Aircraft of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and coalition counterparts stationed together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in southwest Asia, fly over the desert. ... Hurlburt Field is a base of the United States Air Force located in Okaloosa County, Florida on the Eglin Air Force Base reservation immediately west of the Town of Mary Esther. ...

Lineage

16th Pursuit Group

Activated as the 16th Pursuit Group on December 1, 1932, in the Panama Canal Zone. Redesignated the 16th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) in 1939 and the 16th Fighter Group in 1942. Disbanded on November 1, 1943. Re-established and consolidated with the 1st Special Operations Wing on October 1, 1993, as the 16th Special Operations Wing. The Panama Canal Zone (Spanish: ), was a 553 square mile (1,432 km²) territory inside of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles (8. ...

1st Air Commando Group

Established as 1st Air Commando Group on August 9, 1944, and replaced the 1st Air Commando Group (a miscellaneous unit) which was constituted on March 25, 1944, and activated March 29, 1944. It was consolidated on August 9, 1944, with the headquarters unit of the new establishment; inactivated on November 3, 1945; disestablished on October 8, 1948; and re-established on April 18, 1962.

1st Air Commando Wing

It was activated and organized again on April 27, 1962; redesignated 1st Air Commando Wing on June 1, 1963; 1st Special Operations Wing on July 8, 1968; 834th Tactical Composite Wing on July 1, 1974; 1st Special Operations Wing on July 1, 1975.

16th Special Operations Wing

To comply with Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill McPeak’s directive that no active duty units would have the same designation, the Air Force decided to redesignate the 1 SOW rather than the 1st Fighter Wing located at Langley AFB, VA, because the latter possessed a higher heritage score. On October 1, 1993, the Air Force officially redesignated the 1 SOW as the 16th Special Operations Wing. The Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force serves as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipage of more than 700,000 active-duty, National Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. ... The 1st Fighter Wing (1 FW) is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. ... Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia is home of Air Combat Command, leading the premier combat air forces of the world. ...

1st Special Operations Wing

In 2006, the Air Force announced the stand-up of a second active duty Air Force Special Operations Wing at Cannon AFB, NM. Because of the proud and rich heritage of special operations and Hurlburt Field, Air Force leadership decided that it would return the Hurlburt based wing back to its original 1 SOW designation and activate a new and separate 16 SOW at Cannon AFB. On November 16, 2006, the Air Force redesignated the 16 SOW back to the 1 SOW. The 1 SOW retained all the honors the 16 SOW / 1 ACW / 1 ACG / 16 PG garnered in its 74 year existence. ... Hurlburt Field is a base of the United States Air Force located in Okaloosa County, Florida on the Eglin Air Force Base reservation immediately west of the Town of Mary Esther. ...

Authored by Mr Jeffrey S. Michalke Approved for publication by 1st Special Operations Wing, Office of History

External links

• Hurlburt Field (official site)
• 1st Special Operations Wing Heritage Site