137th Space Warning Squadron

Last updated

233rd Space Group
137thSWSGreeleyCO.jpg
233rd Space Group front gate, Greeley, Colorado
Active1992 – present
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
AllegianceFlag of Colorado.svg  Colorado
Branch US-AirNationalGuard-2007Emblem.svg   Air National Guard
TypeGroup
RoleSpace Communications
Part ofAttached to 140th Wing [1]
Garrison/HQ Greeley Air National Guard Station, Greeley, Colorado
Commanders
Current
commander		Col. Thomas McKenna
Insignia
Emblem of the 233rd Space Group 137th Space Warning Squadron.PNG

The 233rd Space Group (233rd SG) is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard located at Greeley Air National Guard Station, Greeley. The 233rd Space Group provides immediate, worldwide missile warning, space launch and detection in the event of an attack against the United States. [2] If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Space Command.

Colorado Air National Guard

The Colorado Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the U.S. State of Colorado. It is, along with the Colorado Army National Guard, an element of the Colorado National Guard. The units of the Colorado Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Colorado through the office of the Colorado Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Colorado Air National Guard is headquartered in Centennial, and its commander is currently Major General H. Michael Edwards.

United States Air Force Air and space warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

Air Force Space Command Major command of the United States Air Force responsible for space forces

Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is a major command of the United States Air Force (USAF), with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, and subordinate to U.S. Space Command. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of space operations, and is the primary space force for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Contents

Overview

The 233d Space Group employs the Air Force's only strategic survivable, mobile ground system (MGS) to receive early warning data. The 233rd provides endurable missile warning detection to the National Command Authority and has the ability to survive and operate through all phases of trans/post attack. In addition, the satellites provide immediate, worldwide missile warning, space launch, and nuclear detonation detection. [3]

History

The history of the 233rd Space Group is not so much in the unit designation, but in the equipment operated. The 233rd Space Group activated 1 October 1995, assuming the mission of the 4th Space Warning Squadron (4 SWS), Holloman AFB, New Mexico. [2]

4th Space Warning Squadron

The 4th Space Warning Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, formerly located at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The unit was activated in May 1992 as the 4th Space Communications Squadron, when it took over the mission and personnel of the 4th Satellite Communications Squadron. The squadron's primary mission was to provide mobile Defense Support Program support in case of hostilities.

New Mexico U.S. state in the United States

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States of America; its capital and cultural center is Santa Fe, which was founded in 1610 as capital of Nuevo México, while its largest city is Albuquerque with its accompanying metropolitan area. It is one of the Mountain States and shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona; its other neighboring states are Oklahoma to the northeast, Texas to the east-southeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua to the south and Sonora to the southwest. With a population around two million, New Mexico is the 36th state by population. With a total area of 121,592 sq mi (314,920 km2), it is the fifth-largest and sixth-least densely populated of the 50 states. Due to their geographic locations, northern and eastern New Mexico exhibit a colder, alpine climate, while western and southern New Mexico exhibit a warmer, arid climate.

Mobile DSP Communications

The mobile Defense Support Program (DSP) communication mission began on 1 October 1983, as the 1025th Communications Squadron (Mobile). [3] The 1025 CS spent its first three years testing the new mobile satellite communications equipment and training its people. On 1 November 1985, administrative operations were transferred to the 1st Space Wing, part of the newly formed Air Force Space Command. The 1025th Space Communications Squadron was redesignated as the 4th Satellite Communications Squadron on 1 August 1986. During an Air Force-wide reorganization, the 1st Space Wing and the 3d Space Wing were inactivated, and their assets merged into the newly renamed 21st Space Wing, at Peterson AFB, Colorado. The unit was renamed the 4th Space Communications Squadron. Finally, on 1 October 1992, the 4th SCS's mission was declassified. When the duties of the 4th SWS transferred to other space projects, the mobile DSP mission was transferred to the newly formed 233rd Space Group, activated in 1995. [2]

Defense Support Program

The Defense Support Program (DSP) is a program of the U.S. Air Force that operates the reconnaissance satellites which form the principal component of the Satellite Early Warning System currently used by the United States.

1st Space Wing

The 1st Space Wing was a wing of the United States Air Force active from 1983 to 1992 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado as part of Air Force Space Command.

3d Space Wing

The 3d Space Support Wing was a wing of the United States Air Force active from 1986 to 1992 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado as part of Air Force Space Command.

Assignments

Major Command/Gaining Command

Air National Guard Air warfare component of the United States National Guard

The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force as well as the militia air force of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It, along with each state's, district's, commonwealth's or territory's Army National Guard component, makes up the National Guard of each state and the districts, commonwealths and territories as applicable.

