page_title: 401st Air Expeditionary Group
section_title: Expeditionary unit
hierarchical_section_title: 401st Air Expeditionary Group / History / Cold War / Aviano Air Base / Expeditionary unit
caption_attribution_description: English: Emblem of the USAF 401st Expeditionary Operations Group
context_page_description: The 401st Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe to be activated or inactivated at any time as needed. It is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
  The group was first activated as the 401st Bombardment Group during World War II. The 401st entered combat with VIII Bomber Command, flying Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses from RAF Deenethorpe. The group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for missions over Leipzig on 11 January and 20 February 1944. The 401st Bomb Group had the second best rating in bombing accuracy for Eighth Air Force.
  The group was activated briefly as an Air Force Reserve unit in 1947, but apparently was minimally manned. It was called to active duty in 1951 for the Korean War, but its personnel were used as fillers for other units and the group was soon inactivated.
  The group was again active in the 1950s as the 401st Fighter-Bomber Group at England AFB, Louisiana. It was inactivated in 1957 when Tactical Air Command replaced its groups reporting directly to TAC numbered air forces with like numbered wings and its squadrons were transferred to the 401st Fighter-Bomber Wing.
context_section_description: The 401st Expeditionary Operations Group (401 EOG) was activated in 2001 by USAFE to perform combat support duties as part of the Global War on Terrorism at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus performing KC-135 operations. Detachment 1 was located at Tuzla Air Base, Bosnia and Herzegovina, designated as the 401st Expeditionary Air Base Group.
  In June 2003 the group moved to Aviano again, where it became the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing, replacing the 16th AEW, inactivating so as to eliminate an overlap in designation and heraldry with the 16th Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
  USAFE moved the 401st to Ramstein Air Base, Germany in 2008 and it once again became a group.  At Ramstein, it has been used as a headquarters for provisional units deployed for humanitarian missions and exercises.
caption: 401st Expeditionary Operations Group Morale Patch, Operation Iraqi Freedom
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