| 11th Wing | |
|---|---|
11th Wing emblem |
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| Active | 1940–present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Combat support |
| Garrison/HQ | Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility |
| Nickname | The Chief's Own |
| Decorations | DUC Navy PUC AFOUA AFOEA |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Colonel Kenneth A. Rizer[1] |
The 11th Wing (11 WG) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is stationed at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Maryland. It is the host unit at Joint Base Andrews.
The 11 WG is one of the largest and most ceremonial wings in the Air Force. It is the single manager for all Air Force activities supporting Headquarters Air Force and other Air Force units in the National Capital Region as well as 108 countries throughout the world. As a direct reporting unit to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, it combines resources from the Pentagon and Bolling AFB.
The unit was founded as the 11 Bombardment Group (Medium), activated in 1940. Assigned to the Thirteenth Air Force, the group fought in combat in the South Pacific as a heavy bomb group equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses and later B-24 Liberators. The 11th BG earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions in the South Pacific, 31 July-30 November 1942. It participated in the Central Pacific; Air Offensive, Japan; Guadalcanal; Northern Solomons; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific; Ryukyus and the China Offensive before its inactivation in 1948.
As part of Strategic Air Command during the Cold War, the 11th was a heavy bomb wing, flying both the B-36 Peacemaker and B-52 Stratofortress. It also was a SM-65 Atlas ICBM missile wing in the early 1960s before being inactivated in 1965.
The commander of the 11th Wing is Colonel Kenneth Rizer. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Anthony Brinkley.
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The Chief's Own provides base operating and logistical support in the National Capital Region; ceremonial, musical, protocol and funeral support for our multi-state region; selected administrative major command support for Headquarters Air Force and Air Force element activities worldwide; and primary medical care to the Andrews, Bolling and Pentagon communities. The 11th Wing provides a multitude of support to nearly 40,000 Air Force military and civilian members in 250 locations and 108 countries.
The 11th Wing comprises the following units:
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The 11th Wing operates out of several locations around the National Capital Region, including Arlington National Cemetery, Bolling Air Force Base, and The Pentagon.
Consolidated (31 March 1982) with the 11th Bombardment Wing, Heavy
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11th Group
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11th Wing
Consolidated Unit
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11th Group
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11th Wing
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Consolidated Unit
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References for commands and major units assigned, components and stations:[3][4][5]
The 11th Bomb Group was assigned to the Seventh Air Force in February 1942 and trained with the B-18 Bolo. For operations it then received the B-17 Flying Fortress. Its aircraft flew patrols and search missions off Hawaii after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
The Group then moved to the New Hebrides in July 1942 and became part of Thirteenth Air Force. From July to November 1942 it struck airfields, supply dumps, ships, docks, troop positions, and other objectives in the South Pacific, and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for those operations. Operations were continued, attacking Japanese airfields, installations, and shipping in the Solomon Islands, until late in March 1943.
The 11th BG then returned to Hawaii, was reassigned to the Seventh Air Force, and trained with B-24 Liberators. Combat operations resumed in November 1943 with the participation in the Allied offensive through the Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas, while operating from Funafuti, Tarawa, and Kwajalein. In October 1944 the Group moved to Guam and attacked shipping and airfields in the Volcano and Bonin Islands. In July 1945 the 11th BG then moved to Okinawa to take part in the final phases of the air offensive against Japan, bombing railways, airfields, and harbor facilities on Kyushu and striking airfields in China.
After the war, reconnaissance and surveillance missions were flown over China and the aircraft also ferried liberated prisoners of war from Okinawa to Luzon. The Group remained in the theater as part of Far East Air Forces but had no personnel assigned after mid-December 1945 when the group was transferred to the Philippines.
It was redesignated 11th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in April 1946 and transferred to Guam in May 1946, remanned, and equipped with the B-29 Superfortress. Training and operations were terminated in October 1946 before inactivation on Guam on 20 October 1948.
On 1 December 1948 the 11th Bomb Group was reactivated at Carswell AFB and assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing. Carswell shared flight line facilities with the Convair Aircraft Company. The 7th was the first bomb wing to receive the B-36 Peacemaker. Its personnel began training the new 11th group people in the new aircraft and the 11th soon began receiving them. On 16 February 1951 the 11th became an independent wing, obtaining its resources from the group, which was inactivated in June 1952. It was deployed at Nouasseur AB, French Morocco, 4 May to 2 July 1955. The Wing won the SAC Bombing Competition and the Fairchild Trophy in 1954, 1956 and 1960.
7–11 must have been considered a lucky combination, because the two wings continued to share Carswell Air Force base until 13 December 1957, when the 11th moved to Altus AFB, Oklahoma and began receiving B-52 Stratofortresses.
The Wing gained the 577th Strategic Missile Squadron on 1 June 1961 and one on 1 April 1962, when its new Atlas missiles became fully operational, the wing was redesigned the 11th Strategic Aerospace Wing, the new designation carried by all SAC wings that had both bombers and missiles. It phased out the Atlas missiles in January 1965.
Added air refueling to its mission in December 1957. Its 96th Air Refueling Squadrons flew the KC-97 Stratotankers during 1957 and 1958. They were soon replaced by KC-135 jet tankers. The 921st Air Refueling Squadron was assigned to the wing from 1 October to December 1960. The central location of Altus AFB led to the expansion of the wing's refueling capability. On 25 June 1965, the 11h Air Refueling Squadron was assigned to the wing. In 1968, the wing began phasing out its B-52s. This was completed by mid year. On 2 July 1968, the wing was redesignated the 11th Air Refueling Wing.
The 11th Air Refueling Wing was short lived. It was inactivated on 25 March 1969 and the numeric designation remained dormant for the next nine years. Then on 15 November 1978 it was reactivated, not as a wing, but as the 11th Strategic Group at RAF Fairford, England. It was not manned until the following February, but did not start receiving aircraft until September 1978. It soon began aerial refueling support for all USAF operations, deployments and redeployments, as well as participating in NATO exercises.
Operations staff and maintenance personnel were permanently assigned, but aircraft, aircrews and crew chiefs were assigned on a temporary duty basis to the 11th Strategic Group for the European Tanker Task Force on a rotational basis. Aircraft and Crews operated out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Keflavik, Iceland; Zaragosa, Spain; Lajes Field, Azores; Sigonella NAS, Italy; and Hellenikon, Greece. The unit retained the 11th Strategic Group designation, but was inactivated on 7 August 1990.
The 11th was pulled out of retirement a second time on 2 June 1994, when it was redesignated the 11th Support Wing. It was activated on 15 July 1994 at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, DC. It was redesignated the 11th Wing on 1 March 1995.[6] It was again deactivated on 30 September 2010, and reactivated 01 October 2010, at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Maryland, where it became the host unit for the installation.[7][8]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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