92nd Operations Group
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2013) |
92d Operations Group | |
---|---|
18th Air Force 92nd Air Refueling Wing | |
Garrison/HQ | Fairchild Air Force Base |
Nickname(s) | Blaze |
Insignia | |
92nd Operations Group emblem | |
Aircraft flown | |
Tanker | Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker |
The 92d Operations Group (92 OG) is the flying component of the
During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the 92d Bombardment Group was the first
In the postwar era, the 92d Bombardment Group was one of the first USAAF units assigned to the
It was deployed to
Reactivated as the 92d Operations Group in 1991 when the 92d Wing adopted the USAF Objective organization plan.
World War II
The 92d Bombardment Group was activated on 1 March 1942 at
The group was assigned to VIII Bomber Command and allocated
The 92nd then acted as an operational training unit supplying combat crews to combat groups in the UK. However, in early 1943, the diversion to Operation Torch of heavy bomber groups originally planned for the Eighth Air Force led to a decision to return the 92d to combat operations, although its 326th Bomb Squadron was left to continue the OTU mission. The 325th squadron was used to provide a cadre for H2S radar training, and its 327th squadron acquired a special mission.
In January 1943, the 92d was transferred to RAF Alconbury where it was reformed as an operational combat group. At Alconbury the group took the name "Fame's Favorite Few", and its B-17s acquired the tail code of "Triangle B". The Group resumed operational flying missions on 1 May 1943. From Alconbury, the 92d engaged in bombing strategic targets, including shipyards at Kiel, ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, submarine installations at Wilhelmshaven, a tire plant at Hanover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes, and a magnesium mine and reducing plant in Norway.
At Alconbury, the group's 327th Bombardment Squadron became the only squadron to be equipped with the experimental YB-40 Fortress gunship from May through August 1943. The YB-40 was developed to test the escort bomber concept. Because there were no fighters capable of escorting bomber formations on deep strike missions early in World War II, the USAAF tested heavily armed bombers to act as escorts and protect the bomb-carrying aircraft from enemy fighters. Twelve of the 22 B-17F bombers modified to the YB-40 configuration were dispatched to Alconbury for testing and evaluation.
The YB-40 project failed because the aircraft were able to effectively defend only themselves, were too slow because of excess weight and drag to keep up with bomber formations returning from missions, and had basic flight characteristics altered by the added drag and centre of gravity changes resulting from the changes. After 14 operational missions, the 11 surviving YB-40s were taken out of combat service and returned to the United States.
On 15 September 1943, the 92d BG was moved to RAF Podington (Station 109), near Wellingborough in Bedfordshire when the decision was made to take Alconbury off operational bombing missions and change the airfield's mission to pathfinder and radar-guided bombing with the 482d and 801st Bomb Groups.
From Podington, the group flew almost 300 operational missions over Nazi-Occupied Europe. Missions were flown to Wilhelmshaven, a tire plant at Hanover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes, and a magnesium mine and reducing plant in Norway.
Although handicapped by weather conditions, enemy fire, and insufficient fighter protection, the 92d bombed aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 January 1944 and received a
The group took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944. After that, it attacked V-weapon sites in France; airfields in France, Germany, and the Low Countries, and industrial targets in France, Germany, and Belgium, making concentrated strikes on oil and transportation facilities after October 1944.
In addition to strategic missions, the 92d performed some interdictory and support operations. Assisted the
After
Strategic Air Command
Reactivated later on 15 July 1946 for training in
The 92d was one of two
On 20 July 1951, the group began its conversion to the
Post Cold War era
On 29 August 1991, the
As part of their new mission, the 92 OG also gained two squadrons of
The 92 OG regularly deployed elements during the late 1990s to support overseas tanker task forces in support of humanitarian, peacekeeping, and contingency operations in the Balkans and Southwest Asia. Today the 92d Operations Group is only responsible for
In 1999 the Group became the 92d Air Expeditionary Group at
Aircraft of the 92 OG took part in the United States invasion of Afghanistan ("Operation Enduring Freedom") in 2001-02 and follow-on operations, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Today, elements of the 92d Operations Group are routinely deployed around the world.
