21st Space Wing: Difference between revisions

21st Space Wing
Active	15 November 1952
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Space Control
Part of	Air Force Space Command
Garrison/HQ	Peterson AFB
Motto(s)	FORTITUDO ET PREPARATIO "Strength and Preparedness"
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944–1945)
Decorations	DUC AFOUA
Commanders
Current commander	Col. Stephen N. Whiting
Notable commanders	Donald G. Cook C. Robert Kehler

The 21st Space Wing^[1] is a unit of the Air Force Space Command based at Peterson Air Force Base^[2], Colorado. The unit is tasked with the operation of early missile warning and space object detection equipment around the world in support of NORAD^[3] and USSTRATCOM^[4] through a network of command and control units and ground based sensors operated by geographically separated units around the world.

The Wing’s services include more than 9,000 government and contractor personnel detect, track and catalog more than 14,000 catalogued man-made objects in space, from those in near-Earth orbit to objects up to 22,300 miles above the Earth's surface and explores counterspace warfighting technologies in the field.

Conduct world class space superiority operations and provide unsurpassed installation support and protection while deploying Warrior Airmen.

The 21 SW operate and maintain a complex system of U.S. and foreign-based radars that detect and track ballistic missile launches, launches of new space systems, and provide data on foreign ballistic missile events through its communication and control with CMAS, TABG, CAFS, and CCAFS.

Ballistic missile warning allows the US to monitor at least 20 nations currently have nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, and the technology to deliver them over long distances, including some with the ability to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles at the United States.

The 21st Operations Group manages all operation units in the 21st Space Wing.

The Wing's ground-based radars are: a sea-launched ballistic missile or SLBM, the PAVE PAWS warning system; a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, or BMEWS; and a Perimeter Attack Radar Characterization System, or PARCS.

SLBM warning units are the 6th SWS, Cape Cod AFS, Mass., and the 7th SWS, Beale AFB, Calif. Their mission is mainly to watch America's coasts for incoming sea-launched or intercontinental ballistic missiles, and warn NORAD and NORTHCOM.

The wing's two BMEWS radar units are the 12th Space Warning Squadron, Thule AB, and the 13th Space Warning Squadron at Clear AFS. The 21st SW also has a detachment at RAF Fylingdales, U.K., to coordinate cooperative missile warning and space surveillance with RAF counterparts.

The wing's PARCS unit is the 10th Space Warning Squadron, Cavalier AFS, N.D.

Space surveillance is a critical element of the space control mission and will be vitally important to support future theater missile operations and assured availability of U.S. space forces. As part of the space surveillance mission, the wing operates surveillance units. More than 9,500 manmade objects in orbit around the earth, ranging in size from a baseball to the International Space Station, are regularly tracked. Knowing the orbits of those objects is essential to prevent collisions when a new satellite is launched.

The 20th Space Control Squadron, Eglin AFB, Fla., provides dedicated active radar space surveillance. In addition, other collateral and contributing missile warning and research radars are used to support the surveillance mission.

Besides the three major commands, the Wing directs and supports Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station (CMAFS); Thule Air Base (TABG), Greenland; Clear AFS (CAFS), Alaska, and Cape Cod AFS (CCAFS), Mass. The 21st also provides community support to 302d Airlift Wing (ANG), the 50th Space Wing, Schriever AFB, Colo and to its neighbors in the Colorado Springs area.

• 21st Maintenance Group: The 21st Maintenance Group commander is responsible for the hardware and software maintenance at 27 missile warning, space surveillance and satellite communications sensor sites, as well as supply, transportation, traffic management and precision measurement equipment laboratory support for Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases, and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station.

• 21st Operations Group: The mission of the 21st OG as Air Force Space Command's largest, most weapon-system diverse, and geographically separated operations group is to command and control 19 units. The group provides real-time missile warning, attack assessment, and space control to the President, Secretary of Defense, JCS, combatant commands, and foreign allies. They develop future combat counterspace capabilities in support of theater campaigns.

• 21st Medical Group: The 21st Medical Group commander is responsible for protecting the health and environment of the warriors who defend the United States through the control and exploitation of space, educated, train and deploy medical personnel, and provide caring and efficient primary health care to retirees and family members.

• 21st Mission Support Group: The 21st MSG is made up of the people who make sure the base runs smoothly and effectively. They pay the bills, make sure the base stays secure, oversee the telephone services, keep the facilities in good condition, keep the records and take care of the well–being of all the people stationed in the Peterson Complex.

• 721st Mission Support Group: The 721st Mission Support Group, located at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, operates, maintains, secures, sustains, mobilizes, tests, and controls the worldwide warning and surveillance system for North America, normally referred to as the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment (ITW/AA) weapon system. It consists of airborne, land-based and space-based systems which sense and report on all activities in air and space.

