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376th Expeditionary Operations Group
Military unit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 376th Expeditionary Operations Group was a provisional United States Air Force Air Combat Command unit. It was stationed at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyz Republic, up until 2014.
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376th Expeditionary Operations Group
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![]() A 376th airman directs a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker taxiing for a refueling mission at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan | |
Active | 1942–1945; 1947–1948; 1951–1952; 2001–2014[citation needed] |
Country | ![]() |
Branch | ![]() |
Role | Aerial refueling and airlift |
Part of | United States Air Forces Central |
Garrison/HQ | Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan |
Motto(s) | Liberandos[1] |
Engagements | Mediterranean Theater of Operations War in Afghanistan (2001–present) |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation[1] Air Force Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device[2] |
Insignia | |
376th Air Expeditionary Wing emblem[note 1] | ![]() |
376th Bombardment Group emblem (approved 8 November 1951)[1][note 2] | ![]() |
Originally activated in World War II as the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy), it was the first Consolidated B-24 Liberator group to be based on the European Continent. The group engaged in combat as part of the Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces in the Egypt-Libya and Italian Campaigns. The group was awarded Distinguished Unit Citations for operations over North Africa and Sicily, November 1942 – 17 August 1943; Ploiești, Romania, 1 August 1943 and Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, 16 June 1944. The B-24D Lady Be Good was assigned to the 514th Bombardment Squadron.
The 376th is the lead Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueling unit for Afghanistan operations. Other USAF aircraft supporting the mission include Boeing C-17 Globemaster IIIs.