page_title: 552d Air Control Wing
section_title: Operational Accomplishments
hierarchical_section_title: 552d Air Control Wing / History / Reactivation at Tinker / Operational Accomplishments
caption_attribution_description: English: About 45 people deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., are working together at a forward-deployed location to ensure the E-3 Sentry, better known as the Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft or AWACS, is ready to launch within an hour if needed.
context_page_description: The 552d Air Control Wing is an operational wing of the United States Air Force. It has been based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma since July 1976, operating the Boeing E-3 Sentry. It includes the
  552d Operations Group, 552d Maintenance Group, and 552d Air Control Group.
  The wing is responsible to the commander of Air Combat Command for the operation, maintenance, logistics, training, and combat support of E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and Control and Reporting Centers. The wing provides combat-ready theater battle management forces and mobile command control, and communications radar element at the direction of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It deploys, operates and supports these forces worldwide ensuring combat capability for all peacetime and contingency operations.
  From 1955 through 1976, it was located at McClellan Air Force Base, California, where it operated the Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star aircraft providing radar coverage off the Pacific coast of the United States.
context_section_description: In early 1979, the wing assumed a commitment to support the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).  Today wing crews still stand ready to fly daily on short notice to the borders of the United States and Canada providing additional radar coverage required in defense of the North American continent.
  In September 1980, the wing deployed E-3s, aircrew and support personnel to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation "ELF One" (European Liaison Force One) to provide "around-the-clock" airborne radar coverage, and to enhance Saudi Arabian air defenses during the dispute between Iran and Iraq.  Support of "ELF One" continued for 8.5 years.
  Throughout the remainder of the 1980s, E-3, aircrew, and support personnel deployed to Ramstein Air Base, Germany to participate in joint training w/elements of the NATO air defense network in December 1980.  Personnel deployed to Egypt following the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in October 1981, and to Grenada in November 1983 to support Operation Urgent Fury.  The wing supported Operation Just Cause, the ouster of Manuel Noriega in December 1989.
  Also in accordance with President Ronald Reagan's National Security Decision Directive in 1986 to further expand its counter narcotic operations, the wing marked the beginning of its anti-drug commitment.  Within six months, the wing had assisted in 13 arrests and the seizure of 3,200 pounds of illegal drugs.  In January 1990, the wing deployed personnel and several E-3s to Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.  This deployment, known as Agate Path, established a forward operating base for counter narcotic operations in the Central American region.
  Other milestones during the 1980s included delivery of the wing's 25th E-3 in December 1981, which brought a new updated version of the Airborne Warning and Control System, called the U.S./NATO standard, and the wing's redesignation to the 552d Airborne Warning and Control Division in October 1983. The division was again redesignated a wing, becoming a subordinate unit of the newly activated 28th Air Division in April 1985.
  In August 1990, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces, the wing deployed E-3s and personnel to Saudi Arabia and Turkey in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Proven Force, respectively.  On 16 January 1991, E-3 support packages of the 552d Airborne Warning and Control Wing executed airborne control over several of the initial strikes on Iraq in Operation Desert Storm.  Beginning on 17 January 1991, both deployed forces played a prominent role in f Operation Desert Storm.  The E-3 aircraft and aircrews flew a total of 7,314.7 combat hours during Desert Storm and controlled 20,401 air refueling sorties with tankers off-loading more than 178 million US gallons (670,000 m³) of gas to 60,543 receivers.  After the Gulf War, the wing remained in the Persian Gulf region.  Wing personnel and aircraft in Southwest Asia continued a post-war surveillance role, while wing assets in Turkey continued to provide surveillance support for Operation Provide Comfort, the protection of Kurdish refugees.
  During 1993, the 552d Air Control Wing continued its worldwide force protection mission in support of Operations Provide Comfort and Southern Watch in Southwest Asia.  In January, a 552d Air Control Wing E-3 flying a Southern Watch mission over the Persian Gulf region, guided an air strike against Iraqi ground targets in response to Iraqi violations of United Nations resolutions. Four days later, a wing E-3 guided a United States Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon in the interception and destruction of an Iraqi MiG-29. This attack sequence followed a violation of the United Nations' imposed no-fly zone over Northern Iraq.
  In September 1994, the wing flew 23 missions over Haiti in support of Operation Uphold Democracy from forward operating locations and Tinker AFB. This operation, directed by President Bill Clinton, ousted military leaders to return the duly-elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, into power.
  In October 1995, the first E-
caption: E-3 deployed in support of U.S. global operations
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