386th Air Expeditionary Wing The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing ( 386 AEW ) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to United States Air Forces Central . As a provisional unit , it may be activated or inactivated at any time . It is currently stationed at Ali Al Salem Air Base , Kuwait in Southwest Asia . During World War II , the group ' s predecessor unit , the 386th Bombardment Group ( Medium ) was a B - 26 Marauder bombardment group assigned to the Eighth and later Ninth Air Force . During the Battle of Normandy , it supported Allied forces at Caen , and participated in the massive blows against the enemy at Saint - Lô on 25 July 1944 . Knocked out targets to help clear the Falaise pocket of German forces in August 1944 and hit strong points at Brest during September . Mission . The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing has a diverse mission which canvases the CENTCOM AOR . The 386th AEW is the primary aerial hub for Operation Iraqi Freedom and provides airlift support for Operation Enduring Freedom and the Horn of Africa . The wing comprises the 386th Expeditionary Maintenance , Mission Support , Medical and Operations Groups and the 586th Expeditionary Mission Support Group . The 386th AEW is composed of Airmen from the National Guard , Air Force Reserve and active duty . They provide security at the largest Theater Internment Facility in Kuwait , security for convoys , and serve as drivers for convoys . The wing is also home to one of two contingency aeromedical staging facilities ( CASF ) in the theater . The CASF serves as a gateway for patients airlifted to Germany or the United States for further medical treatment . History . World War II . The unit was constituted as the 386th Bombardment Group ( Medium ) on 25 November 1942 , and was activated on 1 December 1942 at MacDill Field , Florida . The group was equipped with the Martin B - 26 Marauder medium bomber . Its operational squadrons were the 552d ( RG ) , 553d ( AN ) , 554th ( RU ) and 555th ( YA ) After training at several airfields in the United States , the group was deployed to Europe in June 1943 and was assigned initially to the 3rd Bombardment Wing of the Eighth Air Force at RAF Snetterton Heath , England . The group remained at Snetterton Heath only a few days , being transferred to RAF Boxted in north Essex on 10 June 1943 where the Martin B - 26 Marauder groups were being consolidated for operations and retrained in medium altitude bombing after low level tactics had produced disastrous losses . The group flew its first mission on 30 July , with operations concentrating on airfields but also attacked marshalling yards and gun positions along the channel coast . The 386th was again transferred to RAF Great Dunmow on 24 September 1943 . Missions of the 386th concentrated on airfields but also bombed marshalling yards and gun positions during the first months of combat . In common with all B - 26 Marauder units of the Eighth Air Force , the 386th was transferred to Ninth Air Force on 16 October 1943 . Tactical operations were carried out against V - weapon sites along the coast of France in the winter of 1943 – 1944 , and bombed airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium during Big Week , 20 – 25 February 1944 . Great Dunmow was the first airfield visited by General Eisenhower in his USAAF airfield tour on Tuesday , 11 April 1944 , and he arrived in time to see thirty - nine Ninth Air Force Marauders take off at twenty second intervals for a mission to attack the marshalling yards in Charleroi Belgium . The 386th hammered gun positions , and airfields preceding the invasion of Normandy and made numerous assaults on bridges of the Seinelate in May . Struck coastal batteries on D - Day and hit bridges , supply and fuel stores , gun positions , and defended areas during the remainder of the Battle of Normandy . Supported Allied forces at Caen , and participated in the massive blows against the enemy at Saint - Lô on 25 July 1944 . Knocked out targets to help clear the Falaise pocket of German forces in August 1944 and hit strong points at Brest during September . In July 1944 , the 553d Bomb Squadron was selected to perform operational testing on the new Douglas A - 26 Invader . However due to technical troubles with the aircraft , the type was withdrawn in September . Several damaged aircraft were moved to one side of the airfield , being abandoned along with wrecks of several Marauders and a Boeing B - 17 which crash - landed at the airfield . On 2 October 1944 , the 386th Bomb Group moved to Beaumont - sur - Oise ( A - 60 ) Airfield , in Normandy France . On the continent , the 386th BG used the following Advanced Landing Grounds : After V - E Day the group returned to the United States , where its Marauder aircraft were sent to Walnut Ridge , Arkansas for disposal . The 386th Bomb Group was inactivated on 7 November 1945 . Cold War . The 386th Troop Carrier Wing , Medium was established on 23 March 1953 , but was never made active nor assigned any aircraft or mission . The 386th Fighter - Bomber Group was activated on 8 April 1956 at Bunker Hill AFB , Indiana as part of the 323d Fighter - Bomber Wing . It was assigned to Tactical Air Command The group had three squadrons , 552d , 553d and 554th . Initially training with North American F - 86Fs , these were quickly upgraded to the North American F - 86H Sabre and then to the North American F - 100A to become proficient in tactical air operations . The wing ' s aircraft wore a band on the tail , and around the nose edged with small black checkers . In 1955 , Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) began stationing units at the base , and the Eighth Air Force claimed jurisdiction of Bunker Hill AFB in September 1957 . With the turnover of the base to SAC , the 323d was phased down and replaced by the SAC 401st Air Base Group on 1 September 1957 . War in Iraq . In 1998 , in preparation for Operation Desert Fox , the 9th Air Expeditionary Group stood up and in 2001 was redesignated as the 386th Air Expeditionary Group . The 386th Air Expeditionary Wing was activated as part of the War on Terrorism at as a result of the inactivation of the 363d Air Expeditionary Wing . This unit was literally at the forefront of Operation Southern Watch . For several years following the Persian Gulf War , the base was a sleepy radar site , manned by just a handful of Air Force people monitoring air traffic in the southern no - fly zone . The 74th Air Control Squadron deployed from August to November 1995 to set up and operate a radar site — the only source of a 24 - hour air picture in - theater – as part of Vigilant Sentinel . Exactly one year later , 74th ACS personnel deployed once again , this time for 120 days in support of Southern Watch and Operation Desert Strike . After tensions in the region flared in late 1997 , coalition forces started massing at the base . When the buildup renewed in November 1998 , prior to Operation Desert Fox , the base doubled in size to a population of 1 , 500 . The 9th Air Expeditionary Group provided air surveillance and control through that same radar site , while a fleet of C - 130 Hercules provide theater airlift and , if necessary , combat search and rescue and aeromedical evacuation for Operation Southern Watch forces . The 9th AEG brought all those functions under one umbrella . Life on The Rock was austere , even by the standards of Southwest Asia ' s deployed locations . Many Air Force people at other Southern Watch bases lived and worked in permanent buildings but The Rock was almost entirely a tent city , with very few actual buildings . Most " buildings " were Quonset - shaped , foldable general purpose structures . During the summer of 2001 , Airmen from all over the world were called to participate in Operation Southern Watch ' s AEF - 6 , also called the 386th Air Expeditionary Group . From the late spring to early fall , the active duty Airmen were joined by members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve . Although from different divisions of the same service , they personified the " seamless air force " concept . Air Expeditionary Force Eight came to a hot start under the desert sun when members of the 729th Air Control Squadron from Hill AFB , Utah , arrived in August 2001 . There was a two - thirds changeover of base personnel due to AEF Eight rotations . Approximately one - third of the members assigned to the 729th ACS deployed to here assuming duties as the 386th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron for the next 90 days . The 386th EACS began focused preparations for the deployment about six months earlier . Their wartime mission was to deploy to potentially austere environments , so the base here was not much of a departure . The 386th EACS also conducted field training in the desert environment of Western Utah to practice chemical warfare , security and other combat skills . In 2000 , the first hardened structures were built here . Hardened structures continue to be built on The Rock .