The 116th Air Control Wing is a Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard/United States Air Force, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. If activated for federal service, the wing is gained by Air Combat Command. The 116th ACW is the only Air National Guard unit operating the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS), an airborne ground surveillance and battle management aircraft. Joint STARS detects, locates, classifies, tracks and targets ground movements on the battlefield, communicating real-time information through secure data links with U.S. command posts. On 1 October 2002, the 116th ACW was established as the first (and only) Joint Air National Guard/United States Air Force Unit. The Joint Unit was inactivated on 30 September 2011 and the 116th ACW was returned to the sole jurisdiction of the Georgia Air National Guard on 1 October 2011. Units 116th Operations Group 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron – E-8C JSTARS 116th Maintenance Group 116th Mission Support Group 116th Medical Group 283d Combat Communications Squadron 139th Intelligence Squadron 202nd Engineering Installation Squadron History The 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, assigned to the Wing's 116th Operations Group, traces its lineage to the 840th Aero Squadron, established on 1 February 1918. It was reformed on 1 May 1941, as the 128th Observation Squadron, one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. Combat in Korean War The 116th Fighter Group was federalized on 10 October 1950 due to the Korean War. It was redesignated the 116th Fighter-Bomber Group, assigned to Tactical Air Command and moved to George Air Force Base, California. At George, the 116th Group was assigned to the newly activated 116th Fighter-Bomber Wing on 1 November as it reorganized under the wing base organization. At George the wing's three fighter squadrons were equipped with Lockheed F-80C Shooting Stars and began operational training. After losing many of their F-80 pilots to assignment to Far East Air Forces (FEAF) as replacements, all three squadrons were forced to transfer pilots between themselves in order to maintain a balance of qualified pilots, and they were no longer individual squadrons of Georgia, Florida and California. In April 1951 the wing began receiving brand new Republic F-84E Thunderjets directly from Republic Aircraft. On 14 May the wing received a warning order for an impending transfer, and they expected to be