Air Expeditionary Wings and Groups are a Wing/Group concept used by the United States Air Force. These units are activated under temporary orders by the owning Major Command (MAJCOM) for a specific purpose or mission. Once that mission is completed, these units are inactivated.

Origins Faced with declining budgets in the late 1990s, the U.S. Air Force decided that the Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch (ONW/OSW) patrols over Iraq were "tedious". The patrols placed more strain on units worldwide than during the Cold War. This was because so many fighter, bomber, air refueling, and airlift squadrons had been inactivated after the end of the Cold War. The Air Force "had to change the way it did business".

As the no-fly zone patrols over Iraq began to appear as an ongoing, open-ended commitment, the drain on equipment and manpower forced the Air Force to reconsider how it was going to sustain ONW/OSW patrols, as well as other required deployments worldwide. The answer developed was to end the deployment of entire wings en bloc.

After considerable planning to cover the absence of a replacement for and her air wing for six weeks, "the Chairman of the JCS directed Air Combat Command to deploy an Air Expeditionary Force to Bahrain not later than October 19, 1995, for a period not to exceed 120 days. After some last-minute changes, 18 F–16s deployed to Shaikh Isa Air Base [in Bahrain] on October 28, 1995. Air Expeditionary Force I arrived fully armed and began to fly sorties within 12 hours of its initial landings. It returned to the United States on December 18, 1995. Air Expeditionary Force I deployed 675 people and flew 705 sorties."

It was decided that U.S. Central Command Air Forces (CENTAF) would not consist of permanently assigned units, partially because of the sensitivities of Arab host states to acknowledging that U.S. forces were deployed in their countries. This made establishment of permanent units more difficult, because base access might be changed or denied with shifting, volatile, political currents. For example, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Jordanian government denied U.S. troops were stationed in Jordan. This created a lot of concern with Jordanian military personnel stationed at Shahid Muafaq Al-Salti Air Base during the initial stages. As they were being told on television and radio that there were no U.S. troops on Jordanian soil, USAF C-17 aircraft were arriving on a daily basis with personnel and supplies. The 410th Air Expeditionary Wing was quickly growing in size. Out of confusion, Jordanian Security Forces documented everything leaving the aircraft. U.S. personnel removed labels and explosive decals from the containers, as not to aggravate the situation. American troops initially were not allowed to carry weapons in plain sight. So they carried their Beretta 9mm handguns hidden in their waistbands for protection and hid their M-4 carbines from view in their vehicles.

To minimize the risk of these kind of situations happening, the decision was taken to avoid the creation of permanent units, especially in the Middle East.

Instead, elements from different wings, even from both the active-duty component and the Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard, would be melded together for each deployment. This merging of different units from different permanent wings/groups was christened the "Air Expeditionary Force" (AEF) concept. The various units were to be drawn from Air Combat Command or ACC gained components, but also from other major commands such as Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) or United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), as necessary, to meet mission requirements. AEF organizations were to be fundamentally temporary in nature, organized to meet a specific mission or commitment. They thus replaced the "Provisional" deployed units attached to the command during the 1991 (Persian) Gulf War.

Active Air Expeditionary wings and groups Active Air Expeditionary Wings (AEW)

UnitEmblemLocationCountryCommand &(Numbered AF)Date activatedMission320th Air Expeditionary WingJoint Base Anacostia-Bolling, United StatesAir Force District of Washington2006USAF component of Joint Task Force National Capital Region. Commanded concurrently by the Commander, Air Force District of Washington. 332nd Air Expeditionary WingMuwaffaq Salti Air Baseas of 2020 Jordanas of 2020US Air Forces Central(9th AF)May 2015Fighters, CSAR and ISR in the US Central Command area of responsibility.https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2002496755/378th Air Expeditionary WingPrince Sultan Air Base Saudi ArabiaUS Air Forces Central(9th AF)December 2019Supports Air and Missile Defense and provides fighter and tanker staging in the US Central Command area of responsibility.379th Air Expeditionary WingAl-Udeid Air Base QatarUS Air Forces Central(9th AF)UnknownTanker, airlift, aeromedical evacuation and high altitude surveillance in the US Central Command area of responsibility.380th Air Expeditionary WingAl Dhafra Air Base United Arab EmiratesUS Air Forces Central(9th AF)January 2002Tanker and ISR aircraft in the US Central Command area of responsibility.386th Air Expeditionary WingAli Al Salem Air Base KuwaitUS Air Forces Central(9th AF)September 2000Airlift aircraft and airlift hubs in the US Central Command area of responsibility.406th Air Expeditionary WingRamstein Air Base GermanyUS Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa(3rd AF)2023Supports US Africa Command operations, with subordinate Air Expeditionary Groups deployed to locations throughout Africa.432nd Air Expeditionary WingCreech Air Force Base United StatesUS Air Forces Central(9th AF)2002Designation used by the 432nd Wing when remotely operating the MQ-9B Reaper or RQ-170 Sentinel in support of US Central Command.

Active Air Expeditionary Groups (AEG)

UnitEmblemLocationCountryWingDate activatedMission13th Air Expeditionary GroupChristchurch International Airport New ZealandDirect Report to13th EAFUnknownAir component of the Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica (JTF-SFA), operating the C-17A Globemaster III and Lockheed LC-130 Hercules as part of Operation Deep Freeze. A forward operating location is based at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.387th Air Expeditionary GroupCargo City Kuwait386th AEW2003Operates the Theater Logistics Gateway at Cargo City and operates at Ali Al Salem AB in Kuwait in support of operations in the US Central Command area of responsibility.401st Air Expeditionary GroupRAF Mildenhall United Kingdom435th AGOWUnknownExercises administrative and operational command over 435th Air Ground Operations Wing task organized detachments, active-duty units, or Guard/Reserve forces to execute specific European Theater contingency missions.404th Air Expeditionary GroupRamstein Air Base Germany406th AEWOctober 2008Provides dedicated intra-theater airlift support for the US Africa Command area of responsibility. Subordinate units forward deploy to locations throughout Africa.409th Air Expeditionary GroupNigerien Air Base 201 Niger406th AEW2011Provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to counter extremist activity. 449th Air Expeditionary GroupCamp Lemonnier Djibouti406th AEW2008Provides combat search and rescue and maintains surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa.

Inactive Air Expeditionary wings and groups