582nd Helicopter Group

582nd Helicopter Group
37th Helicopter Squadron Bell UH-1N at F. E. Warren AFB
Active1943-1958; 2015-present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleHelicopter support for missile wings
Part ofTwentieth Air Force
Garrison/HQF. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming
Nickname(s)Snafu Snatchers
EngagementsSouthwest Pacific Theater
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation
Commanders
Current
commander
Col. David Smith
Insignia
582nd Helicopter Group emblem
2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron patch (World War II)
Aircraft flown
Multirole helicopterBoeing MH-139A Grey Wolf
Utility helicopterBell UH-1N Twin Huey

The 582nd Helicopter Group was activated in January 2015 at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming to provide a unified headquarters for the helicopter squadrons located on the intercontinental ballistic missile bases of Air Force Global Strike Command.

The group was first activated in 1943 as the 2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron at Hamilton Field, and after training, moved to the South Pacific Theater, where it served until the end of World War II, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations and a Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for combat search and rescue and special operations missions. Following the end of the war, the squadron served as part of the occupation forces at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa from 1947 until 1950.

In May 1950 the squadron, now designated the 2nd Rescue Squadron moved to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. In 1952, the unit was expanded to group level as the 2nd Air Rescue Group and its lettered flights became air rescue squadrons. The group provided rescue support for units of Thirteenth Air Force and the southwest Pacific until 1955, when it moved to Wheeler Air Force Base, where it became the headquarters for all rescue units in the Pacific. The group was inactivated at Wheeler in June 1958.

In 2015, the group was redesignated to its current name and activated at F. E. Warren, where it replaced a provisional unit that had been organized in 2014 to test the unification of helicopter units supporting missile wings under a single unit.