Current Operations
The host wing for Patrick AFB is the 45th Space Wing (45 SW), whose officers and airmen manage all launches of unmanned rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) 12 miles to the north. These rockets include satellites for the US military, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Security Agency, as well as scientific payload launches in support of NASA, weather satellite launches in support of NOAA, payloads in support of international customers such as the European Space Agency, and commercial payloads for various corporate communications entities. Units and individuals from the 45 SW have deployed abroad during wartime, most notably during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom
The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) is a tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB. An activity of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA), AFTAC is the sole Department of Defense agency operating and maintaining a global network of nuclear event detection sensors.
The 920th Rescue Wing (920 RQW), part of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), is another tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB and is the installation's only military flying unit. An Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained combat search and rescue organization, the 920 RQW is the only rescue wing in the Air Force Reserve, operating the HC-130P/N "King" variant of the C-130 Hercules and HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, ready for worldwide deployment. The wing is participates in civilian rescue operations. Most notable is its role in manned spaceflight support to NASA, providing Eastern Range monitoring and having provided search and rescue support for space shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Additional operations have included searching the Caribbean for downed aircraft, as well as retrieving critically ill sailors and passengers from ships hundreds of miles out in the Atlantic, often at night and/or in bad weather. Because the USAF HH-60 can refuel in flight from the USAF
HC-130, MC-130, or USMC KC-130, it possesses a much greater range and mission radius versus similar military helicopters.
The 920 RQW is a full participant in the Air Force's current Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force (AETF) operating concept. Under this concept, the bulk of the wing deployed to Iraq in 2003 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Subsequent AETF deployments have included Djibouti in 2004 and 2006 and Afghanistan in 2007 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Adjacent to the 920 RQW's facilities is the NASA Flight Operations Facility, which provides support for NASA's permanently based UH-1H helicopters supporting KSC and transient NASA fixed-wing aircraft such as the T-38 Talon.
The U.S. State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Air Wing helps foreign countries combat drugs and narcotics criminals. The Bureau operates a fleet of aircraft, primarily former USAF and USMC OV-10 and former USAF C-27 aircraft at Patrick AFB to help detect and interdict the drug trade in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Afghanistan.
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