 | This article's lead section does not adequately summarize key points of its contents.(January 2018) |
| 43d Electronic Combat Squadron | |
|---|---|
 43d Electronic Combat Squadron EC-130H Compass Call | |
| Active | 1917-1919; 1935-1936; 1940-1946; 1954-1959; 1986-1991; 1992--present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Garrison/HQ | Davis-Monthan AFB |
| Nickname(s) | Bats |
| Engagements | World War I Pacific Theater of World War II Desert Storm Kosovo War Global War on Terrorism [1] |
| Decorations | Air Force Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 43d Electronic Combat Squadron emblem (approved 5 November 1987) [1] |  |
The 43d Electronic Combat Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. Its current assignment is with the 55th Electronic Combat Group, being stationed as a tenant unit at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona as a geographically separated unit from its parent, the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
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 five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and 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.
The 55th Electronic Combat Group, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, provides combat-ready EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, crews, maintenance and operational support to combatant commanders. The group is a geographically separated unit (GSU) that falls under the command of the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB, NE. The group also plans and executes information operations, including information warfare and electronic attack, in support of theater campaign plans. Members of the 55 ECG conduct EC-130H aircrew initial qualification and difference training for 20 aircrew specialties and support operational and force development testing and evaluation for new aircraft systems.
The 55th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. The wing is primarily stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, but maintains one of its groups and associated squadrons at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona as a geographically separated unit.
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The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating to 17 August 1917, when it was organized at Kelly Field, Texas. It later served in France as part of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. The squadron saw combat during World War II, and became part of Tactical Air Command during the Cold War.
World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 June 1992 and its personnel and equipment absorbed by Air Combat Command (ACC).
