449th Air Expeditionary Group The 449th Air Expeditionary Group ( 449 AEG ) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force supporting United States Africa Command . It is stationed at Camp Lemonnier , Djibouti . Its most recent assignment was to support the Africa Command and Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa supporting varied U . S . objectives in the area . The group begin as the World War II 449th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) in the spring of 1943 . The group prepared for combat with Consolidated B - 24 Liberator heavy bomber s . It moved to Italy by January 1944 , and was assigned to the 47th Bombardment Wing of Fifteenth Air Force . The group operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization . The group earned two Distinguished Unit Citation s for its combat actions . After returning to the United States at the end of May 1945 , the unit was assigned to Second Air Force , transitioned to B - 29 Superfortress es , and was redesignated a Very Heavy bomb group . In the postwar era , the 449th Bombardment Group was one of the original ten bombardment group s assigned to Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) . The unit was inactivated on 4 August 1946 at Grand Island Army Air Field , Nebraska and its mission , aircraft , and personnel were transferred to the 28th Bombardment Group which was simultaneously activated . The 449th Bombardment Wing , Heavy was activated in 1963 at Kincheloe AFB , Michigan , assuming the mission , aircraft and equipment of the 4239th Strategic Wing and trained for strategic operations flying Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es and Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker s as part of Strategic Air Command . The wing inactivated in 1977 with the closure of Kincheloe AFB . In 1985 the group and the wing were consolidated , but remained inactive . In 2003 the unit was redesignated as the 449th Air Expeditionary Group and was assigned to United States Air Forces Europe ( USAFE ) to activate or inactivate as needed . Since 2008 , the unit has controlled USAF activities in the Horn of Africa . Mission . The 449th Air Expeditionary Group is assigned to United States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed for operations . The group is currently located at Camp Lemonnier , Djibouti . The 449th provides combat search and rescue for the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa . The group has been assigned various expeditionary rescue squadrons while located in Djibouti . It is currently composed of HC - 130P Hercules aircraft assigned to the 81st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron and pararescuemen from the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron . While deployed the group performed both combat and civil search and rescue missions . In November 2006 , While conducting an air - land mission , Staff Sergeant Joshua C . Sevilla , assigned to the group ' s 79th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron and his crew were forcibly detained by at El Fasher Airport , Sudan by members of the Sudanese military who accused them of espionage and demanded the surrender of all crew members and the aircraft . SSG Sevilla denied a force of more than 150 Sudanese soldiers the ability to control the aircraft , enabling all 17 American detainees to return . History . World War II . The group was constituted as 449th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) on 6 April 1943 and activated on 1 May at Davis - Monthan Field , Arizona . its original components were the 716th , 717th , 718th , and 719th Bombardment Squadron s . It was assigned to II Bomber Command for combat training with B - 24 Liberator s . The first morning report was issued on 27 May 1943and listed as 52 officers and 33 enlisted men available for duty . Over the next seven months the Group steadily increased to full strength as the training program progressed . In July 1943 the group moved to Alamogordo Army Airfield , New Mexico where second phase training was performed . In September the group again relocated , this time to Bruning Army Air Field , Nebraska . The move to Bruning was completed on 18 September 1943 . At that time the 449th consisted of a total complement of 184 officers and 1 , 203 enlisted men . At Bruning the group received its new operational Consolidated B - 24 Liberator s . By December 1943 , training was complete and the 449th was ordered overseas to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations ( MTO ) . Each crew flew its aircraft overseas by the South Atlantic Transport Route which took them to Morrison Field , Florida , then to Puerto Rico and Brazil . The Atlantic crossing was made from Brazil to Dakar , French West Africa . From Dakar the planes flew north to Tunis by way of Marrakech . From Tunis they flew to their forward operating base at Grottaglie Airfield near Taranto , Italy . The 449th was assigned to the 47th Bombardment Wing of the Fifteenth Air Force . The group operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization , attacking such targets as oil refineries , communications centers , aircraft factories , and industrial areas in Italy , Germany , Austria , Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Rumania , Bulgaria , Albania , and Greece . The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation ( DUC ) for a mission on 4 April 1944 when the group , flying without escort , raided marshalling yards in Bucharest . Although heavily outnumbered by German fighters , the group succeeded not only in bombing the target but also in destroying many of the enemy interceptors . Received another DUC for action on 9 July 1944 when the group flew through heavy smoke and intense enemy fire to attack an oil refinery at Ploesti . Other operations of