352d Special Operations Wing

352d Special Operations Wing
Emblem of the 352d Special Operations Group
Active	1944–1945; 1959–1961; 1970–1992; 1992–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Air Commando
Part of	Air Force Special Operations Command
Garrison/HQ	RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, UK

The 352d Special Operations Wing (352 SOW) is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command currently stationed at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom. The unit's heritage dates back to 1944 as an air commando unit.

The 352 SOW serves as the focal point for all U.S. Air Force special operations activities throughout the European theater in support of U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), as well as Africa in support of U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and Southwest Asia and the Middle East in support of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM). The 352 SOW is prepared to conduct a variety of high priority, low-visibility missions supporting U.S. and allied special operations forces during peacetime, joint operations exercises, and combat operations. It trains and performs special operations primarily in the USEUCOM and USAFRICOM 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.

The group's origins date to 1944 as the 2d Air Commando Group. The unit was assigned to Tenth Air Force in India, whose elements operated in Burma flying a mixture of fighters, bombers, transports, military gliders and small planes performing operations behind the Japanese lines, and providing close air support for the British Fourteenth Army in the Burma Campaign.

It is made up of the:

The group's lineage and honors have to be traced not just through its own history, but through the history of three earlier organizations, the 2d Air Commando Group (1944–1945); the 702d Strategic Missile Wing (ICBM-Snark) (1959–1961) and the 39th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery (later Special Operations) Wing (1969–1992).