Wing (military unit)

Additionally countries influenced by the US in the building of their modern air forces also use the term wing.

In 2006, expeditionary air wings were established at the RAF's main operating bases.

These expeditionary air wings consist of the deployable elements of the main operating base and other supplementary forces.

In the British Air Training Corps, a wing consists of a number of squadrons within a designated geographical area, usually named after the county in which it is based.

While the original pre-unification Royal Canadian Air Force followed the British pattern and used squadrons, which belonged to wings, which in turn belonged to groups, the modern Royal Canadian Air Force has eliminated groups.

Wings vary greatly in size and may comprise personnel numbering in the hundreds or thousands.

As well as continuing their functions as the commanding officers of the bases they were assigned to, they also serve as formation commanders to all squadrons and units duly assigned to them by 1 Canadian Air Division or 2 Canadian Air Division (regardless if they are physically located on the base in question or elsewhere; as witness 12 Wing in Nova Scotia, which has one unit, 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, based at Patricia Bay near CFB Esquimalt in British Columbia, on the other side of the country from Shearwater).

Constituted combat wings are always numbered in a single series beginning with Arabic "1st".

However, the tactical squadrons of the combat group retained their separate and distinct numerical designations.

Each wing supervises the individual groups and squadrons in that state, district or commonwealth, which are the basic operational units of the organization.

The United States Navy follows the British structure in that a wing is an administrative formation commanding two or more squadrons of aircraft that are based on land.

Unlike their USAF counterparts, all USN and USMC air wings are tenant activities ashore and have no command responsibility for the installation at which they are normally based when not afloat or forward deployed.

[11] In other languages, equivalent air force units equivalent to a US wing include: Geschwader in the German Luftwaffe; Aviatsionniy Polk (Aviation Regiment) in Russia; Stormo in Italy; and escadre or régiment in the French Air Force.

The French Escadre and the German Geschwader originate from the naval term squadron.

Non-English equivalents of the British wing include the German Gruppe, Italian Gruppo, and French groupe.

The World War II German Luftwaffe Geschwader and Gruppe were similar to the wing and group of the United States Army Air Forces of the same era.