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45th Operations Group | |
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![]() Cassini–Huygens spacecraft launch, 15 October 1997 | |
Active | 1941–1942, 1991–2021 |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Type | Group |
Role | Space launch |
Motto(s) | Ad Astra (Latin for 'To the Stars') |
Insignia | |
Patch with 45th Operations Group emblem (Approved 19 July 1967 for Air Force Eastern Test Range) [a] | ![]() |
45th Bombardment Group emblem [b] [1] | ![]() |
The 45th Operations Group was a United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to 45th Space Wing, stationed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. In May 2021, it was inactivated and its assetts reassigned to Space Launch Delta 45.
Up until 2003, the 45th Operations Group was responsible for program management and operation of up to five squadrons which perform all Eastern Range launch operations including Delta II, Delta III, Atlas II, Atlas III, Titan IV, Space Shuttle, Pegasus, and Athena space launch vehicles.[ citation needed ]
The group provided support to Naval Ordnance Test Unit operations. In support of space launch operations, it coordinated training for the wing, manages all wing spacecraft services systems and facilities, and manages the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Skid Strip and the Patrick Air Force Base air traffic control complex, handling more than 24,000 aircraft operations annually.
The group was organized at Army Air Base, Savannah, Georgia in January 1941 as the 45th Bombardment Group and equipped with Douglas A-20 Havocs (along with a few DB-7s, an export version of the A-20). [c] Its original assigned squadrons were the 78th, 79th and 80th Bombardment Squadrons. The 17th Reconnaissance Squadron was attached to the group. In June the group moved to Army Air Base, Manchester, New Hampshire, where the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron was assigned to the group as the 92d Bombardment Squadron. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor the squadron began flying antisubmarine patrols off the Atlantic coast. In 1942, it converted to various medium bombers, primarily the Douglas B-18 Bolo, which was equipped with radar for the antisubmarine mission. The group moved to Dover Army Air Field, Delaware in May 1942 and to Miami Army Air Field, Florida in August. Its squadrons were dispersed to various bases along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts [1] [5] [6] [7] [8]
In October 1942, the Army Air Forces organized its antisubmarine forces into the single Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command, which established the 26th Antisubmarine Wing the following month to control its forces operating over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. [9] [10] The command's bombardment group headquarters, including the 45th, were inactivated and the squadrons, now designated the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Antisubmarine Squadrons, were assigned directly to the 26th Wing. [1] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Reactivated as the 45th Operations Group in November 1991 under Air Force Space Command. Operated "Down-Range" facilities at Antigua, Ascension Island, and Cape Canaveral, Florida; launched DOD payloads into orbit; and collected flight data for evaluation of ballistic missile systems launched from Eastern Launch sites for DOD, NASA, and commercial customers. Provided support for DOD, NASA, and commercial manned and unmanned space programs.
There were several organizational changes in the wing in 1997 and 1998. Detachments 1 and 2 of the 45th Operations Group were inactivated on Antigua and Ascension on 1 June 1997, but they were replaced by Detachments 1 and 2 of the 45th Logistics Group on the same day. The 5th Space Launch Squadron was inactivated at Cape Canaveral Air Station on 29 June 1998, and its resources were absorbed by the 3rd Space Launch Squadron.
Launch operations were reassigned to the 45th Launch Group on 1 December 2003. The group was inactivated on 4 May 2021 and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to Space Launch Delta 45 of the United States Space Force.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency