962d Airborne Air Control Squadron The 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron ( 962 AACS ) is part of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base , Alaska . It operates the E - 3 Sentry aircraft conducting airborne command and control missions . Mission . The 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron provides the commander , U . S . Pacific Command , with a long - range airborne surveillance , detection , identification , and command and control platform for both local and deployed composite wing operations . It supports the commander ' s , North American Aerospace Defense Command ( NORAD ) , commitment to defense of the Alaskan Region . History . Established in late 1943 as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bombardment squadron ; assigned to II Bomber Command for training . One of the last heavy bomb squadrons activated , the unit trained at McCook Army Airfield , Nebraska in a " hurry up " mode , as B - 29 Superfortress training was being conducted by Second Air Force and heavy bomber training was rapidly being phased out . Intensive training of all airmen and support specialists began in January and was only occasionally interrupted by Nebraska ' s late winter and early spring storms . Air exercises in several models of B - 24s included day and night flights , cross - country navigation , simulated bombing , aerial - gunnery practice , and squadron and group formation flying . The unit was deployed to the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) , being assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England . Was assigned to RAF Debach though the balance of the war , with a temporary move to RAF Wormingford in early 1945 while runways were being repaired at Debach . While at Wormingford , the squadron flew unarmed weather reconnaissance flights in support of Eighth Air Force combat operations mission planning . Combat aircraft included B - 24Hs and B - 24Js from June 6 to August 24 , 1944 , and B - 17Gs from September 8 , 1944 to April 20 , 1945 . Missions involved engaging in very long range strategic bombardment attacks on Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe , striking airfields , bridges , and gun batteries prior to and during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 ; hitting enemy positions to assist ground forces south of Caen and at Saint - Lô in July 1944 ; bombing German fortifications to cover the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944 ; attacking enemy communications during the Battle of the Bulge , December 1944 - January 1945 ; and assisting the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945 . The squadron flew its last combat mission , an attack on marshalling yards at Nauen , on 20 April 1945 . The squadron redeployed to the United States . in July and August 1945 and was established at Sioux Falls Army Air Field , South Dakota on August 12 for B - 29 training , however the Japanese Capitulation negated the need for the unit to train in B - 29s and re - deploy to the Pacific Theater . The personnel were demobilized and the unit was inactivated there on August 28 , 1945 . The 962d was reactivated on 8 July 1955 , as a unit of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing , with headquarters at Otis Air Force Base , Massachusetts . The squadron , equipped with various models of the propeller - driven C - 121 Constellation aircraft , was a unit of the Air Defense Command . The 962d participated in numerous operations to test the capability and readiness of the early warning system in order to extend radar coverage seaward beyond that provided by land radars . The unit provided navigational and communications assistance to U . S . and allied aircraft crossing the Atlantic Ocean and to units operating near Cape Canaveral , Florida . As an operational unit of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing from 1955 to 1969 , one of the 962 ' s missions was to conduct search and rescue operations . One result of this role was the popularization of search operation patterns used while searching for a missing U . S . Navy aircraft in late February 1958 . The unit was inactivated on 31 December 1969 . Having been re - designated as the 962d Airborne Warning and Control Squadron , the unit was reactivated on 8 July 1986 , at Elmendorf Air Force Base in support of the Alaskan NORAD Region . A tenant unit of the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing , the 962 AWACS was assigned to the 552nd Air Control Wing , Tactical Air Command , with headquarters at Tinker Air Force Base , Oklahoma . The mission of the 962 AWACS was to provide the 11th Air Force / Alaskan NORAD Region commander with a survivable radar platform that can extend the surveillance coverage of the land - based radar system operated by the Regional Operational Control Center . This enables battle commanders to see a threat at previously undetectable ranges and to position fighters to intercept them before they approach U . S . airspace . Since 1986 , the squadron assisted in the interception of 68 Soviet aircraft . In October 1992 , the squadron was redesignated to the 3rd Wing , Elmendorf AFB , under Pacific Air Forces , and acquired the additional mission of being ready to deploy in support of commander , Pacific Command . In August 1994 , the 962 AWACS was re - designated the 962 AACS . On 22 September 1995 , the squadron experienced its worst single accident . Aircraft Yukla 27 rolled for takeoff at 0746 Alaska Standard Time ( AST ) remaining airborne only 42 seconds due to a massive bird strike resulting in catastrophic damage . The crash resulted in the deaths of 22 U . S . Air Force and 2 Canadian Air Force personnel . Today , squadron aircrews take part in exercises such as Red Flag - Alaska , TEAM SPIRIT , GREEN FLAG , and TANDEM THRUST .