378th Air Expeditionary Wing explained

Unit Name:	378th Air Expeditionary Wing
Dates:	18 October 1942—December 1942 (378 BG) 24 October 2005—14 November 2019 (378 AEG) 14 November 2019—present (378 AEW)^[1]
Branch:	United States Air Force
Type:	Air Expeditionary
Role:	Various
Command Structure:	Air Combat Command Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)
Current Commander:	Brig Gen Willam D. Betts^[2]
Garrison:	Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia
Identification Symbol Label:	378th Air Expeditionary Wing emblem

The 378th Air Expeditionary Wing (378 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Forces Central Command unit assigned to Air Combat Command. As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time.

The 378th Bombardment Group was an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command at Langley Field, Virginia, where it was stationed from October to December 1942. The group participated in the Antisubmarine Campaign along the Atlantic coast of the United States until it was inactivated, when the Antisubmarine Command assigned all its squadrons directly to the command's two antisubmarine wings.

The current 378th AEW is garrisoned in Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.

Structure

• 378th Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW)^[3]
  • 378th Expeditionary Operations Group (EOG)^[4]
    • 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) ^[5]
    • 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron (EECS)^[6]
    • 378th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron (EOSS) ^[7]
    • 378th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron (EMS)^[8]
  • 378th Expeditionary Mission Support Group (EMSG)^[7]
    • 378th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron (ECES)^[9]
    • 378th Expeditionary Communications Squadron (ECS)
    • 378th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron (ECONS)^[10]
    • 378th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron (EFSS)^[11]
    • 378th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron (ELRS)^[12]
    • 378th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron (ESFS)^[13]
  • 378th Expeditionary Medical Group (EMDG)

History

The group was activated at Langley Field, Virginia on 18 October 1942 with the 520th,^[14] 521st,^[15] and 523d Bombardment Squadrons assigned.^[16] Although designated a medium bombardment unit, it was equipped with Douglas O-46 and North American O-47 single-engine observation aircraft.^[17]

The group conducted its operations along the southeastern coast of the United States. Only the 523d Squadron was located with the group's headquarters at Langley. The 520th Squadron operated from Jacksonville Municipal Airport, Florida, while the 521st was stationed at Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina.^{[14] [15] [16]}

In late November, Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command began a series of organizational actions to more nearly align it with United States Navy headquarters engaged in the antisubmarine campaign.^[18] On 20 November, the 522d Bombardment Squadron at Lantana Airport, Florida was assigned to the group,^[19] At the same time, the group's 520th Squadron was attached directly to the new 25th Antisubmarine Wing, which had been established to manage Army Air Forces antisubmarine units in the area of the Navy's Eastern Sea Frontier.^[18] The group's squadrons were redesignated as antisubmarine squadrons,^{[14] [15] [16] [19]} Finally, in December, after less than two months of operation, the group was inactivated and its component squadrons were reassigned to the 25th Antisubmarine Wing.^{[17] [20]}

Twenty-first century

The unit was reactivated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Group and was converted to provisional status on 24 October 2005. It was then redesignated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing on 14 November 2019.^[1]

The base was expanded by the 621st Contingency Response Group "Devil Raiders" from 15 June 2019.^[21]

On 17 December 2019, in response to increasing tensions with Iran, the unit was formally activated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.^[22] The newly reactivated wing received its first combat aircraft shortly thereafter, when McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagles from the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron arrived in early January 2020. The 494th would be replaced by General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons from the Triple Nickel 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron in late February 2020.^[23] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the originally planned March redeployment to Aviano Air Base was rescheduled to 20 April 2020.^[24]

In addition to hosting the 494th EFS and 555th EFS for traditional CENTCOM deployments, the 378th AEW has also conducted "Agile Combat Employment" exercises with Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, Northrop Grumman E-8C JSTARS and Boeing E-3 Sentry. The intent of these exercises (which are considerably shorter than a normal deployment) was to demonstrate the Wing's ability to rapidy increase its number and variety of combat aircraft in the event tensions in the region were to escalate.^{[25] [26] [27]}

On 16 May 2020, the Department of Defense confirmed that an undisclosed F-15C Eagle squadron, and United States Marine Corps (USMC) McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II from Marine Attack Squadron 214 (VMA-214) had replaced the Triple Nickel.^[28] The USAF eventually revealed that the F-15C's belonged to the 44th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron.^[29]

Harriers assigned to VMA-214 ended their deployment to Prince Sultan on 21 July 2020, while the F-15C's of the 44th EFS returned to Kadena Air Base by 7 October 2020.^{[30] [31]} F-16C's from the 20th Fighter Wing, 77 EFS arrived on 10 October 2020 to replace the departed AV-8B's and F-15C's.^[32]

Lineage

• Constituted as the 378th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 13 October 1942

Activated on 18 December 1942

Inactivated on 14 December 1942^[17]

• Reactivated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Group was converted to provisional status on 24 October 2005^[1]
• Redesignated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing on 14 November 2019. It operates out of Prince Sultan Airbase, Saudi Arabia.^[33]

Assignments

• Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, 13 October — 14 December 1942^[17]
• Unknown 2005 — 2019^[1]
• Air Combat Command after redesignation & conversion 2019

