1st Airborne Command Control Squadron

US Air Force unit January 2023 July 2018 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron center|60px E 4b.jpg 300 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron Boeing E-4 in flight 1917–1922; 1929–1942; 1942–1944; 1969–present USA Airborne Command and Control Air Force Global Strike Command Eighth Air Force 95th Air Base Wing Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska 150pxWorld War I – Western Front150pxWorld War II – American Theater150pxGlobal war on terrorismhttps://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/433183/1-airborne-command-control-squadron-acc/ Musser James M. 1 Airborne Command Control Squadron (ACC) 2019-06-20 Air Force Historical Research Agency 2022-08-14 150pxAir Force Meritorious Unit Award150pxAir Force Outstanding Unit Award 165px 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron emblemApproved 8 August 1969. 165px 1st Ferrying Squadron emblem The 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron is part of the 95th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. It operates the Boeing E-4 aircraft conducting airborne command and control missions. The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating to 25 September 1917, when it was organized at Fort Omaha, Nebraska. It served overseas in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The squadron saw combat during World War II, and became part of the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War. History World War and Balloon School The first predecessor of the squadron was organized at Fort Omaha Nebraska in September 1917 as Company A, 2d Balloon Squadron. Two months later it departed for overseas service on the Western Front (World War I), arriving in France in January 1918. It entered combat as an observation unit with the French Eighth Army on 19 April 1918, operating observation balloons over the front lines. Once forces of the American Expeditionary Forces, had built up, it continued to operate as the 1st Balloon Company with the American I Corps until 17 October 1918. Following the end of the war, it served with III Corps as part of the occupation forces until April 1919. Interwar years In the spring of 1919, the squadron returned to the United States and was stationed at Ross Field, California as part of the Air Service Balloon School. In June 1922, the Balloon School moved to Scott Field, Illinois and Ross Field was closed as a military installation. The squadron was inactivated with the closure of Ross. The second predecessor of the squadron, also designated the 1st Balloon Company, was activated at Scott in May 1929. After a brief period of training with the 21st Airship Group at Scott, it moved to Post Field, located on Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where it was assigned to the Field Artillery School. It trained and conducted exercises with the school. At the beginning of World War II, it operated barrage balloons, but that mission was assigned to the coast artillery and the squadron was disbanded two months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. World War II The third predecessor of the squadron was activated in April 1942 at Long Beach Army Air Base as the 1st Air Corps Ferrying Squadron, the location of a Douglas Aircraft Company manufacturing plant. It ferried aircraft from the Douglas factory and other factories in the Western Procurement District to overseas departure points. However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not well adapted to the training and logistics support mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.Goss, p. 75 In March 1944, Air Transport Command units assigned to the 6th Ferrying Group were combined into the 556th AAF Base Unit. Airborne command and control On 1 June 1962, Headquarters Command organized the 1000th Airborne Command Control Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base to operate the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (abbreviated NEACP and spoken "kneecap"). and assigned it to the 1001st Air Base Wing.Mueller, p. 12 http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/487/556.xml Abstract, History 1001 Air Base Wing Jan–Jun 1962 Air Force History Index 14 July 2018 It flew its first missions with EC-135J aircraft, code named Silver Dollar.Ogletree Gregory W. Spring 1994 The National Emergency Command Post: 'Nighthawk' The Trading Post Americaan Society of Military Insignia Collectors 53 3 43 http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/487/564.xml Abstract, History 1001 Air Base Wing Jan–Jun 1965 Air Force History Index On 1 July 1969, the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron was activated and assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 1000th Squadron.Although the 1st Squadron was a new organization, it was also entitled to retain the honors (but not the history or lineage) of the 1000th. This includes an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award earned for the period 1 January 1967 – 31 December 1968. AF Pamphlet 900-2, p. 484. In 1974, the squadron began to replace its EC-135s with more capable Boeing E-4As, codenamed "Nightwatch", achieving initial operating capability on 22 December, and completing the upgrade the following year. In November 1975, the squadron was reassigned from Andrews' 1st Composite Wing to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. On 1 July 1977, it moved to join the 55th Wing at Offutt,Offutt Air Force Base occupies much of the same ground as Fort Omaha did in 1917, when the 2d Balloon Squadron was organized there. although starting in December, it maintained a forward operating location at Andrews. By 1985, it had upgraded all its aircraft to E-4Bs. In 1980, it tested combining the Nightwatch mission with Strategic Air Command's Airborne Command Post, code named Looking Glass. On 1 October 2016, the unit was reassigned to the newly activated 595th Command and Control Group under the control of Air Force Global Strike Command.https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/965021/595th-command-and-control-group-activates-at-offutt/ Hammes SRA Rachel 595th Command and Control Group activates at Offutt 4 October 2016 Air Force History Index 12 October 2016 On 28 February 2025, the 595th CCG was inactivated and the squadron was reassigned to the newly-reactivated 95th Wing.95th Wing 8th Air Force/J-GSOC 2024-10-01 https://www.8af.