52d Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron

The 52d Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron (52 EFTS) is part of the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission - Air Force (ITAM-AF) and is based at Contingency Operating Base (COB) Speicher, Tikrit

Tikrit

Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. It operates T-6A aircraft conducting flight training for members of the Iraqi Air Force

Iraqi Air Force

The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...

. C-172 and C-208 aircraft will be moved from Kirkuk Air Base

Kirkuk Air Base

Kirkuk Air Base is a military airbase located near Kirkuk, Iraq.-General information:Kirkuk Regional Air Base is home to the 506th Air Expeditionary Group. The group maintains base security, conducts safe flying operations and actively supports base agencies in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom,...

to COB Speicher

COB Speicher

COB Speicher formerly FOB Speicher is a US Army Contingency Operating Base captured from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. It was reassigned from a Forward Operating Base to a COB because of its large size...

in spring 2010 to be incorporated in the flying training program.

Mission

Train, educate and advise professional Iraqi Airmen in order to build the institutional capacity to conduct credible fixed and rotary wing flight training for the Iraqi Air Force.

History

Activated in early 1940 as part of the pre-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

build up of the United States Army Air Corps

United States Army Air Corps

The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...

after the breakout of war in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Assigned to the GHQ Northeast Air District, equipped with B-18 Bolos; later early model B-17C/D heavy bombers. After the Pearl Harbor Attack. flew antisubmarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

patrol missions in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

from, January–June 1942.

Returned to the United States in June 1942 and was assigned to II Bomber Command

II Bomber Command

The II Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Second Air Force, based at Fort George Wright, Washington. It was inactivated on 6 October 1943....

. Was an Operational Training (OTU) and later Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for B-17 heavy bomber units and replacement personnel until March 1944 with the end of Heavy Bomber training.

Redgesignated as a 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...

very heavy bombardment Squadron under Second Air Force

Second Air Force

The 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....

. Deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations

Pacific Theater of Operations

The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...

(PTO), assigned to North Field, Guam under XXI Bomber Command

XXI Bomber Command

The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in Guam for strategic bombing during World War II.- Lineage:* Constituted as XXI Bomber Command on 1 Mar 1944, and activated the same day.-Assignments:...

. Flew very long range strategic bombardment missions over the Japanese Home Islands, attacking military, industrial and transportation targets. Switched to night incendiary raids attacking major Japanese cities in the spring of 1945, causing massive destruction of urbanized areas. Continued strategic bombing raids and incendiary attacks until Japanese Capitulation in August 1945.

Squadron remained in Western Pacific, although largely demobilized in the fall of 1945. Some aircraft scrapped on Tinian

Tinian

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....

; others flown to storage depots in the United States. Remained as a paper unit 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...

until inactivated in 1946.

It conducted undergraduate pilot training from, 1972–1977 and 1990-1997. The 52d was reactivated in March 2007 as the first ever US Air Force expeditionary flying training squadron and the first flying training squadron activated in a combat zone. Its mission is to train, educate and advice Iraqi airmen to conduct undergraduate and instructor pilot training for the Iraqi Air Force

Iraqi Air Force

The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...

Lineage

Constituted 52d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 22 Dec 1939

Activated on 1 Feb 1940

Redesignated 52d Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy, on 28 Mar 1944

Inactivated on 1 Apr 1944

Activated on 1 Apr 1944

Inactivated on 20 May 1946

Redesignated 52d Flying Training Squadron on 22 Mar 1972

Activated on 1 Jul 1972

Inactivated on 30 Sep 1977

Activated on 11 May 1990

Inactivated on 1 Apr 1997

Redesignated 52d Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron, and converted to provisional status, on 23 Mar 2007

Activated on 29 Mar 2007.

Assignments

29th Bombardment Group
29th Bombardment Group
The 29th Flying Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit last based at Craig AFB, Alabama. It was inactivated when Craig AFB was closed as a budget reduction action after the Vietnam War....

