962d Airborne Air Control Squadron
Encyclopedia
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is a United States military facility adjacent to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It is an amalgamation of the former United States Air Force Elmendorf Air Force Base and the United States Army Fort Richardson, which were merged in 2010.-Overview:The...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. It operates the E-3 Sentry
E-3 Sentry
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force , NATO, Royal Air Force , French Air Force...
aircraft conducting airborne command and control missions.
Mission
The 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron provides the commander, U.S. Pacific Command, with a long-range airborne surveillanceSurveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
, detection, identification, and command and control platform for both local and deployed composite wing operations. It supports the commander's, North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
(NORAD), commitment to defense of the Alaskan Region.
History
Established in late 1943 as a B-24 LiberatorB-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...
heavy bombardment squadron; 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....
for training. One of the last heavy bomb squadrons activated, the unit trained at McCook Army Airfield
McCook Army Airfield
McCook Army Airfield was activated on 1 April 1943. It is located nine miles northwest of McCook, a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States and is southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was constructed in 1943...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
in a "hurry up" mode, as 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...
training was being conducted by 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....
and heavy bomber training was rapidly being phased out. Intensive training of all airmen and support specialists began in January and was only occasionally interrupted by Nebraska's late winter and early spring storms. Air exercises in several models of B-24s included day and night flights, cross-country navigation, simulated bombing, aerial-gunnery practice, and squadron and group formation flying.
The unit was deployed to the European Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...
(ETO), being assigned to VIII Bomber Command
VIII Bomber Command
The VIII Bomber Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit that is better known as the later appellation Eighth Air Force, as was popularized in post-World War II filmsand is frequently called the First Eighth Air Force by its veterans and successors in the services.The command was...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Was assigned to RAF Debach
RAF Debach
RAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
though the balance of the war, with a temporary move to RAF Wormingford
RAF Wormingford
RAF Station Wormingford is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Colchester....
in early 1945 while runways were being repaired at Debach. While at Wormingford, the squadron flew unarmed weather reconnaissance flights in support of Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
combat operations mission planning. Combat aircraft included B-24Hs and B-24Js from June 6 to August 24, 1944, and B-17Gs from September 8, 1944 to April 20, 1945.
Missions involved engaging in very long range strategic bombardment attacks on Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Occupied Europe, striking airfields, bridges, and gun batteries prior to and during the invasion of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
in June 1944; hitting enemy positions to assist ground forces south of Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
and at Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
in July 1944; bombing German fortifications to cover the airborne attack on Holland in September 1944; attacking enemy communications during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, December 1944-January 1945; and assisting the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945. The squadron flew its last combat mission, an attack on marshalling yards at Nauen
Nauen
Nauen is a town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 38 km west of Berlin and 26 km northwest of Potsdam.-History:...
, on 20 April 1945.
The squadron redeployed to the United States. in July and August 1945 and was established at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
on August 12 for B-29 training, however the Japanese Capitulation negated the need for the unit to train in B-29s and re-deploy to the Pacific Theater. The personnel were demobilized and the unit was inactivated there on August 28, 1945.
The 962d was reactivated on 8 July 1955, as a unit of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, with headquarters at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The squadron, equipped with various models of the propeller-driven C-121 Constellation aircraft, was a unit of the Air Defense Command.
The 962d participated in numerous operations to test the capability and readiness of the early warning system in order to extend radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
coverage seaward beyond that provided by land radars. The unit provided navigational and communications assistance to U.S. and allied aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and to units operating near Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
, 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...
.
As an operational unit of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing from 1955 to 1969, one of the 962's missions was to conduct search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
operations. One result of this role was the popularization of search operation patterns used while searching for a missing U.S. Navy aircraft in late February 1958.
The unit was inactivated on 31 December 1969. Having been re-designated as the 962d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron, the unit was reactivated on 8 July 1986, at Elmendorf Air Force Base
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is a United States military facility adjacent to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. It is an amalgamation of the former United States Air Force Elmendorf Air Force Base and the United States Army Fort Richardson, which were merged in 2010.-Overview:The...
in support of the Alaskan NORAD Region. A tenant unit of the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing, the 962 AWACS was assigned to the 552nd Air Control Wing, Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...
