551st AEWG

The **551st Airborne Early Warning Group (AEWG)** was an integral unit of the United States Air Force, activated in 1955 at Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Tasked with operating the EC-121 Warning Star aircraft, the group provided airborne radar surveillance and early warning against potential Soviet bomber attacks during the Cold War. The 551st AEWG played a critical role in continental air defense, maintaining round-the-clock patrols over the Atlantic approaches to North America. The unit was inactivated in 1969 as newer technologies and changes in defense strategy rendered its mission obsolete.