Active 1940–1945; 2004–2010 Part of Air Combat Command | Country United States | |
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Branch United States Air Force Type Air Expeditionary Group Engagements European Theater of Operations Global War on Terrorism | ||
The 732d Air Expeditionary Group is an inactive provisional United States Air Force unit. It was last active at Joint Base Balad, where it provided support for airmen supporting units of other services in Iraq.
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The group was first activated as the 32d Air Base Group in 1940. As the 32d Service Group, it provided support for Ninth Air Force Units in the European Theater of Operations until it was inactivated shortly after VE Day.
World War II
The group was first activated in 1940 at March Field, California as the 32d 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 32d 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.
War in Iraq
The 732d Air Expeditionary Group provided oversight and advocacy for roughly 1,100 Air Force personnel spread across four squadrons who were tactically assigned to U.S. Army and Marine units throughout Iraq. Originally the 732 Expeditionary Mission Support Group, the 732 AEG was re-designated an air expeditionary group in December 2006 to reflect its theater-wide responsibilities. Operating from Balad Air Base at its inception, the six squadrons of the 732 AEG provided direct Joint and Coalition combat and combat support to and/or in lieu of US Army, Marine Corps and Iraqi Army and Police Forces at over 60 locations, including downtown Baghdad; Camp Speicher; Al Asad Air Base; Camp Anaconda (Balad Air Base); Camp Bucca; Camp Caldwell (Kirkush); Tallil Air Base; Mosul Air Base; Camp Rustamiyah; Baghdad International Airport; Green Zone; Kirkuk Air Base; Camp Hadithah; and Taji Air Base. Colonel Larry Jackson served as the first AEG commander at the height of the 2006 to 2007 military surge when the 732 AEG had over 1800 Airmen assigned, including security forces, Red Horse and civil engineers, lawyers, truck drivers, interrogators, military working dog teams, intelligence specialists, explosive ordnance disposal specialist, logisticians, and airfield managers. The 732 AEG provided operational oversight for Airmen who were tactically assigned to U.S. Army and Marine units. Redesignated 732d Air Expeditionary Group in December 2006 with Colonel Lawrence M. Jackson II as the first 732 AEG commander. The group was inactivated in November 2010 and the 467th Air Expeditionary Group was activated in its place.