Active March 2005 – Present Branch Air Force | Country United States Part of Air Mobility Command | |
 | ||
Type Rapid Mobility, Contingency Response, Initial Airbase Holding Size 650 military and civilian personnel | ||
The 621st Contingency Response Wing (621 CRW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Contents
Mission
The 621 CRW is responsible for training and rapidly deploying personnel to quickly open airfields in remote locations and extend Air Mobility Command's ability to deploy people and equipment around the globe.
Most of the operations can be classified by three types, Joint Task Force - Port Opening (JTF-PO), where USAF and US Army units create distribution chains, Expeditionary Air Mobility Support, (EAMS) where CRW personnel augment existing forces for the mission, and Initial Airbase Opening (IAO)
History
In 2005, the 621st was created with four groups, eight squadrons and ten geographically separated operating locations aligned with major US Army and Marine Corps combat units. The wing maintains a ready corps of light, lean and agile mobility support forces able to respond as directed by the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center) at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., in order to meet Combatant Command wartime and humanitarian requirements.
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake of 12 January, the 817th Contingency Response Group deployed to Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti in support of Operation Unified Response. Before the earthquake, Toussaint L'Ouverture handled an average of 20 flights a day. Immediately following the earthquake this number jumped dramatically. At its peak on 19 January, more than 160 aircraft landed and were safely unloaded by the CRW—an 800 percent increase in air traffic from pre-disaster levels.
In early 2010, Airmen from the 571 Contingency Response Group and 819th Global Support Squadron deployed to Camp Marmal, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan to provide aerial cargo handling support for the Operation Enduring Freedom logistics surge. The 816th Contingency Response Group was inactivated on 11 June 2010. In August 2010, 30 Airmen from the 818th Contingency Response Group deployed as a Contingency Response Element, or CRE, to Chaklala Airbase, Pakistan. Once deployed, they provided additional aerial port capabilities to increase aircraft loading efficiency for the Pakistan Air Force's Central Flood Relief Cell.
Operations for NASA
With a separation of over 1,000 miles, teams from the 621st remained ready to launch at a moment's notice in support of the Space Shuttle launches during the years of the program (1981-2011).
Designed to provide a quick response mobility force, the 621st CRW's shuttle support mission was only to be executed in the event of a post launch emergency that forced the shuttle to land at an alternate location. CRW Airmen sat on-call during the schedule launch to facilitate the response in case the shuttle mission was aborted.
Lineage
Assignments
Components
621st Air Mobility Advisory Group (621 AMOG)
621st Contingency Response Group (621 CRG)
821st Contingency Response Group (821 CRG)