487th Air Expeditionary Wing The 487th Air Expeditionary Wing ( 487 AEW ) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe . As a provisional unit , it may be activated or inactivated at any time . The unit ' s last known assignment was in 2003 at Cairo West Airfield , Egypt , during Operation Iraqi Freedom . It was commanded by Brig . Gen . Randal D . " Randy " Fullhart ( March 2003 – May 2003 ) . During World War II , its predecessor unit , the 487th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) was an Eighth Air Force heavy bombardment unit in England , stationed at RAF Lavenham . It flew 185 combat missions , the last being on 21 April 1945 . It led the largest Eighth Air Force mission of the war on 24 December 1944 . The object of the attacks , in which 1 , 400 bombers took part , escorted by 726 fighters , was to bomb eleven German airfields east of the Rhine while another 634 heavy bombers attacked communication centers west of the Rhine . Brigadier General Frederick Castle was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during that mission . A portrait of the general hangs to this day in the Swan Hotel at Lavenham , which was one of his wartime haunts and whose then - landlord was a personal friend . He was the highest - ranking officer in the Eighth to be awarded the Medal of Honor . History . World War II . Activated 20 September 1943 at Bruning AAFd , Neb . , and moved to Alamogordo AAFd , New Mexico , on 15 December 1944 to complete training . Ground unit left Alamogordo on 10 March 1944 for Camp Kilmer , New Jersey . and sailed on " Duchess of Bedford " on 23 March 1944 , arriving in Gourock on 3 April 1944 . The aircraft flew overseas on 23 March 1944 , taking southern ferry route via Fortaleza Brazil to Dakar and on to Valley Wales , Scotland . Then flying to Lavenham , East Anglia in early April 1944 . The group was assigned to the Eighth Air Force , 3rd . Air Division , and the group tail code was a " Square - P " or " Box " - P . The group was based at Station 137 , Lavenham , England . The group participated in Air Offensive Europe . The group flew both the B - 24 Liberator and the B - 17 Flying Fortress as part of the Eighth Air Force ' s strategic bombing campaign and began combat in May 1944 , bombing airfields in France in preparation for the invasion of Normandy , then targeted coastal defenses , road junctions , bridges and locomotives during the invasion . Aided Normandy ground forces on D - Day 6 June 1944 . The unit ' s first commander was Lieutenant Colonel Beirne Lay , Jr . , a prominent Hollywood screen writer until he was shot down on 11 May 1944 in one of the group ' s earliest actions . He was shot down over enemy territory but evaded capture and was returned to duty . After the war , he wrote the screenplay for the 1949 film , " Twelve O ' Clock High " . The 487th Bomb Group ( H ) attacked German troops and artillery positions to assist British forces near Caen in July ; struck gun emplacements to support the Allied effort at Brest in August and to cover the airborne attack on Holland in September 1944 . Flew a few missions against German industries , refineries , and communications during the period May – August 1944 , but operated almost solely against strategic targets from August 1944 , when conversion to B - 17 ' s was completed in March 1945 . The 487th also attacked oil refineries in Merseburg , Mannheim , and Dulmen ; factories in Nuremberg , Hanover , and Berlin ; and marshalling yards in Cologne , Münster , Hamm , and Neumünster . Aided ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge , December 1944 – January 1945 , and turned again to support and interdictory operations in March 1945 as the Allies crossed the Rhine and made the final thrust into Germany . Redeployed to the US July 1945 . The aircraft left Lavenham on the first week of July 1945 . The ground unit sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on 25 August 1945 , and arriving in New York on 1 September 1945 . The Group established at Drew Fd , Fla 3 September 1945 , and inactivated there on 7 November 1945 . Group nickname : " Gentlemen from Hell " . Cold War . Activated in 1983 , the 487th Tactical Missile Wing was stationed at Comiso Air Station in Sicily . Equipped with BGM 109 Ground Launched Cruise Missile ( GLCM ) . Inactivated as a result of the 1987 Intermediate - Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1991 . 21st century . Converted to provisional status and activated as an Air Expeditionary Wing during 2003 invasion of Iraq in March 2003 . Inactivated after 90 days of duty due to Air - Force intensive active combat phase of Iraqi invasion having been completed .