Squadrons

• 520th Bombardment Squadron (later 15th Antisubmarine Squadron): 18 October – 14 December 1942 (attached to 25th Antisubmarine Wing after 20 November)^[14]
• 521st Bombardment Squadron (later 16th Antisubmarine Squadron): 18 October, - 14 December 1942^[15]
• 522d Bombardment Squadron (later 17th Antisubmarine Squadron): 20 November, - 14 December 1942^[19]
• 523d Bombardment Squadron (later 2d Antisubmarine Squadron): 18 - 14 October 14 December 1942^[16]
• 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) (F-15E Strike Eagle): 3 January, - March 2020^{[34] [35]}
• 555th EFS (F-16CM Fighting Falcon): February - 20 April 2020^{[23] [36]}
• Marine Attack Squadron 214 (VMA-214) (AV-8B Harrier II): May 2020 -21 July 2020^{[28] [30]}
• 44th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (F-15C Eagle): May 2020 - October 2020^{[28] [29] [37]}
• 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (F-16C Fighting Falcon):^[38] October 2020 — present^[32]
• 968th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron (E-3G Sentry): March 2022 — present^[39]
• 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron (KC-10A Extender): March 2022 - present^[40]
• 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron (E-11A BACN): Unknown - present^{[6] [41]}

Stations

• Langley Field, Virginia, 18 October, - 14 December 1942^[17]
• Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, 17 December 2019 – Present

Aircraft

• Boeing E-3G Sentry
• Douglas O-46
• North American O-47^[17]
• General Dynamics F-16CM Fighting Falcon
• McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle
• McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle
• McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II
• McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender
• General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon
• Bombardier E-11A BACN

Campaign

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
	Antisubmarine	18 October 1942 – 14 December 1942
	Operation Inherent Resolve	17 December 2019 – present	^[42]

See also

• List of Air Expeditionary units of the United States Air Force

References

Bibliography

• Web site: The AAF Antisubmarine Command, AF Historical Study No. 107 . Ferguson . Arthur B. . April 1945 . Assistant Chief Air Staff, Intelligence . dead . 17 February 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051723/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090522-043.pdf . 4 March 2016 .
• Book: Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. 1961. reprint. 1983. Office of Air Force History. Washington, DC. 0-912799-02-1. 61060979.
• Book: Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II. 1969. reprint. 1982. Office of Air Force History. Washington, DC. 0-405-12194-6. 72556. 70605402.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 378th Air Expeditionary Wing Fact Sheet. USAF. 20 November 2020.
2. Web site: WILLIAM D. BETTS . Air Force . 3 October 2023.
3. Web site: PSAB Buildup. DVIDS. 22 December 2019.
4. Web site: The eagles have landed. USAF. 20 November 2020.
5. Web site: F-16 "Gamblers" double down at PSAB. USAF. 17 October 2020.
6. Web site: 430th EECS begins operations with new E-11A BACN. U.S. Air Force. 29 March 2023.
7. Web site: 378th Operations, Maintenance Groups integrate. 29 June 2020.
8. Web site: Munitions Airmen build munitions for follow-on forces. USAF. 20 November 2020.
9. Web site: 378 ECES lays new water lines at Prince Sultan Air Base. USAF. 20 November 2020.
10. Web site: Fingerprints of influence: 378 ECONS helps build Prince Sultan Air Base. USAF. 20 November 2020.
11. Web site: 378 EFSS opens 'Grab-n-Go' station. USAF. 20 November 2020.
12. Web site: ATOC Airmen process cargo at Prince Sultan Air Base. USAF. 20 November 2020.
13. Web site: PSAB MWDs train for real world contingencies. DVIDS. 22 December 2019.
14. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 82
15. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 768-769
16. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 10
17. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 266
18. Ferguson, p. 41
19. Maurer, Combat Squadron, p. 783
20. Maurer, Combat Units, 388-389
21. Web site: Devil Raiders strengthen defense forces in Saudi Arabia. USAF. 20 November 2020.
22. Web site: 378th AEW officially activates at PSAB. DVIDS. 20 November 2020.
23. Web site: Falcons Nest at PSAB. DVIDS. 20 November 2020.
24. Web site: Redeployment during COVID-19: The Triple Nickel comes home. DVIDS. 20 November 2020.
25. Web site: Projecting Airpower: JSTARS join aircraft utilizing PSAB to modernize employment for future. USAF. 20 November 2020.
26. Web site: AWACS test rapid deployment capability at PSAB. USAF. 20 November 2020.
27. Web site: U.S. Air Force F-35A Jets Land at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia for First Time. DefPost. 20 November 2020.
28. Web site: PSAB continues to provide dynamic mission capability. USAF. 20 November 2020.
29. Web site: F-15C ICTs make comeback [Image 1 of 5]]. DVIDS. 20 November 2020.
30. Web site: VMA-214 "Black Sheep" Return From Deployment. Military Aviation Review. 20 November 2020.
31. Web site: Kadena Fighters, Maintainers Return from CENTCOM Deployment. USAF, 18th Wing Public Affairs. 7 October 2020.
32. Book: AirForces Monthly. December 2020. Key Publishing Ltd. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. 25.
33. Web site: 378th AEW officially activates at PSAB. USAF. 1 May 2020.
34. Web site: The Mighty Panthers bid farewell to PSAB. USAF. 20 November 2020.
35. Web site: Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles arrive at Saudi Arabian base amid Iran tensions. Stars and Stripes. 20 November 2020.
36. Web site: Aviano's Triple Nickel First Full Unit to Return from Deployment Amid COVID-19. 23 April 2020 . Air Forces Magazine. 20 November 2020.
37. Web site: Kadena Fighters, Maintainers Return from CENTCOM Deployment .
38. Web site: "Gamblers" project airpower, bolster regional partnerships. USAF. 20 November 2020.
39. Web site: New aircraft, Airmen arrive at PSAB . 2022-03-06 . 2022-07-04 . DVIDS . en.
40. Book: AirForces Monthly. May 2022. Key Publishing Ltd. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. 17.
41. Book: AirForces Monthly. January 2023. Key Publishing Ltd. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. 100.
42. Web site: Fully Armed Kadena F-15 Eagles Soar Over Saudi Arabia Wearing Some Awesome Nose Art. 21 July 2020 . The Drive. 20 November 2020.