621st Contingency Response Wing

621st Contingency Response Wing
621st Contingency Response Wing emblem
Active1994–present
Country United States of America
Branch United States Air Force
TypeRapid Mobility, Contingency Response, Initial Airbase Holding
Size1500 military and civilian personnel
Part ofAir Mobility Command
Garrison/HQMcGuire Air Force Base
Nickname"The Devil Raiders"[1]
EngagementsWar on terror Operation Unified Response
Commanders
Current
commander		Colonel Justin D. Ballinger

The 621st Contingency Response Wing is a United States Air Force rapid response wing, based at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. They specialize in training and deploying personnel globally to open airfields as well as establishing, expanding, sustaining, and coordinating air mobility operations during contingency operations.[2]

It consists of approximately 1,500 airmen in three groups, thirteen squadrons, and more than 20 geographically separated operating locations aligned with major Army and Marine Corps combat units. Two contingency response groups (the 621st Contingency Response Group at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey and the 821st Contingency Response Group at Travis Air Force Base, California) each consist of three operational squadrons and one support squadron and provide the core cadre of expeditionary command and control, airlift, air refueling operations, and aircraft maintenance personnel for deployment worldwide as mobility control and airfield assessment teams. These teams rapidly survey, assess, and establish contingency air bases and expand existing Air Mobility Command support infrastructure worldwide. A third group, the 621st Air Mobility Advisory Group, consists of five squadrons that advise partner nations, augment theater command and control, and liaise with joint partners to facilitate mobility operations.[2]

Mission

The 621st Contingency Response Wing facilitates the global deployment of personnel and equipment for Air Mobility Command (AMC).[3]

Most of the operations can be classified by three types: Joint Task Force - Port Opening, where USAF and US Army units create distribution chains; Expeditionary Air Mobility Support (EAMS), where wing personnel augment existing forces for the mission; and Initial Airbase Opening (IAO). Other operations include: Air advisory with partner nations, augmenting or stand-alone command and control, and air advisory on airlift assets for U.S. Army and Marine units.

History

The 621st was established on 24 June 1994 as the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group and was activated on 22 July of the same year at McGuire Air Force Base (part of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst since 2009). It was expanded into the 621st Contingency Response Wing on 1 March 2005.[4] The 621st included four groups, eight squadrons, and ten geographically separated operating locations aligned with major US Army and Marine Corps combat units. The wing maintains mobility support forces able to respond as directed by the Eighteenth Air Force at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, to meet combatant command wartime and humanitarian requirements. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake of 12 January, the 817th Contingency Response Group deployed to Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in support of Operation Unified Response.[5] Before the earthquake, Toussaint L'Ouverture handled an average of 20 flights a day. Following the earthquake, flight volume increased from an average of 20 to a peak of 160 aircraft per day on 19 January, representing an 800% increase in air traffic.[6]

In early 2010, airmen from the 571st Contingency Response Group and 819th Global Support Squadron deployed to Camp Marmal, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, to provide aerial cargo handling support for the Operation Enduring Freedom logistics surge.[7] The 816th Contingency Response Group was inactivated on 11 June 2010.[8] In August 2010, 30 Airmen from the 818th Contingency Response Group deployed as a Contingency Response Element, or CRE, to Chaklala Airbase, Pakistan.[9] Once deployed, they provided additional aerial port capabilities to increase aircraft loading efficiency for the Pakistan Air Force's Central Flood Relief Cell.[10]

Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Group deployed three times in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. In 2015, they deployed to Iraq, where they established an airstrip at al-Taqaddum to support coalition forces in the Battle for Ramadi. In 2016, the group established the Kobani airfield in Syria and also set up an airfield at Qayarrah West in Iraq to support coalition forces in the Battle of Mosul. In November 2016 Airmen from the group with a contingent of civil engineers, intelligence personnel and security forces, were temporarily deployed to expand and modify the airstrip that the Airmen had established at an air base where they deployed near Kobani, so it could be used to assist in the offensive to retake Raqqa from ISIS. The airbase gives the US an additional location for its aircraft to support U.S. and other anti-ISIS forces, but it had been used by US forces only due to the condition of the runway, which restricted what types of aircraft could land there. General Carlton D. Everhart II, commander of Air Mobility Command, said that the base enables aircraft to deliver critical supplies and equipment, and to help position forces. He added that airmen from the 621st group have supported anti-ISIS coalition forces on the ground in Syria.[11]

In early 2021, the 621st was involved in the closure of multiple airfields and bases within Afghanistan as part of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. On 18 August 2021, the Pentagon announced the deployment of the 621st back into Afghanistan to support evacuation operations following the collapse of the Afghan government.[12]

Operations for NASA

During the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011), the 621st provided standby support for potential emergency landings at alternate locations.

Designed to provide a quick response mobility force, the 621st Wing's shuttle support mission was only to be executed in the event of a post-launch emergency that forced the shuttle to land at an alternate location. Wing airmen sat on call during the scheduled launch to facilitate the response in case the shuttle mission was aborted.[13]

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group on 24 June 1994
Activated on 22 July 1994
Re-designated the 621st Contingency Response Wing on 1 March 2005

Assignments

Components

621st Air Mobility Advisory Group (621 AMAG)

  • 321st Air Mobility Operations Squadron (321 AMOS)
  • 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron (571 MSAS)
  • 621st Mobility Support Operations Squadron (621 MSOS)
  • 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron (818 MSAS)[15]

621st Contingency Response Group (621 CRG)

  • 321st Contingency Response Squadron (321 CRS)
  • 521st Contingency Response Squadron (521 CRS)
  • 621st Contingency Response Squadron (621 CRS)
  • 621st Contingency Response Support Squadron (621 CRSS)

821st Contingency Response Group (821 CRG)

  • 721st Contingency Response Squadron (721 CRS)
  • 821st Contingency Response Squadron (821 CRS)
  • 821st Contingency Response Support Squadron (821 CRSS)
  • 921st Contingency Response Squadron (921 CRS)

Stations

  • McGuire Air Force Base (later Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst), New Jersey, 22 July 1994
  • Travis Air Force Base, California, 29 May 2012

References

Notes

  1. ^ "621st Contingency Response Wing". Air Force Expeditionary Center. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b "621st Contingency Response Wing". Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Retrieved 18 August 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "621st Contingency Response Wing". 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ^ Musser, James M. (12 June 2018). "Factsheet 621 Contingency Response Wing (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency.
  5. ^ Contingency response Airmen return home after Haiti relief operations, 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
  6. ^ FEATURE: CRW captain sees Haiti scene unfold from under brim of many hats, 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
  7. ^ Contingency response team prides itself on 'worldwide mobility, overnight delivery', 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
  8. ^ 816th Contingency Response Group inactivation ceremony takes parent wing into new era, 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
  9. ^ Contingency Response Element providing critical airlift support in Pakistan, U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs
  10. ^ Mobility Airmen continue to aid in international response, Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
  11. ^ Copp, Tara (3 April 2017). "US expands air base in northern Syria for use in battle for Raqqa". Stars and Stripes.
  12. ^ Wadington, Katie; Jackson, David; Vanden Brook, Tom (18 August 2021). "Afghanistan updates: Ghani accused of stealing $169M, calls to veterans crisis lines soar". USA Today. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  13. ^ Doyle, Dustin (12 March 2009). "621st CRW on-call to provide space shuttle support". 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  14. ^ Air Mobility Command Programming Plan 12-01
  15. ^ "New Mobility Support Advisory Sq. adds outreach, education to mission of CRW". Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

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