404th Air Expeditionary Group The 404th Air Expeditionary Group ( 404 AEG ) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is attached to Seventeenth Air Force [ Air Forces Africa ] , stationed at Ramstein Air Base , Germany . The 404 AEG may be activated or inactivated at any time . Last activated on 1 October 2008 , it currently provides intertheater airlift in support of US Africa Command ( USAFRICOM ) taskings since 1 October 2008 . The 404 AEG added , in provisional status , the 459th Expeditionary Air Medical Squadron . During contingency operations , the group forward - deploys to facilitate air and support operations for varied missions , ranging from humanitarian airlift to presidential support . The 404th AEG deployed to Rwanda in January 2009 to provide airlift for peacekeeping equipment in support of the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur . In July 2009 , the 404th AEG deployed to Ghana to provide aerial port and aircraft maintenance teams , along with forward communications , early warning , and air domain safety and security elements for U . S . President Barack Obama ' s visit . History . World War II . Established as the 100th Fighter Wing and organized in England in late 1943 . Assigned to the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) , IX Fighter Command , Ninth Air Force . Began operational missions in April 1944 , mission of the Wing was to receive operational orders from Headquarters , IX Fighter Command and direct subordinate groups in attacking enemy targets in Occupied France and the Low Countries in preparation for the Normandy Invasion in June 1944 . Targets included bridges , roads , railroads and enemy interceptor aircraft both on the ground as well as in air - to - air combat . After the D - Day invasion , was reassigned to IX Tactical Air Command ( IX TAC ) and directed to provide ground support for advancing United States First Army forces in France , attacking enemy targets initially in the Cotentin Peninsula , then supported Operation Cobra , the breakout of Normandy and attacked enemy forces in the Falaise - Argentan Gap . Wing headquarters and subordinate units operated primarily from liberated airfields and newly built temporary Advanced Landing Ground s in France , moved into north - central France , its groups attacking enemy targets near Paris then north - west into Belgium and the southern Netherlands . In December 1944 / January 1945 , engaged enemy targets on the north side of the Battle of the Bulge , then moved eastward into the Northern Rhineland as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany . Supported First Army as it crossed the Rhine River at Remagen then moved north to attack ground targets in the Ruhr , providing air support as Allied ground forces encircled enemy forces in the Ruhr Pocket , essentially ending organized enemy resistance in Western Germany . First Army halted its advance at the Elbe River in late April 1945 , the wing engaging targets of opportunity in enemy controlled - areas until combat was ended on 5 May 1945 . Remained in Europe after the war as part of United States Air Forces in Europe , performing occupation duty and the destruction or shipment to the United States of captured enemy combat equipment . Inactivated in Germany , August 1945 . Strategic Air Command . The 704th Strategic Missile Wing activated on 1 July 1957 at Vandenberg AFB , California , but was not operational until mid - November 1957 . Trained ( SM - 65 Atlas , PGM - 19 Jupiter , PGM - 17 Thor ) , November 1957 – April 1959 . Not operational 6 April – 1 July 1959 . The wing then redesignated as the 404th Tactical Missile Wing on 31 July 1985 , but never activated in any capacity . In the modern era , the Air Expeditionary unit has been activated and inactivated on several occasions by USAFE as part of the Global War on Terrorism ( 2003 – 2008 )