36th Operations Group

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36th Operations Group
Active1940–1957; 1992–1994; 2007–present
CountryUnited States
Branch United States Air Force
Motto(s)Prepared to Prevail
Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
, and when deployed to Andersen, are attached to the 36th Operations Group.
Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
, and when deployed to Andersen, are attached to the 36th Operations Group.

The 36th Operations Group (36 OG) is the operational component of the 36th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. The group is stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

The group's World War II predecessor unit, the 36th Fighter Group was a prewar unit deployed to the European Theater and assigned to

Dijon
.

The 36th OG assumed the mission of the 36th Expeditionary Operations Group on 14 February 2007 and established a permanent command structure for deployed Air Force units assigned to Andersen AFB.

History

For additional history and lineage, see 36th Wing

World War II

P-36As of the 36th Pursuit Group at Langley Field, Virginia, in 1940.
Block 28 Republic P-47Ds of the 22d Fighter Squadron at Kingsnorth Airfield, England, 1944. Serials 44-20211 and 44-19864 identifiable. Aircraft 864 was lost to ground fire on Christmas Eve of that year with LT Charles J. Loring, Jr. at the controls, and he became a POW. During the Korean War, Loring was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The 36th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) was activated on 1 February 1940 at

Curtiss P-36 Hawk
.

The group was moved to Losey Army Airfield,

Republic P-47 Thunderbolts
.

From 1942 through 1944, the 36th trained at several airfields in the United States before deploying to

RAF Kingsnorth, England in April 1944 as part of Ninth Air Force
, serving in combat as part of the European theater. With Ninth Air Force, the group operated primarily as a P-47 fighter-bomber organization as part of the 303d Fighter Wing, XIX Tactical Air Command.

Operational missions included strafing and dive-bombing armored vehicles, trains, bridges, buildings, factories, troop concentrations, gun emplacements, airfields, and other targets in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. The 36th FG also flew some escort missions with Eighth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator strategic bombers.

The 36th participated in the June 1944

U.S. Third Army
toward Germany in August and September.

The group earned a

U.S. Ninth Army
.

The 36th Fighter Group participated in the

Roer River in February 1945. Supported operations at the Remagen bridgehead and during the airborne assault across the Rhine
in March.

The group received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for performance on 12 April 1945 when the group, operating through intense anti-aircraft fire, relentlessly attacked airfields in southern Germany, destroying a large hangar and numerous aircraft.

By

United States Air Forces in Europe Army of Occupation. In February, the group was transferred, without personnel or equipment to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C where the groups fighter squadrons were inactivated. From its deployment to RAF Kingsnorth into January 1945, Lt. Col. William Lewis Curry served as commanding officer. Lt. Col. Van H. Slayden and Lt. Col Paul P. Douglas Jr. served as commanders through the remaining months through V-E Day.[1]

Caribbean Air Command

On 15 October 1946, Headquarters, 36th Fighter Group was transferred to

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star
.

On 2 July 1948, the United States Air Force 36th Fighter Wing was activated at Howard Air Force Base. The former USAAF 36th Fighter Group became the operational component of the new Air Force wing.

United States Air Forces in Europe

36th Fighter-Bomber Group F-84E 49-2150 Fürstenfeldbruck AB, West Germany, 1950
22d TFS F-105s with French Air Force Dassault Mystère B2s from Cambrai Air Base – 1964.

As a result of the

Lockheed F-80 "Shooting Star". At Fürstenfeldbruck tactical operations included air defense, tactical exercises, maneuvers, and photographic reconnaissance. In May 1949, the group formed the Skyblazers [ja
] aerial demonstration team, which it controlled until August 1952, and again from October 1956 to January 1962 when it was disbanded.

On 20 January 1950, the group was redesignated as the 36th Fighter-Bomber Group (FBG) when 89

Republic F-84E "Thunderjets" arrived. Existing USAFE bases in West Germany, however, were deemed very vulnerable to an attack by the Soviet Union, given their proximity to East Germany and other Warsaw Pact nations. Negotiations with other NATO nations were made to build new bases west of the Rhine River. The F-80s were sent back to CONUS to equip Air National Guard
units. In addition to its primary installation at Fürstenfeldbruck, the wing controlled Oberpfaffenhofen AB, West Germany, December 1949 – February 1950.

