Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) (IATA: SSC, ICAO: KSSC, FAA LID: SSC) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately 8.4 miles (13.5 km) west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina.

It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdiction of USAF Air Combat Command (ACC).

Eventually, 175 of them lived in an encampment just off the main base, on Peach Orchard Road (also known as South Carolina Highway 441) across from Shaw's (side) hospital (currently closed) gate and worked on local farms in the area.

[5] Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent USAAF installation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.

The squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities.

The 20th Fighter Group was reassigned to Shaw on 20 October 1946 from Biggs Army Airfield, Texas which was transferred to Strategic Air Command.

[6] The 20th Fighter Group was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.

[6] On 1 April 1951, the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing was transferred to Shaw from Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.

The RF-101C equipped 17th and 18th TRSs were deployed to NATO, being reassigned to the 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Laon-Couvron Air Base, France.

The 4411 CCTG became an operational group under the 363d TRW and continued the training mission at Shaw for reconnaissance aircraft until both it and the 837th Air Division were inactivated on 1 February 1963.

[7][failed verification] On 1 January 1953 the 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing was activated at Shaw, replacing the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, the title of which reverted to the Tennessee Air National Guard after World War II, where the 66th Fighter Group served in the European theater as part of Eighth Air Force.

The aging and phaseout of the 1960s-era RF-4C aircraft fleet and the utility of the Lockheed TR-1 in Europe for tactical reconnaissance led to the decision by the USAF to realign the mission of the 363rd TRW.

[12] Following Desert Storm, the 19th and 33d Tactical Fighter Squadrons deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, a coalition effort to enforce the Iraqi No-fly zone south of the 32nd parallel north.

The next day, 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and reactivated without personnel or equipment at Shaw AFB, returning to the base it had left for duty with NATO forty-one years earlier.

[6] As a result of the end of the Cold War, the USAF made several dramatic changes with the inactivation and re-designation of wings and their units.

On 15 December 1993, the flight line at RAF Upper Heyford, England was closed and the host unit, the 20th Fighter Wing, was transferred from USAFE to Air Combat Command.

The 20th was reassigned to Shaw AFB, replacing the 363d Fighter Wing as part of the USAF heritage program, which kept senior units on active duty and inactivated newer ones.

This operation restored democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who had been ousted in September 1991 by military forces within Haiti.

On 4 May 1999 an F-16, 91–0353, from the 78th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flying out of Aviano Air Base, Italy, shot down a Yugoslavian MiG-29 (aircraft number 109).

The 20th routinely sent squadrons to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey supporting the no-fly zone in northern Iraq between January 1997 and March 2003.

[6] After the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, the U.S. Defense Department developed Noble Eagle to protect US soil in the War on Terrorism.

The 20 FW has been tasked with providing patrols over New York City, Washington, DC and any other location the wing is called upon to protect.

In addition to Noble Eagle tasking the 20th provides fighter cover for the President of the United States when traveling and at Camp David.

[6] In February 2003 the 20 FW deployed approximately 1,300 service members and 15 aircraft to the 363 AEW at Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia, attached to the provisional CENTAF 363d Air Expeditionary Wing.

This deployment was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the United States actions for the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.

Third Army continued the transfer of its personnel and equipment in order to be fully operational at Shaw AFB by 15 June 2011.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Download coordinates as: