86th Airlift Wing, US Air Force
86TH AIRLIFT WING, US AIR FORCE
History: Established as 86 Fighter Wing, and activated, on 1 July 1948. Redesignated as: 86 Fighter-Bomber Wing on 20 January 1950; 86 Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 9 August 1954; 86 Air Division (Defense) on 18 November 1960. Inactivated on 14 November 1968. Redesignated as: 86 Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 14 November 1968; 86 Tactical Fighter Wing on 13 October 1969. Activated on 1 November 1969. Redesignated as: 86 Fighter Wing on 1 May 1991; 86 Wing on 1 June 1992; 86 Airlift Wing on 1 October 1994. Provided air defense, primarily in West Germany, July 1948–November 1968, initially as a wing but later as a division. During its eight years as an air division, the organization supervised the improvement of a manual radar system to a semi-automatic air weapons control system. From November 1969 to June 1971, it was charged only with tactical reconnaissance, but added tactical fighter operations later in 1971. Supported numerous military units located in the area of Ramstein AB, Germany, January 1973–June 1985. Participated in numerous exercises that provided the wing with air combat tactics training essential to its mission. Converted to the F–16 Fighting Falcon, 1985– 1986. Beginning in April 1991, deployed to Turkey and supported operations in Southwest Asia to ensure that Iraq complied with treaty terms by enforcing a no-fly zone. Wing aircraft sometimes attacked Iraqi surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites in northern Iraq. Added an airlift mission in June 1992, performing special airlift missions with various kinds of transport aircraft, but retaining fighter aircraft as well. In 1993 and 1994, the wing deployed pilots, maintenance personnel, and aircraft to Aviano AB, Italy, to enforce a new no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Two wing F-16 pilots shot down four enemy aircraft in the zone in 1994. The wing also airlifted humanitarian cargo to Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1993 and 1996. In 1994, traded its F-16 fighters for C-130 transports and became strictly an airlift wing. Airlifted troops and cargo to Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1996 and 1998 in support of peacekeepers. Evacuated U.S. and third-country nationals from Liberia during civil disturbances there in the spring of 1996; in 1997, airlifted African peacekeeping forces to Liberia. In 1998, the wing supported the airlift of U.S. forces to Southwest Asia after the Iraqi government refused cooperation with United Nations weapons inspectors. After a terrorist bomb exploded at a U.S. embassy in Kenya in August 1998, the wing supported the medical evacuation of injured personnel. When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) used air power in a brief war to end Serbia’s suppression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999, the wing airlifted U.S. forces within the European theater and transported relief supplies to refugees in Albania and Macedonia. After the war the wing airlifted cargo and peacekeepers to Kosovo. Also furnished humanitarian relief by airlift to the victims of an earthquake in Turkey in 1999 and a flood in Mozambique in 2000. Later in the year, the wing airlifted victims of the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole from Yemen. Continued to provide airlift support for air units enforcing the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. Conducted airlift, airdrop, and aeromedical evacuation operations, 2000-. Continued to provide airlift support for air units enforcing the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. In 2002 and 2003, the wing supported Operation ENDURING FREEDOM by establishing a forward operating base in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to support the United States and allied forces fighting the Global War on Terrorism; and provided support to forces in Afghanistan in Operation ANACONDA. It also served as the primary theater airlift hub for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, established a forward operating base in northern Iraq to support aircraft sorties and a Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility. Other operations supported included SOUTHERN WATCH, NORTHERN WATCH, ENDURING FREEDOM, JOINT FORGE and JOINT GUARDIAN. In 2004 and 2005 the wing added Operation AFRICAN MOVEMENT in the Sudan to assist in stabilizing the Darfur region while moving equipment and peacekeeping forces into Rwanda. Support for Operation JOINT GUARDIAN and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM continued from 2008- 2011, and Operation ENDURING FREEDOM through 2014. From 2014 through 2016, responded to the West African Ebola outbreak and spearheaded the initial airlift of humanitarian and medical supplies for the efforts to contain the deadly epidemic. It also deployed assets to Turkey in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE to support combat missions in the region. Conducted airlift, airdrop, and aeromedical evacuation operations, 2000-.
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Origin/meaning
The Emblem was approved for 86 Group on 17 October 1942 and, in modified form, for 86 Wing on 27 July 1956. Newest rendition approved on 24 July 2007.
Literature:Image from Wikimedia Commons