380th Air Expeditionary Wing
The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing (380 AEW) is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is attached to the United States Air Forces Central component of ACC and is stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.
About 1,200 active duty military members, Reserve, and Air National Guard personnel make up the Wing. Aircraft assigned: KC-10A Extenders, U-2 Dragon Ladies, E-3 AWACS and RQ-4 Global Hawk. Its mission is air refueling and reconnaissance.
The Wing's origins date to 1942 when the 380th Bombardment Group was established. It operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as an B-24 Liberator heavy bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force. The 380th Expeditionary Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit.
Active for over 40 years, the 380th Bombardment Wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Command's deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing.
Read more about 380th Air Expeditionary Wing: Units, History
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“The Laws of Nature are just, but terrible. There is no weak mercy in them. Cause and consequence are inseparable and inevitable. The elements have no forbearance. The fire burns, the water drowns, the air consumes, the earth buries. And perhaps it would be well for our race if the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Man were as inevitable as the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Nature—were Man as unerring in his judgments as Nature.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)
“the embattled flaming multitude
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And with the clashing of their sword-blades make
A rapturous music, till the morning break....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)