263rd Combat Communications Squadron [263rd CBCS]
The 263rd Combat Communications Squadron is rooted in the formation of the Badin Air National Guard Station which was officially formed in January, 1949, as a part of the 118th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Charlotte, NC. The Badin unit was originally designated Detachment B and a Wadesboro, North Carolina unit was designated Detachment A.
Training facilities were non-existant when the unit was first formed, so meeting space was made available by the Aluminum Company of America's (ALCOA) Badin Works Division above the Badin town library until training facilities could be constructed.
The Squadron was ordered to active duty during the Korean Conflict with three squadrons of the Georgia Air National Guard on January 8, 1951. On January 2, 1952, the 118th ACW Squadron arrived in French Morocco, North Africa, and set up operations about twenty miles from the city of Casablanca. Unit personnel calibrated numerous early warning radar sites for the Strategic Air Command in the Sahara, and in the Atlas mountains in Morocco. All original members, except those who voluntarily reenlisted in the regular Air Force, were discharged or released from active duty by October 7, 1952.
The Badin and Wadesboro units were reorganized on October 8, 1952, into one composite unit which was designated the 263rd Communications Squadron. Unit headquarters were established at Wadesboro, NC, with a training detachment located at the present location near Badin.
The Squadron became a subordinate unit of the 251st Communications Group headquartered in Springfield, OH, on January 29, 1954 with mission tasking in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 1961 the squadron headquarters was relocated to Badin, and in 1962 redesignated the 263rd Mobile Communications Squadron. Another redesignation in the early 1970s changed the name of the squadron to its present day designation as the 263rd Combat Communications Squadron.
In 1977 the Wadesboro facility was released to the North Carolina Army National Guard. On May 2, 1988, the 263rd was transferred from the 251st Combat Communications Group to become a subordinate unit of the 281st Combat Communications Group in Coventry, Rhode Island. With this change in tasking also came a change in mission. No longer NATO tasked, the 263rd's new mission is in support of the US Central Command.
Over the years unit personnel have deployed to many locations throughout the continental United States and to many overseas locations. Unit personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991.
The 263rd mobilized and deployed a TTC-39A Automatic Circuit Tactical Telephone Switching Center communications package to Saudi Arabia from December 3, 1990, through May 15, 1991. This system provided the central hub for all Marine telephone communications during the Desert Shield build-up, served as the communications gateway to the US and allied forces, and provided the primary communications link back to the United States.
Other operations unit personnel have supported in recent years include Operation Desert Focus, Saudi Arabia; Operation Steady State, South America; Operation Joint Guard, Bosnia; the federal counter-drug Operation Constant Vigil, South America; and several state emergency relief efforts that called unit personnel to state active du ty during the Huuricane Hugo in 1989, the Blizzard of '93 in the North Carolina Mountains, and Hurricane Bertha in July 1996.
In September, 1996, Hurricane Fran devastated the coast of North Carolina resulting in the largest call-up ever of unit personnel for state active duty emergency relief actions.
For its accomplishments over the years, the unit has received numerous recognitions and awards including the prestigous Air Force Outstanding Unit Award which it received in 1972, 1981, 1985, 1988 and 1994. In 1985, the unit gained the distinction of becoming the first Combat Communications Squadron (active duty or guard) to achieve an "Outstanding" rating on an Air Force Operational Readiness Inspection.
The mission of the 263rd Combat Communications Squadron is to provide theater communications for the Commander of the United States Central Command. The squadron is equipped with state of the art communications devices that provide troops with encrypted and in the clear voice and data transmission capabilities.
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