the group included bombing gun emplacements in southern France in preparation for the invasion in August 1944 , and attacking troop concentrations , bridges , and viaducts in April 1945 to assist Allied forces in northern Italy . The group was ordered back to the United States during May after the German capitulation . The 449th was redesignated a Very Heavy bombardment group and was programmed for very long range strategic bombardment operations against the Japanese Home Islands using B - 29 Superfortress es . Many personnel were demobilized upon arrival at the port of embarkation ; a small cadre of key personnel was formed and the group was then established at Sioux Falls Army Air Field , South Dakota in late May where the group was reformed with new personnel . After a period of organization , the group moved to Dalhart Army Air Field , Texas , where initial training was conducted with former II Bomber Command B - 17 Flying Fortress ; B - 25 Mitchell s and some B - 29s . As the group was so far along in training , it moved to Grand Island Army Air Field , Nebraska in September where it became a regular unit of Continental Air Forces , receiving some of the last new B - 29 aircraft manufactured by Boeing . In November , its 719th squadron was converted to a reconnaissance unit and redesignated the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron , Very Long Range ( Photographic - Weather ) . On 21 March 1946 , the 449th Bombardment Group became one of the initial ten B - 29 groups assigned to Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) . The group was inactivated on 4 August 1946 and its personnel , mission , and equipment were reassigned to the 28th Bombardment Group . Strategic Air Command . 4239th Strategic Wing The origins of the 449th Bombardment Wing began on 1 July 1959 when SAC established the 4239th Strategic Wing ( SW ) at Kincheloe AFB , Michigan , an Air Defense Command ( ADC ) base , whose host was the 507th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) and assigned it to the 40th Air Division as part of SAC ' s plan to disperse its Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases , thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike . The wing remained a headquarters only until 1 June 1961 when the 70th Munitions Maintenance Squadron was activated to oversee the wing ' s special weapons . The 93d Bombardment Squadron ( BS ) , consisting of 15 Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es , moved to Kincheloe from Homestead AFB , Florida where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 19th Bombardment Wing in August 1961 . At the same time three maintenance squadrons and a squadron to provide security for special weapons were activated and assigned to the wing . Half of the wing ' s aircraft were maintained on fifteen minute alert , fully fueled , armed , and ready for combat . The 4239th ( and later the 449th ) continued to maintain an alert commitment until the 449th was inactivated in 1977 . In 1962 , the wing ' s bomber s began to be equipped with the GAM - 77 Hound Dog and the GAM - 72 Quail air - launched cruise missiles , The 4239th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles . However , SAC Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage and SAC looked for a way to make its Strategic Wings permanent . 449th Bombardment Wing In 1962 , in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records , Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled ( MAJCON ) strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled ( AFCON ) units , most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history . As a result the 4239th SW was replaced by the 449th Bombardment Wing , Heavy ( 449th BW ) , which assumed its mission , personnel , and equipment on 1 February 1963 . In the same way the 716th Bombardment Squadron , one of the unit ' s World War II historical bomb squadrons , replaced the 93d BS . The 70th Munitions Maintenance Squadron was reassigned to the 449th . Under the Dual Deputate organization , all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing , so no operational group was activated . The 4239th ' s maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 449th numerical designation of the new wing . Each of the new units assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of its predecessor . In July 1963 , the wing added an air refueling capability when the 908th Air Refueling Squadron , equipped with Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker s , was organized and assigned to the wing . The 449th continued the mission of strategic bombardment training and contributing to SAC ' s worldwide refueling capability . It supported SAC combat operations in Southeast Asia by furnishing KC - 135 aircraft and crews from November 1965 through December 1975 and B - 52 crews between May 1968 and June 1975 . In December 1965 , the Department of Defense announced a decision to close Kincheloe AFB by October 1971 . ADC terminated its interceptor mission at Kincheloe and inactivated its 507th Fighter Wing in 1968 and organized the 4609th Air Base Group as a temporary host organization for the base . However , in May 1971 , the decision to close the base was reversed and it was transferred to SAC , which activated the 449th Combat Support Group as the new host organization . This was only a six - year reprieve , as the base was closed on 30 September 1977 as part of an ongoing reduction in force in the USAF following the end of the Vietnam War . The B - 52s and KC - 135s of the 449th were reassigned to other SAC units , and the wing was inactivated concurrent with the closure of the base . Lineage . 449th Bombardment Group 449th Air Expeditionary Group Components . Groups Operational Squadrons Support Squadrons Other References . Bibliography . Further Reading