• 821st Air Base Group: The mission of the 821st Air Base Group is to operate and maintain Thule Air Base, Greenland, in support of missile warning and space surveillance operations missions. Provide security, communications, civil engineering, personnel, services, logistics and medical support to remote active duty units in a combined US, Canadian, Danish and Greenlandic environment of more than 800 military, civilian and contractor personnel.

For additional history and lineage see 21st Operations Group

• Established as 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing on 15 Nov 1952

Activated on 1 Jan 1953

Inactivated on 8 Feb 1958

• Redesignated 21st Tactical Fighter Wing on 19 May 1958

Activated on 1 Jul 1958

Discontinued, and inactivated, on 18 Jun 1960

• Redesignated 21st Composite Wing, and activated, on 6 May 1966

Organized on 8 Jul 1966

Redesignated: 21st Tactical Fighter Wing on 1 Oct 1979

Redesignated: 21st Wing on 26 Sep 1991

Inactivated on 19 Dec 1991

• Redesignated 21st Space Wing on 1 May 1992

Activated on 15 May 1992.

Groups

• 21st Fighter-Bomber (later, 21st Operations): 1 Jan 1953-8 Feb 1958; 26 Sep-19 Dec 1991; 15 May 1992-Present
• 343d Tactical Fighter: 15 Nov 1977-1 Jan 1980
• 721st Space: 15 May 1992-24 Jun 1994
• 821st Space: 31 May 1996-1 Oct 2001.

Squadrons

• 2d Space Warning: 21 Jul 1995-31 May 1996
• 5th Space Warning: 8 Jun 1995-10 Aug 1999
• 8th Space Warning: 8 Jun-30 Sep 1995
• 12th Space Warning: 8 Jun 1995-10 Aug 1999
• 17th Troop Carrier (later, 17th Tactical Airlift): 8 Jul 1966-31 Mar 1975
• 18th Tactical Fighter: 1 Oct-15 Nov 1977; 1 Jan 1980-1 Jan 1982
• 43d Tactical Fighter: 15 Jul 1970-15 Nov 1977; 1 Jan 1980-26 Sep 1991
• 54th Tactical Fighter: 8 May 1987-26 Sep 1991
• 72d Fighter-Bomber: attached 15 Apr 1957-8 Feb 1958
• 90th Tactical Fighter: 29 May-26 Sep 1991
• 317th Fighter-Interceptor: 8 Jul 1966-31 Dec 1969
• 416th Fighter-Bomber (later, 416th Tactical Fighter): attached 15 Apr 1957-8 Feb 1958; assigned 1 Jul 1958-18 Jun 1960
• 531st Fighter-Bomber (later, 531st Tactical Fighter): attached 15 Apr 1957-8 Feb 1958; assigned 1 Jul 1958-18 Jun 1960
• 5021st Tactical Operations: 1 Oct 1981-1 Jul 1988
• 5040th Helicopter: 15 Jul 1969-30 Sep 1975
• 5041st Tactical Operations: 1 Oct 1971-1 Oct 1977.

• George AFB, California, 1 January 1953 – 26 November, 1954
• Chambley-Bussieres Air Base, France, 12 December 1954 – 8 February, 1958
• Misawa AB, Japan, 1 July 1958 – 18 June, 1960
• Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, 8 July 1966 – 19 December, 1991
• Peterson AFB, Colorado, 15 May 1992–Present

Established as 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing. Activated at George AFB, California on 1 January 1953 as a component of Ninth Air Force, Tactical Air Command. The wing's operational component was the 21st Fighter-Bomber Group, comprised three fighter-bomber squadrons: the 72d, 416th, and 531st. The 72d and 531st previously had been components of the World War II 21st Fighter Group.

During its first six months, the 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing upgraded from the F-51 to the F-86F “Sabrejet,” which had become famous for its prowess in the Korean War. Throughout 1953 and into the first months of 1954, the 21st participated in a series of tactical exercises through which the unit obtained operational readiness.

The wing conducted the first of these exercises in Alaska in September and October of 1953 when the flying squadrons, in tandem, rotated through a special two-week arctic indoctrination program at Eielson AFB.

Next, the 21st sent six of its F-86s to participate in Project Willtour, an 11,000 mile goodwill and training tour of twelve Central, Caribbean, and South American countries.

The wing continued its exercises in Operation BOXKITE, held throughout April and into May of 1954 at North Field, South Carolina. BOXKITE tested a new operational concept: the ability of a tactical wing to deploy to a forward base and sustain combat operations over a thirty-day period. In response, the 21st flew 3,000 sorties.

BOXKITE was the last significant stateside exercise, for on 22 June 1954, the Secretary of the Air Force announced that the 21st would be relocating to Chambley Air Base, France, as part of Twelfth Air Force and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which had taken a defensive stance against the Warsaw Pact headed by the Soviet Union. Chambley Air Base was located about ten miles west of the French city of Metz, and just south of the road leading to Verdun near France’s strategic northeastern border with Luxembourg, Belgium, and West Germany.

