat of the
Taliban regime and later providing key air support for
Afghanistan's provisional government. After the initiation of
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) the 332nd was moved to
Tallil Air Base, Iraq. To better position airpower within the theater of operations, the 332nd AEW moved to
Balad Air Base, Iraq, in February 2004. In June 2008, the base was officially renamed Joint Base Balad. The new name was indicative of the joint nature of operations by all branches of service at the base. During the height of operations, the 332nd AEW contained nine groups. Four were geographically separated—the 407th, 447th,
438th Air Expeditionary Group and
506th Air Expeditionary Groups located respectively at
Ali Air Base,
Sather Air Base,
Al Asad Air Base,
Kirkuk Air Base—as well as numerous detachments and operating locations scattered throughout Iraq. The wing had as many as two F-16 fighter squadrons, a Predator UAV squadron, a C-130 squadron, a combat search and rescue squadron (HH-60s), a MC-12 Liberty squadron, and a Control and Reporting Center. At Joint Base Balad (JBB), the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing consisted of the following major groups: •
332nd Expeditionary Operations Group •
332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Group : Provided combat-ready aircraft and munitions to the Air Component Commander in support of Coalition forces throughout Iraq. Was responsible for on- and off-aircraft maintenance and sortie generation in support of
Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons,
C-130 Hercules,
HH-60 Pave Hawks,
MQ1 Predators, and the
MC-12 Liberty, as well as launch, recovery and servicing support for military and commercial transient aircraft •
332nd Expeditionary Medical Group : Consisted of approximately 357 professional and support staff from all four armed services working alongside civilians and contractors that provided state-of-the-art medical care. The medical group was the only air-evacuation hospital in Iraq and provided a full-spectrum of medical services for Coalition and U.S. forces throughout the Iraqi theater of operations. •
332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group : Enabled sustained and protected combat capability for US Air Forces Central, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Joint Base Balad, and detachments. The 332 EMSG provided expeditionary communications, services, civil engineering, force protection, personnel accountability, and logistics-readiness operations in support of DoD's busiest single-runway operation. In addition, the 332 EMSG provided base-life support to the approximately 26,000 servicemembers and civilians on JBB. •
332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group :The Security Forces Group was activated on 24 July 2008, at JBB, Iraq. Its activation marked the first time the Air Force deployed more than 900 people within a single unit to defend an air base in combat since the Vietnam War. The members of the 332nd ESFG work side-by-side with soldiers of the U.S. and Iraqi armies to provide physical security in the area around JBB. The Group was made up of two squadrons; the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron provided base law enforcement and flight line security and the 532nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron provided security at the three entry control points to the base as well as a
quick reaction force for "outside-the-wire" missions. The group was initially led by Colonel Decknick who was the prior Group commander for the
820th Security Forces Group. ==Lineage==