352nd Special Operations Wing, US Air Force
352ND SPECIAL OPERATIONS WING, US AIR FORCE
History: Established as 2 Air Command Group on 11 April 1944. Activated on 22 April 1944. Inactivated on 12 November 1945. Disestablished on 8 October 1948. Reestablished and consolidated (31 July 1985) with the 702 Strategic Missile Wing (ICM-Snark) (established on 17 June 1958; activated on 1 January 1959; discontinued, and inactivated on 25 June 1961). Redesignated as: 352 Special Operations Wing on 31 July 1985; 352 Special Operations Group on 21 September 1992. Activated on 1 December 1992. Consolidated (17 August 1998) with the 39 Special Operations Wing (established as the 39 Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing on 20 October 1969; activated on 1 January 1970; redesignated as 39 Special Operations Wing on 1 March 1988; inactivated on 1 December 1992). Consolidated group retained designation of 352 Special Operations Group. Redesignated as 352 Special Operations Wing on 23 March 2015. Trained in Florida for air commando operations. Moved to India, October-December 1944: the troop carrier squadron flew their C-47s to India, arriving by late October; a group advanced echelon arrived mid-November; and the majority of the group arrived mid-December. Between November 1944 and May 1945 the group dropped supplies to Allied troops who were fighting the Japanese in the Chindwin Valley in Burma; transported Chinese troops from Burma to China; transported men, food, ammunition, and construction equipment to Burma; dropped Gurka paratroops during the assault on Rangoon; provided fighter support for Allied forces crossing the Irrawaddy River in February 1945; struck enemy airfields and transportation targets in Thailand; and flew reconnaissance, light transport, and evacuation for ground forces in forward areas in Burma. After May 1945 the fighter squadrons were in training; in June the group’s C-47s were sent to Ledo to move road-building equipment, and later the troop carrier squadron transferred to China. During Jun-Jul most of the group’s L-5s were turned over to Fourteenth Air Force and the Liaison Squadrons were sent to the Pacific. The remainder of the group returned to the US, October-November 1945 and inactivated on 12 November 1945. As the only Snark missile wing in the USAF, the 702 Strategic Missile Wing performed intercontinental missile test operations from Patrick AFB, Florida, April-June 1959, and from the Atlantic Missile Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida, c. December 1959-June 1961. The 39 Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing flew numerous rescue sorties and from January 1970 until mid-1971, and supported Strategic Air Command missile silos. After moving to Eglin AFB, FL in June 1971, wing assumed responsibility for rescue detachments in the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Later, the 39 Special Operations Wing (SOW) trained and participated in special operations exercises, as well as flew rescue sorties. Wing headquarters and one squadron moved to Germany in May 1989 and became the air component of Special Operations Command Europe. In response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990, the majority of the 39 SOW personnel deployed to Turkey (12-17 January 1991), and operated as part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) ELUSIVE CONCEPT. The wing moved to England effective 1 January 1992 and served as the air component for Special Operations Command Europe. Trained for and performed special operations airland and airdrop missions in the European Command area of operations, including establishing air assault landing zones, controlling close air support by strike aircraft and gunships, and providing trauma care for wounded and injured personnel. Deployed elements participated in PROVIDE COMFORT II. During the 1990s, the group supported numerous humanitarian and combat operations in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia, including Operations PROVIDE PROMISE, DENY FLIGHT, and ALLIED FORCE in Yugoslavia, and PROVIDE COMFORT and NORTHERN WATCH over northern Iraq. Provided insertion, extraction and resupply of US military special operations forces throughout the European theater, 2000-.
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Origin/meaning
The Emblem was approved on 28 February 1995; latest rendition approved, 11 August 2015. Literature: Wikimedia Commons
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