621st Contingency Response Wing

621st Contingency Response Wing
Active	March 2005 – Present
Country	United States
Branch	Air Force
Type	Rapid Mobility, Contingency Response, Initial Airbase Holding
Size	650 military and civilian personnel
Part of	Air Mobility Command
Garrison/HQ	Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
Nickname(s)	"The Devil Raiders"
Engagements	Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Unified Response
Commanders
Current commander	Col. James Copher

The 621st Contingency Response Wing (621 CRW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Mission

The 621 CRW is responsible for training and rapidly deploying personnel to quickly open airfields in remote locations and extend Air Mobility Command's ability to deploy people and equipment around the globe.

Most of the operations can be classified by three types, Joint Task Force - Port Opening (JTF-PO), where USAF and US Army units create distribution chains, Expeditionary Air Mobility Support, (EAMS) where CRW personnel augment existing forces for the mission, and Initial Airbase Opening (IAO)

Unit history and significant operations

621st airmen slingload a Humvee to a CH-53E Super Stallion at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

• LINEAGE: Established as the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group on 24 June 1994. Activated on 22 July 1994. Redesignated the 621st Contingency Response Wing on 1 March 2005
• ASSIGNMENTS: Twenty-First Air Force (later, 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force), 22 July 1994 - 18 March 2012; USAF Expeditionary Center, 19 March 2012 – present.
• STATIONS: Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (formerly McGuire AFB), NJ, 22 July 1994 – present
• In 2005, the 621st was created with four groups, eight squadrons and ten geographically separated operating locations aligned with major US Army and Marine Corps combat units. The wing maintains a ready corps of light, lean and agile mobility support forces able to respond as directed by the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center) at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., in order 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.^[1] Before the earthquake, Toussaint L'Ouverture handled an average of 20 flights a day. Immediately following the earthquake this number jumped dramatically. At its peak on 19 January, more than 160 aircraft landed and were safely unloaded by the CRW—an 800 percent increase in air traffic from pre-disaster levels.^[2]
• In early 2010, Airmen from the 571 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.^[3]
• The 816th Contingency Response Group was inactivated on 11 June 2010.^[4]
• August 2010, 30 Airmen from the 818th Contingency Response Group deployed as a Contingency Response Element, or CRE, to Chaklala Airbase, Pakistan.^[5] Once deployed, they provided additional aerial port capabilities to increase aircraft loading efficiency for the Pakistan Air Force's Central Flood Relief Cell.^[6]

Operations for NASA

With a separation of over 1,000 miles, teams from the 621st remained ready to launch at a moment's notice in support of the Space Shuttle launches during the years of the program (1981-2011).

Designed to provide a quick response mobility force, the 621st CRW'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. CRW Airmen sat on-call during the schedule launch to facilitate the response in case the shuttle mission was aborted.^[7]

Assignments

Major command

• Air Mobility Command

Numbered Air Force

• United States Expeditionary Center (USAF EC)^[8]

Subordinate organizations

621st Air Mobility Advisory Group (621 AMAG)

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

621st Contingency Response Group (621 CRG)

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

821st Contingency Response Group (821 CRG)

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

References

1. Contingency Response Airmen return home after Haiti relief operations, 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
2. FEATURE: CRW captain sees Haiti scene unfold from under brim of many hats, 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
3. Contingency response team prides itself on 'worldwide mobility, overnight delivery', 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
4. 816th Contingency Response Group inactivation ceremony takes parent wing into new era, 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
5. Contingency Response Element providing critical airlift support in Pakistan, U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs
6. Mobility Airmen continue to aid in international response, Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
7. 621st CRW NASA Support
8. Air Mobility Command Programming Plan 12-01

External links

• 621st Contingency Response Wing Fact Sheet
• 621 CRW Official Site