U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Emblem

USAF EC EmbemBLAZON
Per saltire (diagonal cross) Azure (blue) and Gules (red), three arrows, one in pale (center and up) and two in saltire (diagonal cross), barbs to chief (upper part of shield) surmounted by a laurel wreath Or, within a border nebuly Argent (white); all within a narrow bordure of the third. Attached below the Shield, a White scroll edged with a narrow Yellow border and inscribed “USAF EXPEDITIONARY CENTER” in Blue letters.

SIGNIFICANCE
Ultramarine blue and Air Force yellow are the Air Force colors.  Blue alludes to the sky, the primary theater of Air Force operations.  Yellow refers to the sun and the excellence required of Air Force personnel.  The arrows symbolize martial readiness of air mobility support to national strategy in the air, on land, and at sea.  The nebuly border, which spans throughout the field, represents clouds and symbolizes the global reach of air mobility operations.  The laurel wreath denotes the unit’s excellence, accomplishments, and honors.  The saltire infers a strong supporting system.  The four quarters represent the four mission areas of expeditionary innovation, education, training and exercises as well as support of the four Military Services.  The field framed by the nebuly border symbolizes the focus of air expeditionary operations during both peacetime and war.

Our History

The U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center (EC) began at Scott AFB, IL as the Airlift Operations School under Military Airlift Command on July 5, 1978. On June 1, 1992 the school became the USAF Air Mobility School under the newly formed Air Mobility Command.

In 1994, the school broadened its training mission and relocated to Ft. Dix, NJ and reopened as the Air Mobility Warfare Center.  In March of 2007, it was officially renamed the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center and became the Air Force’s leader in expeditionary training. 

The EC expanded in scope January 7, 2011, by taking on administrative control (ADCON) responsibilities for installation support mission sets unique to three joint bases, as well as two bases where missions changed as a result of Base Realignment and Closure decisions.  The Center expanded again in the spring of 2012, adding the Air Force’s only Contingency Response Wing and two Air Mobility Operations Wings, in Europe and the Pacific, to its ADCON responsibilities.  The EC continues to evolve from a stand-alone Center of Excellence for expeditionary combat skills training and education to an organization with vastly greater responsibilities in support of the AF’s expeditionary needs and Air Mobility Command’s global mission.

The Mission

The U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center is the Air Force's Center of excellence for Expeditionary Agile Combat Support and Rapid Global Mobility training and education. The USAF Expeditionary Center provides direct oversight for the Global Air Mobility Support System, Joint Base installation support, world-wide contingency response, and builds partnership capacity mission sets within the global mobility enterprise. Located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., the center provides administrative control for five wings and two groups within Air Mobility Command, to include the 87th Air Base Wing and the 621st Contingency Response Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst; the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany; the 628th Air Base Wing at Joint Base Charleston, S.C.; the 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group at Pope Field, N.C.; and 627th Air Base Group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

USAFEC Strategy