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/4136304/95th-wing/ 2025-10-26 Lineage and assignments Consolidation The 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron represents the consolidation of ultimately four different units, done in two consolidations. The first involved consolidating the 1st Airship and 1st Balloon Companies in 1929 into what would become the 1st Balloon Squadron. This was then consolidated with the 1st Ferrying Squadron and 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron in 1985 to form the current unit. Current unit Units consolidated on 19 September 1985 Units consolidated on 31 July 1929 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron 1st Balloon Squadron 1st Airship Company 1st Balloon Company 1st Ferrying Squadron 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron 1st Airship Company Date Designation Assignment Station Equipment Notes 25 September 1917 Company A, 2d Balloon Squadron Fort Omaha, Nebraska organized 30 November 1917 Garden City, New York 7 December 1917 transit 3 January 1918 Gironde, France Caquot Type R observation balloon 15 April 1918 Brouville, France 19 June 1918 1st Balloon Company July 1918 Balloon Wing, I Army Corps 19 July 1918 Les Ecoliers, France 22 July 1918 Épaux-Bézu, France 25 July 1918 Épieds, Aisne, France 28 July 1918 Artois Ferme, France 5 August 1918 Mareuil-en-Dole, France 13 August 1918 Coucelles-sur-Vesle, France 23 August 1918 Tremblecourt, France 29 August 1918 La Queue de Theinard, France 27 September 1918 Bois de Brule, France 2 October 1918 Varennes-en-Argonne, France 8 October 1918 Balloon Group, I Army Corps 11 October 1918 Chatel-Chehery, France 17 October 1918 Auzeville-en-Argonne, France 20 November 1918 Balloon Group, III Army Corps 21 November 1918 Mercy-le-Bas, France 8 December 1918 Euren, Germany 19 December 1918 Niederberg, Germany 17 April 1919 Colombey-les-Belles, France 5 May 1919 St. Nazaire, France 6 June 1919 Camp Lee, Virginia July 1919 Air Service Balloon Observers School Ross Field, California 30 June 1922 Ninth Corps Area 25 July 1922 inactive 24 March 1923 1st Airship Company 31 July 1929 consolidated into 1st Balloon Company 1st Balloon Squadron Date Designation Assignment Station Equipment Notes 18 October 1927 1st Balloon Company inactive 17 May 1929 Sixth Corps Area Scott Field, Illinois A-6 & A-7 spherical balloonC-3 observation balloon June 1929 Field Artillery School 24 June 1929 Post Field, Oklahoma 1 October 1933 1st Balloon Squadron 1937 A-6 & A-7 spherical balloonC-3 & C-6 observation balloon 1939 A-6 & A-7 spherical balloonC-3 & C-6 observation balloonD-2 barrage balloon 1940 A-6 & A-7 spherical balloonC-6 observation balloonD-3, D-4, D-5, & D-6 barrage balloon 1 September 1941 III Air Support Command 6 February 1942 disbanded 19 September 1985 reconstituted and consolidated into 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron 1st Ferrying Squadron Date Designation Assignment Station Equipment Notes 18 February 1942 1st Air Corps Ferrying Squadron inactive 15 April 1942 6th Ferrying Group Long Beach, California various aircraft 12 May 1943 1st Ferrying Squadron 1 April 1944 disbanded 19 September 1985 reconstituted and consolidated into the 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron Date Designation Assignment Station Equipment Notes 9 May 1969 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron inactive 1 July 1969 1st Composite Wing Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland EC-135J December 1974 E-4A, EC-135J den Daas Gostar Boeing E-4: The Doomsday plane https://www.aviamagazine.com/factsheets/aircraft/e4/index.aspx Avia Magazine 4 May 2023 January 2014 the first complete A model was handed over to Andrews AFB, December 1974 1 November 1975 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing 1976 Boeing E-4A 1 July 1977 Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska December 1979 E-4A/B January 1985 E-4B 1 September 1991 55th Operations Group 1 October 2016 595th Command and Control Group 28 February 2025 1st Airborne Command Control Squadron 95th Wing See also 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron References Notes Explanatory notes Citations 30em Bibliography Goss William A. Craven, Wesley F. Cate, James L. https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf 17 December 2016 The Army Air Forces in World War II Vol. VI, Men & Planes 1955 University of Chicago Press Chicago, IL 704158 48003657 The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF Maurer, Maurer Air Force Combat Units of World War II 1961 http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf 20 December 2016 17 December 2016 reprint 1983 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-02-1 61060979 Maurer, Maurer Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II 1969 http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf https://archive.today/20230820144531/https://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf 20 August 2023 reprint 17 December 2016 1982 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-405-12194-6 72556 70605402 Mueller Robert Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330255/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-026.pdf 17 December 2016 1989 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-53-6 Ravenstein Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave 17 December 2016 1984 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-12-9 registration http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/AFP900-2Vol1Bk1.pdf AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits 15 June 1971 Department of the Air Force Index Washington, DC 11 August 2016 4 August 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150804134135/http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/AFP900-2Vol1Bk1.pdf Category:Military units and formations in Nebraska 001 Category:United States nuclear command and control Category:Command and control squadrons of the United States Air Force Category:Military units and formations established in 1969