The Confusing World of SAC Division/Wing Organization at Lincoln AFB

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Simply put, U.S Air Force units at Lincoln AFB could be denoted in this scale:

Flight – Squadron – Wing/Group – Division – Air Force – Command

For instance take this organization at Lincoln Air Force Base in 1958

Delta Flight – 343^rd Bomb Squadron – 307^th Bomb Wing – 818^th Air Division – 8^th Air Force – Strategic Air Command

However there were many exceptions that were made throughout the Air Force’s time at Lincoln. Certain units that were at “squadron” level found themselves reattached later and acting under “groups”. Some “squadrons” at Lincoln didn’t report to wings but rather the division themselves. Some units as well weren’t even assigned to Strategic Air Command at Lincoln. Hopefully the entries below can clear up some of this confusion.

The names would change, missions were altered

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Strategic Air Command often changed missions, organizational levels and names of units. At Lincoln this was especially felt during three events.

The First was the “Deputy Commander” concept at the Wing level which re-designated certain officers as deputies reporting particular missions to the wing commander (materiel, flight, maintenance). Organizational changes were made but not much to the actual naming structure.

The Second was the “Alert” concept change of 1958-1959 when certain missions were altered. The launch of Sputnik in October 1957 spurred much of this change as SAC was forced to institute a “quick reaction” force of bombers in the face of missile attack.

 

         818^th Air Base Group changed to 818^th Combat Support Group

-          Gaining certain “squadron” level units such as certain Air Police, training and other units

                  818^th Air Police Squadron to 818^th Combat Security Squadron

-          Typical “AP” functions removed leaving a base “Security” force with a more  militarized combat function in defense

                  The addition of the 415^th and 424^th Bomb Squadrons to the 98^th and 307^th Bomb Wings respectively

-          A fourth tactical squadron added to supplement the alert operation schedule 

The Third was the “Aerospace” concept brought into SAC’s vocabulary between 1959 and 1962 with the inclusion of new strategic missile wings/squadrons

 -          As the 551^st Strategic Missile Squadron activated and reported directly to 818^th Air Division who, in turn, soon became the 818^th Strategic Aerospace Division

-          Missile Squadrons later reassigned to Wings, thus the 98^th Bomb Wing became the 98^th Strategic Aerospace Wing in January 1964

-         Many squadrons themselves would change names denoting the “aerospace” concept within SAC

Squadron reporting was not uniform

Detachment 2 of 1911^th Air and Airways Communication Squadron (air traffic control) was a part the 5^th Weather Squadron of Military Air Transport Service (MATS) and not SAC, operated out of Base Operations building.

But

The 1297^th Air and Airways Communications Squadron replaces the 1911-2^th AACS in July 1958. It reported to MATS but did NOT report to the 5^th Weather Squadron

Meanwhile

Weather Detachment 21 (Forecasting and later radar) reports to the 5^th Weather Squadron, MATS

So, weather and air traffic control reported to Military Air Transport Service from Lincoln’s control tower/base ops and not Strategic Air Command. Even more confusing, the 1297th AACS actually was mostly staffed with civilians working under the FAA.

1959 was big for squadron name changes

Again, due to the gaining steam of “aerospace” coming into common parlance in SAC, the following squadrons changed names. Some missions were changed as well

                818^th Installations Squadron (CIO) became 818^th Civil Engineering Squadron

                818^th Motor Vehicle Squadron became 818^th Transportation Squadron

                818^th Food Services Squadron became 818^th Services Squadron

                818^th Operations Squadron became 818^th Communications Squadron

-          Some assets went to 818^th Combat Support Group and 818^th Headquarters Squadron (Training, Disaster Control, Base Operations)

34^th Air Depot Squadron became 34^th Munitions Maintenance Squadron

-          Which gave a better idea of their mission, specifically handling nuclear and non-nuclear ordinance

Sometimes “Wing” missions took on mini-“Division” scale missions

Lincoln was one of the more unique cases as it was a two wing/divisional base. Many other bases provided with only one tactical wing had different assigned units. Lincoln was a one-wing station at two points in its history, 1954 and again 1965-1966. The 98^th Air Base Group of 1954 was largely charged with getting a reactivated air base up to speed and provided all of the support functions as listed before (818^th transportation, food service, etc.) but on a “Wing” scale. The 98^th Air Base Squadron of 1965-1966 was charged with pretty much the opposite, that is preparing to close a base while still providing those services.

Naming of “groups and squadrons” was sometimes a bit deceptive

The 4120^th Air Base Group of 1952 began work on the base with a handful of officers and airmen while the 818th Combat Support Group was much larger. In addition, the 4362^nd “Support” Squadron was named to realistically hide the true mission of the squadron, which became known later as it was dubbed the 4362^nd Post-Attack Command and Control Squadron flying airborne radio relay links for SAC after a nuclear exchange.

There were a number of smaller detachments that aren’t well known

                I’ve only been able to dig so deep into unit histories, so here’s a few that are less known to me from Lincoln. I’d love some help on the subject.

                                818^th Aircraft Support Squadron

                                                (not a clue yet, detached from 818^th HQ?)

                                408th Field Training Detachment

                                                (Lincoln had an NCO school, but I believe this was something from the early 60s)

              3507th USAF Recruiting Group

                         (I believe this to be a headquarters like unit for regional recruiting offices)

Who reported to who often changed at Lincoln

818^th Air Division (and subordinate units) reported to all three of SAC’s numbered Air Forces during its lifetime (15^th AF in 1954, 8^th AF from 1954 to 1959, and 2^nd AF from 1959 to 1966)

The 98^th would later report to the 810^th Strategic Aerospace Division of Minot AFB, North Dakota in 1965

And nothing was constant throughout the cold war for SAC

                An interesting conversation is posted at

 http://www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/organization2.htm

describing a bit of SAC’s organizational details throughout the cold war (1946 to 1992 for SAC). It appears the Vietnam conflict changed a bit of organization and of course a great deal was changed when SAC units became part of Air Combat Command and Space Command as well.