The 501st Combat Support Wing (501 CSW) is a United States Air Force unit at RAF Alconbury in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the administration and operation of the various smaller Air Force units scattered across the UK that are considered geographically separated from the main Air Force bases at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. The wing is also responsible for supporting US Air Force personnel stationed at Stavanger, Norway.
| 501st Combat Support Wing | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the 501st Combat Support Wing | |
| Active | 12 May 2005 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Part of | United States Air Forces Europe |
| Garrison/HQ | RAF Alconbury |
| Motto(s) | Action Not Words |
History
The 501 CSW was first constituted as the 501st Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 25 May 1944 and became active on 1 Jun 1944 at Dalhart Army Air Field (AAF), Texas. Over the next two years the group moved several times: Harvard AAF, Nebraska (22 August 1944), Fort Lawton, Washington (10-17 March 1945), Territory of Hawaii (25-30 March 1945) and Northwest Field, Guam (14 April 1945). During this time the group flew Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers.
The group would operate from Guam until deactivating on 10 June 1946. It would remain inactive until 11 Jan 1982 when it was consolidated with another inactive unit, the 701st Tactical Missile Wing, and redesignated the 501st Tactical Missile Wing (501 TMW). The 501 TMW was activated on 1 July 1982 at RAF Greenham Common, United Kingdom. The wing remained at its UK base until its second deactivation on 31 May 1991. During this time the group operated BGM-109G "Gryphon", also known as the Ground Launched Cruise Missile.
The 501 TMW was redesignated the 501st Combat Support Wing on 22 March 2005 and reactived at RAF Mildenhall on 12 May 2005. Its new role of administering the various geographically separated units in the UK had previously been the mission of the 38th Combat Support Wing based at Sembach Air Base, Germany. On 1 May 2007, the wing moved to RAF Alconbury.
The existing 423 ABG commander was fired on 18 January 2008 by the 501 CSW commander after only 6 months in command. The reason Col Kimberly Toney gave was “I lost confidence in Col. Steele’s ability to lead the group.” No criminal charges were filed against Col Steele, perplexing members of the group, naturally leaving many to ask “Why?” The group commander of RAF Croughton was brought in to dually command the group at RAF Alconbury. [Source: Stars and Stripes article 25 Jan 08] The 501 CSW commander acknowledged the period was a “Painful challenge” and the 501 CSW commander made a statement in an interview to the Stars and Stripes newspaper that indicated the members of the 423d ABG “blame themselves” for the sacking of their group commander. [Source: Stars and Stripes article 27 March 08] On 3 June 2008, a computer belonging to the U.S. Air Force at RAF Alconbury, as indicated by its IP address (IP 131.58.208.9) and recorded on the History tab of this article, edited this article by removing paragraphs about the state of morale documented by another contributor. When portions of the article were reposted, they were removed again by a United States Air Force noncommissioned officer whose personal webpage [www.reverendlinux.com/resume.html] indicates that he is currently stationed at one of the bases supported by RAF Alconbury. Seemingly, the USAF is actively censoring out information from Wikipedia articles. [Source: Wikipedia History tab on this article]