The 1st Combat Evaluation Group was a Strategic Air Commandunit. It was formed on 1 August 1961 to merge the 3908th Strategic Standardization Group for SAC aircrew evaluation with the 1st Radar Bomb Scoring Group that had originated from the 263rd Army Air Force Base Unit which transferred from 15th AF to directly under Strategic Air Command. The 1CEVG formed after SAC switched to low-level tactics to counter Soviet surface-to-air missiles and SAC had "developed a Radar Bomb Scoring field kit for use in NIKE Systems" in early 1960 for scoring SAC training missions against US Hercules SAM sites. The 1CEVG headquarters included an Office of History and a "standardization and evaluation school" for command examiners.
Standardization and evaluation
The 1CEVG deputy commander for standardization and evaluation was responsible for performance assessment of SAC tanker and bomber flight crews. 1CEVG also evaluated the RC-135 units at Eielson, Kadena, and Offutt, the flight crew standardization of the U-2, the DC-130 reconnaissance drone program, CH-3 helicopter drone recovery program, the SR-71 program at Beale AFB. The Fairchild Trophy was Strategic Air Command's top Bombardment Award, for which the Group administered flight checks and evaluated standardization and training activities.
Divisions
1CEVG included a Command Instrument Flight Division and an RBS Division with 3 squadrons.
Radar Bomb Scoring Division
The Radar Bomb Scoring Division controlled the group's Radar Bomb Scoring units. As with the preceding 1st Radar Bomb Scoring Group at Carswell AFB, the division had 3 Radar Bomb Scoring Squadrons with RBS detachments at fixed radar stations and at semi-mobile radar stations. The MDLs were set up for SAC special missions, with their equipment, trailers, books, etc., stored at Barksdale AFB when not in use. Each squadron manned an RBS Express train, but the squadrons were inactivated in 1966 after Vietnam War deployments had begun. The three squadrons in 1959 had :Category:Strategic Air Command radar stations|29 AUTOTRACK sites. 1CEVG temporary duty personnel at Nike Defense Areas also scored mock SAC raids tracked by the Army. RBS trains were inactivated later in the war after the 1968-9 Project 693 discharging 1st term SAC airmen up to 11 months early. The division included a maintenance office. After the Vietnam War ended, the annual Combat Skyspot trophy was awarded for the outstanding RBS detachment. The squadrons initially used Matador Automatic Radar Control and AN/MSQ-2 automatic tracking radar/computer systems. The Reeves AN/MSQ-35 Bomb Scoring Central was developed for the division During the Vietnam War, the Statesboro Bomb Scoring Site used a Soviet T2A for training crews to jam the signal. Three US bombing systems developed during the war were used post-war in the United States by the RBS Division, which replaced them with the solid-state US Dynamics AN/TPQ-43 Bomb Scoring Set developed from the AN/TPB-1C Course Directing Central. The Electronic Systems Division 806L "Range Threat" systems for electronic warfare simulation were developed for use by 1CEVG late in the Cold War. Such systems included the US Dynamics AN/MST-T1 Miniature-Multiple Threat Emitter Simulator, for which the group evaluated the prototype in 1977. Similarly, TLQ-11 jammer improvements were in 1978, and in 1979 1CEVG members completed a prototype study and testing of the new Threat Reaction Analysis Indicator System for analyzing how aircrews and avionics reacted to ground-based threats. At the end of the Cold War, most RBS detachments were closed. The personnel and the assets of the RBS Division became the 1st Electronic Combat Range Group on 1 July 1989 when the 1CEVG was split, and other 1CEVG organizations transferred to SAC headquarters.
Detachment 15, 1CEVG at the Vietnam War's Tan Son Nhut Air Base served as an "administrative link between and Headquarters 1st Combat Evaluation Group" after Reeves AN/MSQ-77 Bomb Directing Centrals were produced and deployed in 1965 for Combat Skyspot bomber operations by tactical fighter, B-52, and other units. On 5 June 1966 near Đông Hà Combat Base close to the DMZ, six 1CEVG technicians were killed while conducting a preliminary site location survey.