The wing’s deployment from George AFB, California, to France had to be carried out in stages. Four echelons of wing personnel variously traveled by train, ship, and air to reach their destination between November 1954 and January 1955. The air squadrons stopped to refuel across the United States and in Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland in route. Upon their arrival, the facilities at Chambley were not ready for aircraft use, and the squadrons had to deploy elsewhere while engineers upgraded the modest facilities at Chambley. The 72d deployed to Chateauroux AB, while the 416th and 531st operated out of Toul-Rosieres AB.

After many construction delays, the wing combined its fighter squadrons at Chambley on 15 April 1955. The squadrons carried out close air support training missions with the Army, then took first place at the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) "Gunnery Meet" at Wheelus Air Base, Libya. The 21 FBW participated in the Atomic Warfare exercise Carte Blanche, and went on to take an overall second place in the Nellis AFB, Nevada Gunnery Meet in 1956. Moreover, they won the USAFE Award for Tactical Proficiency for the January–June period of 1957.

In 1957, the French Government decreed that all nuclear weapons and delivery aircraft had to be removed from French soil by July 1958. As a result, the F-86's of the 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing had to be removed from France.

During October 1957 it was announced that the 21 FBW would be inactivated on 8 February 1958, and that its assets would be dispersed among existing USAFE units. With the departure of the wing, Chambley-Bussieres AB was placed in reserve status.

The 21st Fighter Wing was reactivated at Misawa AB, Japan a few months later on 1 July 1958, inheriting the lineage of the 21st FBW. The 21s mission included defending the air space of northern Japan against Soviet intruders and planning for strategic bombardment in the event a new war broke out with North Korea (known as contingency plan “Quick Strike”).

Component units of the 21st included the 416th and 531st Fighter Squadrons, the 21st Armament and Electronics Squadron, the 21st Field Maintenance Squadron, and the 21st Tactical Hospital. Initially, the 416th carried out the war-fighting missions in the F-84G Thunderjet, a single-seat fighter-bomber. The Thunderjet was the first fighter equipped to deliver non-conventional ordinance as well as the first capable of refueling in-flight.

Meanwhile, the 531st prepared to upgrade to the F-100D Super Sabre, the world’s first supersonic aircraft. Once combat ready in April 1959, the 531st assumed the wing’s war-fighting missions while the 416th converted to the Supersabre in turn. Remarkably, the 416th achieved full operational status in August 1959.

Cooperation between the wing’s units paid off in Fifth Air Force’s Tactical Evaluation and Operational Readiness Inspection held in August and September of 1959. The 21st garnered an “Excellent” rating and carried off the best bomb score average in the history of Fifth Air Force. Operational readiness and high marks in training translated directly into the field. 21st aircraft intercepted Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 "Badger" and Myasishchev M-4 "Bison" bombers on a regular basis, taking home, in the words of Intelligence analysts, “some of the best photographs ever taken of the Badger.” In October 1959,First Lieutenant Charles L. Ferguson of the 531st received credit for making the first M-4 Bison intercept in the Far East and probably the world.

The 21st Tactical Fighter Wing also flew beyond the base at Misawa. In addition to routine alert commitments and deployments to South Korea, two F-100s from the 531st made the first American jet aircraft transpolar flight, flying from RAF Weathersfield, England, to Eielson AB, Alaska, on 7 August 1959.

Once more, however, the accomplishments of the 21st came to a temporary halt when the U.S. government placed a ceiling on the number of fighter wings allowed in the Air Force inventory. Consequently, Fifth Air Force undertook an extensive reorganization. The 21st Tactical Fighter Wing inactivated on 18 June 1960 and its assets were transferred to the [[39th Air Division]] at Misawa AB.

In 1966, assumed air defense responsibility for Alaska and contiguous areas in support of North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) and Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) through the Alaskan NORAD Region and ADCOM Region. Provided support for multi-service special operations in Arctic regions and participated in numerous search and rescue efforts, 1966–1991. Maintained air defense and alert forces at forward operating bases in Galena and King Salmon, AK, 1977–1991. In 1978–1979 lent humanitarian support and assistance to Vietnamese refugees relocating to Canada.

The 1980s witnessed a period of growth and modernization of Elmendorf AFB. During 1982, the 21st TFW converted from F-4s to F-15s.

In 1991, the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing was reorganized as an objective wing and all the major tenant units on Elmendorf were placed under it. The 21st Wing was de-activated and the 3d Wing was reassigned from Clark Air Base to Elmendorf Air Force Base on 19 December 1991. This was in keeping Air Force's polices of retaining the oldest and most illustrious units during a period of major force reductions.

The 21st Space Wing was reactivated on 15 May 1992 from the former 1st Space Wing and 3d Space Support Wing, providing command management of Air Force Space Command's worldwide network of assigned missile warning, space surveillance, and communications units.

• Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
  • 1 Oct 1997-30 Sep 1999^[5]
  • 1 Jan 1998-31 Dec 1998^[6]

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• 21st Space Wing website
• 21st Space Wings Facts Sheet Accessed: 17 July 2009.