World War II and Occupation of Germany The earliest predecessor of the
501st Combat Support Group was the
501st Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron, which was organized in 1943 as the
headquarters for
Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas, a
World War II very heavy
bombardment training base. Great Bend was one of the original bases where
Boeing B-29 Superfortress units received their training before deploying to the
China Burma India Theater. However, the
Army Air Forces (AAF) found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving themselves less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. This resulted in the 501st, along with other units at Great Bend, being disbanded and its personnel, equipment and functions transferred to the 243d AAF Base Unit (Operational Training Unit, Very Heavy). The
501st Air Service Group was established toward the end of World War II to provide support for flying units in Germany and Austria from 1945 to 1948 as part of a reorganization of AAF support
groups in which the AAF replaced service groups that included personnel from other branches of the Army and supported two combat groups with air service groups including only Air Corps units. It was designed to support a single combat group. Its 919th Air Engineering Squadron provided
maintenance that was beyond the capability of the combat group, its 743rd Air Materiel Squadron handled all
supply matters, and its Headquarters & Base Services Squadron provided other support. It briefly supported the
Berlin Airlift before inactivation in 1948. It was replaced by elements of the 7150th AF Composite Wing in the Air Force
wing base reorganization in 1948. which was adopted to unify control at air bases The group was disbanded later in 1948.
Air Defense of the United States During the
Cold War, the group was reconstituted, redesignated as the
501st Air Defense Group, and activated by
Air Defense Command (ADC) at
O'Hare International Airport on 16 February 1953 with responsibility for air defense in the Great Lakes area. It was assigned the
62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was already stationed at O'Hare, flying
North American F-86 Sabres as its operational component. The 62d had been assigned directly to the
4706th Defense Wing prior to the activation of the 501st Group. The group added a second operational unit, the
42d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was activated at O'Hare eight days after the group headquarters, and also Flew F-86s. In March 1953, the 62d Squadron converted to newer
radar equipped and
Mighty Mouse rocket armed
North American F-86Ds. as part of ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.
Ground Launched Cruise Missile Support In the early 1980s USAF began deploying
Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in the European theater. The
501st Tactical Missile Wing was organized at
RAF Greenham Common as the first USAF wing equipped with the
BGM-109 Tomahawk missile. The 501st group was redesignated the
501st Combat Support Group and activated as the headquarters for organizations supporting the wing and hosted all USAF organizations at Greenham Common. As the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was implemented, the USAF withdrew its missiles from Europe and the wing and group were inactivated. ==Lineage==