378th Air Expeditionary Wing

• 378th Air Expeditionary Group[2]
  • 378th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron[3]
  • 378th Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron

Douglas O-46A

The group was activated at Langley Field, Virginia on 18 October 1942 with the 520th,[4] 521st,[5] and 523d Bombardment Squadrons assigned.[6] Although designated a medium bombardment unit, it was equipped with Douglas O-46 and North American O-47 single-engine observation aircraft.[7]

The group conducted its operations along the southeastern coast of the United States. Only the 523d Squadron was located with the group's headquarters at Langley. The 520th Squadron operated from Jacksonville Municipal Airport, Florida, while the 521st was stationed at Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina.[4][5][6]

In late November, Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command began a series of organizational actions to more nearly align it with United States Navy headquarters engaged in the antisubmarine campaign.[8] On 20 November, the 522d Bombardment Squadron at Lantana Airport, Florida was assigned to the group,[9] At the same time, the group's 520th Squadron was attached directly to the new 25th Antisubmarine Wing, which had been established to manage Army Air Forces antisubmarine units in the area of the Navy's Eastern Sea Frontier.[8] The group's squadrons were redesignated as antisubmarine squadrons,[4][5][6][9] Finally, in December, after less than two months of operation, the group was inactivated and its component squadrons were reassigned to the 25th Antisubmarine Wing.[7][10]

On 17 December 2019, in response to increasing tensions with Iran, the unit was reactivated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.[11]. The newly reactivated wing received its first combat aircraft shortly thereafter, when F-15E Strike Eagles from the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron arrived in early January 2020. The 494th would be replaced by F-16s from the Triple Nickel 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron in late February 2020.[12] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the originally planned March redeployment to Aviano Air Base was rescheduled to 20 April 2020.[13]

In addition to hosting the 494th EFS and 555th EFS for traditional CENTCOM deployments, the 378th AEW has also conducted "Agile Combat Employment" exercises with F-35A Lightning II, E-8C JSTARS and E-3 AWACS. The intent of these exercises (which are considerably shorter than a normal deployment) was to demostrate the Wing's ability to rapidy increase its number and variety of combat aircraft in the event tensions in the region were to escalate.[14][15][16]

On 16 May 2020, the Department of Defense confirmed that an undisclosed F-15C Eagle squadron, and USMC AV-8B Harriers from VMA-214 had replaced the Triple Nickel. These two fighter squadrons represent the current combat aircraft deployed to the 378th AEW.[17] The USAF eventually revealed that the F-15C's belonged to the 44th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron.[18]

• Constituted as the 378th Bombardment Group (Medium) on 13 October 1942

Activated on 18 December 1942

Inactivated on 14 December 1942[7]

• Reactivated as the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing and converted to provisional status on 17 December 2019. It operates out of Prince Sultan Airbase, Saudi Arabia [19].

• Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, 13 October - 14 December 1942[7]
• Air Combat Command after redesignation & conversion 2019

• 520th Bombardment Squadron (later 15th Antisubmarine Squadron): 18 October - 14 December 1942 (attached to 25th Antisubmarine Wing after 20 November)[4]
• 521st Bombardment Squadron (later 16th Antisubmarine Squadron): 18 October - 14 December 1942[5]
• 522d Bombardment Squadron (later 17th Antisubmarine Squadron): 20 November - 14 December 1942[9]
• 523d Bombardment Squadron (later 2d Antisubmarine Squadron): 18 October - 14 December 1942[6]
• 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (F-15E Strike Eagle): 03 January - March 2020 [20][21]
• 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (F-16CM Fighting Falcon): February - 20 April 2020 [22][23]
• 44th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (F-15C Eagle): May 2020 - present [24][25]
• Marine Attack Squadron 214 (AV-8B Harrier II) - May 2020 - present [26]

• Langley Field, Virginia, 18 October - 14 December 1942[7]

• Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, 17 December 2019 - Present

• Douglas O-46
• North American O-47[7]
• General Dynamics F-16CM Fighting Falcon
• McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle
• McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle
• McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II

• List of Air Expeditionary units of the United States Air Force

• Official website