World War II

The group was first activated in 1940 at March Field, California as the 32nd Air Base Group with an air base squadron and two materiel squadrons assigned. In June 1942, along with other air base groups, its air base squadron was reassigned and it was converted into the 32nd Service Group, a support unit designed to provide support for two combat groups. After training in the United States, It moved to England, where it served with IX Air Force Service Command until it was disbanded in June 1945, when the Army Air Forces replaced its service groups with air service groups consisting entirely of Air Corps personnel and designed to support a single combat group.^[5]

War in Iraq

The 732nd Air Expeditionary Group was a subordinate unit to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, whose heritage is tied to the famous 332nd Fighter Group led by the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. Its mission and traditions were carried out by airmen headquartered at Joint Base Balad, Iraq with the motto "Tuskegee Airmen...The Legend Continues."

The 732nd Air Expeditionary Group was composed of roughly 1,800 Air Force personnel spread across six squadrons with detachments tactically assigned to U.S. Army, Marine Corps and Coalition units at 44 locations throughout Iraq. Originally the 732 Expeditionary Mission Support Group, the unit was re-designated an air expeditionary group to reflect its theater-wide combat and combat support responsibilities at the height of the 2006–2007 US military surge. The six squadrons of the 732 AEG conducted combat and combat support for or in lieu of US Army, Marine Corps and Iraqi Army and Police Forces, at locations including downtown Baghdad; Camp Speicher; Al Asad Air Base; Camp Anaconda (Balad Air Base); Camp Habbaniyah; Camp Bucca; Camp Caldwell (Kirkush); Tallil Air Base; Mosul Air Base; Camp Rustamiyah; Baghdad International Airport; Green Zone; Kirkuk Air Base; Camp Hadithah; Taji Air Base and numerous forward operating bases.

Colonel Larry Jackson assumed command of the 732 EMSG in July 2006 and, after December 2006, served as the first 732 AEG commander until July 2007 during which the brigade-level group's Airmen included security forces, Red Horse and civil engineers, military working dog teams, intelligence specialists, explosive ordnance disposal specialists, logisticians and transportation specialists, airfield managers, judge advocate and legal services specialists and interrogators. The 732 AEG's motto was "Combat Airpower with a Hooah...Right Here, Right Now!"

Reflecting its active combat and combat support mission, the 732 AEG suffered 42 battle casualties from July 2006 to July 2007 including six killed-in-action: Capt. Kermit O. Evans, Master Sgt. Brad A. Clemmons, Staff Sgt. John T. Self, Army Sgt. Keith E. Fiscus, Airman 1st Class LeeBernard E. Chavis, and Airman 1st Class Jason D. Nathan.^[6] Redesignated 732nd Air Expeditionary Group in December 2006 with Colonel Lawrence M. Jackson II as its first commander. The group was inactivated in November 2010 and the 467th Air Expeditionary Group was activated in its place.^[7]

Assignments

• GHQ Air Force (later, Air Force Combat Command), 15 January 1941
• 4th Air Force Service Command (later, 4th Air Base Command), 1 October 1941
• Western Theater of Operations, Air Service Command, 30 December 1941
• Mobile Air Service Area Command, c. January 1943
• Warner Robins Air Service Area Command, 1943
• Eighth Air Force (later United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe), 28 January 1944
• IX Air Force Service Command, 4 February 1944 – 11 June 1945
• 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, 2 March 2004 – 12 November 2010

Stations

• March Field, California, 15 January 1941
• Dale Mabry Field, Florida, 31 December 1942
• Venice Army Air Field, Florida, 9 October 1943 – 27 December 1943
• RAF Zeals (Station 450),^[8] England, 31 January 1944
• RAF Kingsnorth (Station 418),^[8] England, 11 March 1944
• Brucheville Airfield (A-16),^[9] France, 8 July 1944
• Le Mans Airfield (A-35),^[9] France, 29 August 1944
• Athis Airfield (A-76),^[9] France, 30 September 1944
• Juvincourt Airfield (A-68),^[9] France, 6 October 1944
• Le Culot Airfield (A-89),^[9] France, 27 October 1944
  • Detachment A

Aachen, Germany, 29 March 1945

Niedermendig, Germany, 9 April 1945

Kassel, Germany, 22 April – 11 June 1945

• • Detachment B

Venio, Netherlands, 16 March 1945

Lippstadt, Germany, 23 April 1945

Munich, Germany, 26 May – 11 June 1945

• • Detachment C

Charleroi, Belgium, 20 March 1945

Maastricht, Netherlands, c. March 1945

Wiesbaden, Germany, 20 April – 11 June 45

• Joint Base Balad, Iraq 14 January 2004 – 12 November 2010

Honors

• Service Streamers: World War II American Theater
• Campaign Streamers.
  • World War II:
    • Normandy 1944
    • Northern France 1944
    • Rhineland 1944–1945
    • Central Europe 1945
• Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers. None
• Decorations. Meritorious Unit Citation: England, France, Belgium, 18 January – 30 November 1944.

Bibliography

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
• Coleman, John M (1950). The Development of Tactical Services in the Army Air Forces. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
• Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Fletcher, Harry R (1993). Air Force Bases , Vol. II, Air Bases Outside the United States of America (PDF). Washington, DC: Center for Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• "AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits" (PDF). Washington, DC: Department of the Air Force Index. 15 June 1971. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2016.