Operated with the Fifteenth Air Force from May 1944 to April 1945, flying 311 missions as one of its seven fighter escort groups, being engaged primarily in protecting B-17 and B-24 bombers that struck such objectives as oil refineries, factories, airfields, and marshalling yards in Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Greece. The 332d history originates with the Tuskegee Airmen, the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II. He has commanded a fighter squadron, the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group in Balad, Iraq, the 82nd Training Wing, Sheppard AFB, Texas, and the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, Kandahar, Afghanistan. var ins = document.createElement('ins'); We are evolving to meet the long-term needs of our combat mission, and will continue to support all echelons throughout the Red Tail family, said Sage. The mission of the 332d was supporting Joint Task Force Southwest Asia, which monitored a no-fly zone mission dubbed Operation Southern Watch. The group was first activated as the 32nd Air Base Group in 1940. Craigwell served in the U.S. Armed Forces from 1945 until his retirement in 1973. Operating from Balad Air Base at its inception, six squadrons of the 732 AEG provided direct Joint and Coalition combat and combat support to and/or in lieu of US Army, Marine Corps and Iraqi Army and Police Forces at over 60 locations, including downtown Baghdad; Camp Speicher; Al Asad Air Base; Camp Anaconda (Balad Air Base); Camp Bucca; Camp Caldwell (Kirkush); Tallil Air Base; Mosul Air Base; Camp Rustamiyah; Baghdad International Airport; Green Zone; Kirkuk Air Base; Camp Hadithah; and Taji Air Base. After difficulty in establishing a core of African American pilots and ground crews and providing for training at Tuskegee AAF and First Air Force stations in Michigan, by April 1943, the 332d Fighter Group deployed to Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean theater. Not only did they fight the wars abroad, now you had to come home and fight that second--the social. [note 1]. The Wing's 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group (332 EOG), is the direct descendant organization of the World War II 332nd Fighter Group, the Tuskegee Airmen. Received a DUC for a 24 March 1945 mission that escorted B-17s on a raid against a tank factory in the German capital, Berlin, its longest raid of the war. Their primary missions were to escort bombers striking targets in Southern Europe. The unique success of this all-black outfit highlighted Colonel Davis' leadership, along with the courage and discipline of his airmen. During the height of operations, the 332d AEW contained nine groupsincluding four geographically separated groups at Ali AB, Sather AB, Al Asad AB, and Kirkuk ABas well as numerous detachments and operating locations scattered throughout Iraq. They also made successful strafing attacks on airdromes, railroads, highways, bridges, river traffic, troop concentrations, radar facilities, power stations, and other targets. The wing had as many as two F-16 fighter squadrons, a Predator UAV squadron, a C-130 squadron, a combat search and rescue squadron (HH-60s), a MC-12 Liberty squadron, and a Control and Reporting Center. window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId, 'adsensetype', 1); [3] They began operations with Twelfth Air Force on 5 February. The HH-60 Pave Hawks performed combat search and rescue missions. As early as 1917, Walter White, Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, had called for the inclusion of blacks in the US Army Air Corps only to be told that "no colored squadrons were being formed at the present time." The first class (42-C) of twelve cadets and one student officer, Captain Benjamin O. Davis Jr., who served as Commandant of Cadets, began training on 19 July 1941. The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing (332 AEW) is a Provisional Wing of Air Combat Command, currently active. Activated on 13 Oct 1942. The package included F-15E's or Block 40 F-16s, the A-10s and the F-16CJs. The assignment to a predominately ground attack role prevented the 99th from engaging in air-to-air combat. [citation needed], The 332d Air Expeditionary Group was reactivated on 16 November 2014 at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base, Kuwait.[8]. Red Tail Airmen save lives during Afghan withdrawal The 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group was responsible for total-force expeditionary flying operations for 8 squadrons at the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Joint Base Balad, Iraq and then at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia after the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing vacated Joint Base Balad in 2011. U.S. Air Force Brig. He went on throughout the time of combat operations of the 99th Fighter Squadron and later when that squadron was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group (which already consisted of three squadrons, 100th, 301st, and 302nd), to be the Deputy Commanding Officer and at times when Colonel Davis was away, he served as the Group Commander. Phone Email. [6], Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332d earned an impressive combat record. Ninth Air Force, 1 Jul 1947; 332nd Fighter Wing, 15 Aug 1947-1 Jul 1949. When Craigwell first enlisted, he was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group. stream Decorations. They used P-39s to escort convoys, protect harbors, and fly armed reconnaissance missions, converted to P-47s during AprilMay, and changed to P-51s in June. The 332d history originates with the Tuskegee Airmen, the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II. FLIGHT INFORMATION lo.observe(document.getElementById(slotId + '-asloaded'), { attributes: true }); On 7 March 1942, the first black military pilots in our nation's history received their wings at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama.
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