Previous designations

Equipment Operated

Related Research Articles

Buckley Air Force Base U.S. military airbase in Colorado

Buckley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Aurora, Colorado, that was established by the U.S. Army as an auxiliary field and bombing range in 1938, and activated as a designated installation in 1941. The base was named in honor of World War I Army pilot First Lieutenant John Harold Buckley.

850th Space Communications Squadron

The 850th Space Communications Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was a component of the 50th Network Operations Group, 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. The squadron was activated 1 December 1997 as the 850th Communications Squadron and redesignated the 850th Space Communications Squadron on 1 October 2002. It was inactivated on 31 January 2006, most of its functions and personnel having been incorporated into the 50th Space Communications Squadron.

21st Space Wing United States Air Force unit

The 21st Space Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force Space Command based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The unit is tasked with the operation of early missile warning and space object detection equipment around the world in support of NORAD and USSTRATCOM through a network of command and control units and ground-based sensors operated by geographically separated units around the world.

168th Wing

The 168th Wing is a unit of the Alaska Air National Guard, stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Fairbanks, Alaska. Before it was redesignated in February 2016, it was known as the 168th Air Refueling Wing. If activated to federal service as a USAF unit, the 168 WG is primarily gained by Pacific Air Forces, while its 213th Space Warning Squadron is gained by Air Force Space Command.

3d Space Operations Squadron Former US Air Force squadron

The United States Air Force's 3d Space Operations Squadron was a satellite operations unit located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.

4th Space Operations Squadron US Air Force satellite squadron

The United States Air Force's 4th Space Operations Squadron is a satellite operations unit located at Schriever AFB, Colorado. 4 SOPS is responsible for command and control of the Milstar/Advanced Extremely High Frequency, Defense Satellite Communications System Phase III, and Wideband Global SATCOM satellite constellations. The 4th Space Operations Squadron's mission is to operate the Air Force's protected and wideband MILSATCOM systems. They provide warfighters global, secure, survivable, strategic and tactical communication during peacetime and throughout the full spectrum of conflict. The squadron also operates three mobile constellation control stations at various locations in conjunction with host partners. At higher readiness levels and during exercises, these personnel deploy with U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Northern Command respectively.

50th Space Communications Squadron United States Air Force unit

The 50th Space Communications Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. The squadron provides command and control systems, configuration control, and systems integrations for seven Department of Defense space programs including $6.2 billion Air Force Satellite Control Network supporting $50 billion in national satellite and terrestrial systems for United States, allied, and coalition forces.

460th Space Wing United States Air Force wing

The 460th Space Wing is located at Buckley Air Force Base, east of Aurora, Colorado The 460th delivers global infrared surveillance, provides worldwide missile warning and tracking for homeland defense purposes, and deploys personnel to combatant commanders worldwide.

140th Wing

The 140th Wing is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard, stationed at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command.

162d Combat Communications Group

The 162d Combat Communications Group is an inactive unit of the California Air National Guard. It was headquartered at North Highlands Air National Guard Station near Sacramento, California.

2nd Space Warning Squadron

The 2d Space Warning Squadron Is part of the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. It operates the Space-Based Infrared System satellites conducting global monitoring for significant infrared events.

6th Space Warning Squadron

The 6th Space Warning Squadron is located at Cape Cod Air Force Station, in Sandwich, Massachusetts. It operates the PAVE PAWS radar to watch for submarine launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles launched toward North America. The squadron is assigned to the 21st Space Wing, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The squadron was first organized in October 1979 as the 6th Missile Warning Squadron

11th Space Warning Squadron

The 11th Space Warning Squadron is a United States Air Force missile warning squadron, located at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado.

12th Space Warning Squadron

The 12th Space Warning Squadron is a United States Air Force ground-based radar used for missile warning, missile defense, and space situation awareness, stationed at Thule Air Base, Greenland.

19th Space Operations Squadron

The 19th Space Operations Squadron is an Air Force Reserve space operations unit, located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.

9th Space Warning Squadron

The United States Air Force's 9th Space Warning Squadron was a United States Air Force missile warning unit located at Robins AFB, Georgia.

30th Operations Group

The 30th Operations Group is an operational component of the United States Air Force 30th Space Wing, stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates  public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/ .

  1. ↑ 140th Wing Official Site. Accessed 2009-07-24. Archived 2011-11-15.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ranger95.com: 233rd Space Group". Archived from the original on 28 February 2005. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
  3. 1 2 137th SWS Official Site and Mission Statement Archived 13 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Accessed/updated: 2011-11-15.
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