The 36th FBG remained at Fürstenfeldbruck until 1952 when it was reassigned to the new

Bitburg Air Base, in the Eifel mountains west of the Rhine River
. Throughout the summer, elements of the 36th FBG moved into Bitburg, with the Group officially arriving in November 1952.

In August 1953, the

North American F-86F "Sabre"
was introduced to the group, replacing the F-84s. On 31 March 1954, The 1st Pilotless Bomber Squadron, equipped with the B-61A Matador, was assigned to the 36th Fighter Bomber Group, Bitburg Air Base, Germany, making it the first operational U.S. missile unit. The 1st PBS eventually was renamed to Tactical Missile Squadron (TMS), and in 1958 was renumbered to the 71st TMS and the unit was assigned to the 701st TMW at Hahn, although stationed at Bitburg Air Base.

In August 1954, the Group was redesignated as the 36th Fighter-Day Group. In 1956, the group received the

North American F-100 "Super Sabre,"
marking the first time a wing in USAFE flew supersonic jets. Group inactivated on 8 December 1957 when parent wing adopted Tri-Deputate organization and assigned operational squadrons directly to the wing.

In 1977 the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing was the first wing in Europe to fly the new F-15A and F-15B Eagle air superiority fighters, replacing the F-4E Phantoms of the 525 TFS, the 22 TFS and the 53 TFS.

On 1 October 1991 the wing was redesignated as the 36th Fighter Wing when the objective wing concept was implemented. The 36th Operations Group was also activated to control the operational flying squadrons of the Wing.

Bitburg Air Base was one of the bases affected by the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (or BRAC) decisions that saw the drawdown of many military facilities in a series of post-Cold War force reductions. In July 1993, HQ USAFE announced the closure of Bitburg Air Base and the pending inactivation of the 36th Fighter Wing. On 1 October 1994 the 36th Fighter Wing was inactivated along with all subordinate units.

Pacific Air Forces

The 36th Wing was reactivated without personnel or equipment at Andersen AFB, Guam the same day as the 36th Air Base Wing, a non-flying organization taking over as the host unit. The former host unit, the

633d Air Base Wing
, was inactivated in keeping with the Air Force Chief of Staff's policy of keeping the most highly decorated and longest serving Air Force units on active duty.

With no aircraft permanently assigned, the 36th Operations Group was not activated, but instead converted to provisional status as the 36th Expeditionary Operations Group. The 36 EOG was under the control of HQ, Pacific Air Forces with a mission to support deployed aircraft to PACAF. It could, and was activated and inactivated as needed by the demands of the mission.

The 36th Operations Group was re-established as a permanent unit on 14 February 2007, replacing the temporary structure of the provisional Expeditionary Group for deployed Air Force units assigned to Andersen AFB.[2]

Lineage

  • Constituted as 36th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 22 December 1939
Activated on 1 February 1940
Redesignated: 36th Fighter Group on 15 May 1942
Redesignated: 36th Fighter-Bomber Group on 20 January 1950
Redesignated: 36th Fighter-Day Group on 9 August 1954
Inactivated on 8 December 1957
Redesignated 36th Tactical Fighter Group on 31 July 1985 (Remained inactive)
  • Redesignated 36th Operations Group on 1 March 1992
Activated on 31 March 1992
Inactivated on 1 October 1994
  • Redesignated 36th Expeditionary Operations Group and converted to provisional status on 1 October 1994[3]
  • Redesignated 36th Operations Group and converted to regular status on 14 February 2007
Activated on 14 February 2007

Assignments

Components

Stations

Aircraft assigned

  • P-40 Warhawk
    , 1940–1943
  • P-47 Thunderbolt
    , 1943–1946
  • F-47 Thunderbolt
    , 1946–1947
  • F-80 Shooting Star
    , 1947–1950
  • F-84 Thunderjet
    , 1950–1953
  • F-86 Sabre
    , 1953–1956
  • F-100 Super Sabre
    , 1956–1957
  • F-15 Eagle, 1978–1994.[3]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ "36th Fighter Group (USAAF)".
  2. ^ Perrien, Don (14 February 2007). "36th OG reactivates to meet Pacific theater mission". 36th Operations Group. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Robertson, Patsy (30 November 2007). "36 Operations Group (PACAF)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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