502d Air Base Wing

502d Air Base Wing
502d Air Base Wing, Bob LaBrutta at a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolp honorinbg POW/MIA
Active	1947–1948; 1948–1994; 2009–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Regional Support
Part of	Air Education and Training Command
Garrison/HQ	Joint Base San Antonio
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
502d Air Base Wing emblem (approved 8 July 1954)

The 502d Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit that provides installation support for Joint Base San Antonio. The 502d activated on 1 August 2009. The wing's three Mission Support Groups perform the installation support mission at each major installation in the San Antonio area.

The mission of the wing is to meet the needs of all three installations of JBSA, their missions and people and to optimize installation support while maximizing opportunities for greater joint military and community cooperation. This mission is carried out through the Mission Support Group located on each JBSA base.

The 502d Air Base Wing traces it lineage back to 1947. On 17 November 1947, the Air Force organized and activated the 502d Air University Wing (502 AUW) at Maxwell Field, in Montgomery, Alabama. The Air Force, which became a separate service on two months before, initiated a re-organization program that decentralized operations and provided for easier and quicker mobility of tactical units. As part of the re-organization, the Air Force inactivated the 42d Army Air Force Base Unit, and activated the 502 AUW in its place. Personnel and equipment from the 42d transferred to the 502 AUW. Under the command of Col. William E. Covington Jr., the 502 AUW provided logistical support and base services for Air University and other base agencies on or near Maxwell Field and nearby Gunter Field. The 502 AUW performed the installation support mission for less than a year when the Air Force disestablished the wing on 27 July 1948 and established, organized and activated the 3800th Air University Wing in its place on 28 July 1948. The 3800th, under various designations, carried out the installation support mission at Maxwell and Gunter for the next 44 years.

In 1992, then Air Force Chief of Staff, General Merrill A. McPeak ordered a major reorganization of the Air Force. As part of the re-organization, the general decided that all four-digit MAJCON units should be redesignated as three-digit units. Because of this, Air Training Command (ATC) consolidated the history of the 502 AUW with the now designated 3800th Air Base Wing on 1 October 1992. That same day, ATC redesignated the 3800th Air Base Wing as the 502d Air Base Wing (502 ABW). The 502 ABW continued to perform the installation support mission at Maxwell and Gunter until 1 October 1994. That day, the 502 ABW inactivated once again and the 42d Air Base Wing took over installation support for Maxwell and Gunter.