, 1 Feb 1940-1 Apr 1944; 1 Apr 1944-20 May 1946
29th Flying Training Wing, 1 Jul 1972-30 Sep 1977
64th Flying Training Wing, 11 May 1990
64th Operations Group, 15 Dec 1991-1 Apr 1997
370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group
370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group
The 370th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Education and Training Command. It may be activated or inactivated at any time. Currently, the unit is stationed in Southwest Asia...

, 29 Mar 2007-1 Nov 2008
321st Air Expeditionary Advisory Group, 1 Nov 2008–Present

Bases stationed

Langley Field, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

(1940)
MacDill Field, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

(1940–1942)
Gowen Field, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

(1942–1944)
Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

(1944)
North Field
Andersen Air Force Base
Andersen Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam....

, 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...

(1945–1946)
Craig Air Force Base
Craig Air Force Base
Craig Air Force Base near Selma, Alabama, was a U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training base that closed in 1977. As an active air force base, Craig had two parallel runways, a large aircraft parking ramp and several large maintenance hangars....

, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

(1972–1977)
Reese Air Force Base
Reese Air Force Base
Reese Air Force Base was a base of the United States Air Force located 6 mi west of Lubbock, Texas, about 225 mi WNW of Fort Worth...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

(1990–1997)
Kirkuk Air Base
Kirkuk Air Base
Kirkuk Air Base is a military airbase located near Kirkuk, Iraq.-General information:Kirkuk Regional Air Base is home to the 506th Air Expeditionary Group. The group maintains base security, conducts safe flying operations and actively supports base agencies in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom,...

, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

(2007–2009)
COB Speicher
COB Speicher
COB Speicher formerly FOB Speicher is a US Army Contingency Operating Base captured from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. It was reassigned from a Forward Operating Base to a COB because of its large size...

, Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...

, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

(2009–Present)

Aircraft Operated

B-18 Bolo
B-18 Bolo
The Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....

(1940–1941)
B-17 Flying Fortress (1940–1944)
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

(1943–1944)
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...

(1944–1946)
T-38 Talon
T-38 Talon
The Northrop T-38 Talon is a twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2011 in air forces throughout the world....

(1972–1977, 1990–1992)
T-1 Jayhawk (1992–1997)
C-172 (2007–2009)
C-208 (2007–2009)
T-6A (2009–present)

Commanders

Capt Frank H. Robinson, 1 Feb 1940; Unknown, 3–9 May 1941; Capt Bockman, 10 May 1941; 1 Lt John D. Harcos, 27 Oct 1941; Capt James A. Walsh, 5 Nov 1941; Maj Edgar M. Wittan, 14 Feb 1942; Capt Lewellyn T. Boatwright, 21 Jun 1942; Capt Robert H. Warren, 5 Sep 1942; Maj Seldon L. McMillin, 7 Nov 1942; Capt James Kirkpatrick, 28 Jan 1943; Maj Robert L. Cox, 27 Apr 1943; Capt Delbert R. Hetrick, 15 Oct 1943-c. 1944. None (not manned), 1 Apr-3 May 1944; Capt John A. Martin, 4 May 1944; Lt Col Eugene O. Strouse, 23 May 1944; Maj Thomas W. Abbott Jr., 26 Jul 1945-c. 1946. Lt Col Charles E. Irwin, by 1 Jul 1972; Lt Col Max L. Hubrich, by 31 Dec 1973; Lt Col George B. Lapham, by Jun 1975-c. 30 Sep 1977. Lt Col Stanley R. Osborne, 11 May 1990; Lt Col Barry C. Hall, 5 Jun 1992; Lt Col Clarence A. McFarland, 1 Oct 1992; Lt Col Gerald R. Scroggins, 25 Jun 1993; Lt Col John Mazurowski, 31 Oct 1993; Lt Col Mark Richardson III, 20 Jan 1995; Lt Col LeeRoy A. Martin, 3 May 1996-1 Apr 1997. Lt Col Mark S. Bennett, 8 Sep 2007; Lt Col Nathan S. Brauner, 24 Jul 2008; Lt Col Charles E. Westbrook, 11 Jul 2009; Lt Col Charles Stevens 18 Jun 2010, Lt Col Andrew K Hamann 20 Jun 2011 .

External links

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