506th Air Expeditionary Group

506th Air Expeditionary Group
Emblem of the 506th Air Expeditionary Group
Active	1944–1945; 1952–1959; 1972–1973; 2003–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Garrison/HQ	United States Central Command Air Forces
Engagements	World War II Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (1944–1945) Global War on Terrorism Iraq Campaign (since 2003) Liberation of Iraq: 19 March 2003 – 1 May 2003 Transition of Iraq: 2 May 2003 – 28 June 2004 Iraqi Governance: 29 June 2004 – 15 December 2005 National Resolution: 16 December 2005 – 9 January 2007 Iraqi Surge: 10 January 2007 – 31 December 2008 Iraqi Sovereignty: 1 January 2009 – 31 August 2010 New Dawn: 1 September 2010 – 31 December 2011

The 506th Air Expeditionary Group (506 AEG) is a provisional United States Air Force unit. The group is assigned to the United States Air Forces Central 332d Air Expeditionary Wing, stationed at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

The 506 AEG secures the base, conducts safe flight operations and supports the nation builders in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and other US Air Forces Central and US Central Command contingency plans. As a provisional unit, the 506 AEG may be activated or inactivated at any time.

The group's lineage begins in 1944 as the 301st Fighter Group which flew P-51 Mustangs as part of Twentieth Air Force in the Western Pacific. During the Cold War, the unit was a Strategic Air Command fighter-escort unit and later active with Tactical Air Command and the Air Force Reserve as a tactical fighter unit.

The 506 AEG is composed of:

Approximately 1,000 active-duty, Reserve, and Air National Guard Airmen were assigned to the 506 AEG during any given Air and Space Expeditionary Force rotation. Additionally, approximately 5,000 Soldiers were assigned to Forward-Operating Base Warrior.

Among the base agencies the 506 AEG actively supported are:

The 506th AEG traces its history back to the 506th Fighter Group, Single Engine, which was established on 5 October 1944 and activated on 21 October 1944, at Lakeland Army Air Field/Drane Field, Florida. The group consisted of three squadrons: 457th, 458th and the 459th Fighter Squadrons. From its activation, the planned mission of the 506th was very long range (VLR) escort missions of B-29 Superfortress bombers in the Pacific Theater.

Flying almost all models P-51 Mustang which could be sent to Lakeland for training, the group's training regiment centered on learning cruise control techniques that would produce maximum range from the Mustangs. It also included practice scrambles, assembly and landing procedures, escort formations, aerial gunnery and bombing practice, and an occasional dogfight. A month after the 506th started flying, the USAAF produced document 50–100, which was the training directive for Very Long Range operations. Fortunately, the group had already met many of the requirements by then, two glaring exceptions being instrument flying and rocket firing. The final weeks of training were concentrated on mastering those tasks.