, with headquarters at Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in the southeast Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area, directly south of the suburb of Midwest City, Oklahoma.-Overview:...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
The mission of the 962 AWACS was to provide the 11th Air Force/Alaskan NORAD Region commander with a survivable radar platform that can extend the surveillance coverage of the land-based radar system operated by the Regional Operational Control Center. This enables battle commanders to see a threat at previously undetectable ranges and to position fighters to intercept them before they approach U.S. airspace. Since 1986, the squadron assisted in the interception of 68 Soviet aircraft.
In October 1992, the squadron was redesignated to the 3rd Wing, Elmendorf AFB, under Pacific Air Forces, and acquired the additional mission of being ready to deploy in support of commander, Pacific Command. In August 1994, the 962 AWACS was re-designated the 962 AACS.
On 22 September 1995, the squadron experienced its worst single accident. Aircraft Yukla 27 rolled for takeoff at 0746 Alaska Standard Time (AST) remaining airborne only 42 seconds due to a massive bird strike resulting in catastrophic damage. The crash resulted in the deaths of 22 U.S. Air Force and 2 Canadian Air Force personnel.
Today, squadron aircrews take part in exercises
Military exercise
A military exercise is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat...
such as Red Flag - Alaska
Red Flag - Alaska
RED FLAG-Alaska is a realistic, 10-day air combat United States Air Force training exercise held up to four times a year. It is held at Eielson Air Force Base and Elmendorf Air Force Base in the State of Alaska...
, TEAM SPIRIT, GREEN FLAG, and TANDEM THRUST.
Lineage
- Constituted 862 Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 14 Sept 1943
- Activated on 1 Nov 1943
- Redesignated 862 Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, on 21 Feb 1944
- Inactivated on 28 Aug 1945
- Consolidated (19 Sept 1985) with the 962 Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron, which was constituted on 30 Mar 1955.
- Activated on 8 Jul 1955
- Inactivated on 31 Dec 1969
- Redesignated: 962 Airborne Warning and Control Support Squadron on 31 Jul 1979
- Redesignated: 962 Airborne Warning and Control Squadron on 19 Sept 1985
- Activated on 1 Jul 1986
- Redesignated 962 Airborne Air Control Squadron on 1 Aug 1994.
Assignments
- 493d Bombardment Group493d Bombardment GroupThe 493d Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the Army Service Forces, being stationed at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota. It was inactivated on 28 August 1945....
, 1 Nov 1943-28 Aug 1945
- Attached to 3rd Air Division, 17 Feb-7 May 1945
- 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, 8 Jul 1955-31 Dec 1969
- 28th Air Division, 1 Jul 1986
- 552nd Operations Group, 29 May 1992
- 3rd Operations Group, 1 May 1993-Present
Bases stationed
- McCook Army AirfieldMcCook Army AirfieldMcCook Army Airfield was activated on 1 April 1943. It is located nine miles northwest of McCook, a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States and is southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was constructed in 1943...
, NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, 1 Nov 1943-1 Jan 1944 - Elveden Hall, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 1 Jan 1944 - RAF DebachRAF DebachRAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 17 Apr 1944 - RAF WormingfordRAF WormingfordRAF Station Wormingford is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Colchester....
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 17 Feb 1945 - RAF DebachRAF DebachRAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, 18 May-6 Aug 1945 - Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, c. 13-28 Aug 1945 - Otis AFB, MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, 8 Jul 1955-31 Dec 1969 - Elmendorf AFB, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, 1 Jul 1986-Present
Aircraft Operated
- B-24 LiberatorB-24 LiberatorThe 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...
(1944) - B-17 Flying Fortress (1944–1945)
- P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
(1945) - C-121 ConstellationLockheed ConstellationThe Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
(1955–1969) - E-3 SentryE-3 SentryThe Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force , NATO, Royal Air Force , French Air Force...
(1986–Present)