The flying components of the 92 OG are equipped with the
- 92d Air Refueling Squadron
- 93d Air Refueling Squadron
- 97th Air Refueling Squadron
- 384th Air Refueling Squadron
- 92d Operations Support Squadron
Lineage
- Established as 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 January 1942
- Activated on 1 March 1942
- Redesignated 92d Bombardment Group, Heavy, on 20 August 1943
- Inactivated on 28 February 1946
- Redesignated 92d Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 15 July 1946
- Organized and activated, on 4 August 1946 from the personnel and equipment of the 448th Bombardment Group (Inactivated)
- Redesignated: 92d Bombardment Group, Medium, on 28 May 1948
- Redesignated: 92d Bombardment Group, Heavy, on 16 June 1951
- Inactivated on 16 June 1952
- Redesignated 92d Operations Group on 29 August 1991
- Activated on 1 September 1991.
Assignments
- III Bomber Command, 1 March 1942
- VIII Bomber Command, August 1942
- Attached to: 102d Provisional Combat Bombardment Wing, May 1943
- 40th Combat Bombardment Wing, 13 September 1943
- United States Air Forces in Europe, 9 July 1945 – 28 February 1946
- Attached to: XII Tactical Air Command July 1945 – February 1946
- Fifteenth Air Force, 4 August 1946
- 92d Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy (later, 92d Bombardment Wing, Medium; 92d Bombardment Wing, Heavy), 17 November 1947 – 16 June 1952
- Attached to FEAF Bombardment Command (Provisional), 8 July–October 1950
- 92d (later, 92d Bomb, 92d Air Refueling) Wing, 1 September 1991–present
Components
World War II and Korean War
- 325th Bombardment Squadron (later, 325th Bomb) Squadron: 1 March 1942 – 28 February 1946; 4 August 1946 – 16 June 1952 (detached 16 February 1951 – 15 June 1952); 1 September 1991 – 1 July 1994
- World War II fuselage code: NV; ACC tail code: FC
- 326th Bombardment Squadron: 1 March 1942 – 28 February 1946; 4 August 1946 – 16 June 1952 (detached 16 February 1951 – 15 June 1952)
- World War II fuselage code: JW
- 327th Bombardment Squadron: 1 March 1942 – 28 February 1946; 4 August 1946 – 16 June 1952 (detached 16 February 1951 – 15 June 1952)
- World War II fuselage code: UX
- 17th Reconnaissance (later, 407th Bombardment) Squadron: 1 March 1942 – 28 February 1946
- World War II fuselage code: PY
From 1991
- 36th Rescue Flight1 July 1993 - 1 July 2012
- 43d Air Refueling Squadron: 1 September 1991 – 1 June 1992; 1 July 1994 – 31 March 1995
- 92d Air Refueling Squadron: 1 September 1991 – 1 June 1992; 1 July 1994–present
- 93d Air Refueling Squadron: 31 March 1995–present
- 96th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 July 1994 – 31 March 2005
- 97th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 July 1994 – 30 September 2004; 1 October 2019 – present
- 98th Air Refueling Squadron: 1 July 1994 – 1 July 1998
- 384th Air Refueling Squadron: 23 March 2017 – Present
Stations
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Aircraft assigned
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References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Deaile, pp. 167-168
Bibliography
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Deaile, Melvin G. (2007). The SAC Mentality: The Origins of Organizational Culture in Strategic Air Command 1946-1962. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina.
- Futrell, Robert F. (1983). The United States Air Forces in Korea 1950-1953. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-71-4.
- Koger, Fred. Countdown: 35 Daylight Missions against Nazi Germany. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algolquin Books, 1990.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. LCCN 61060979.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
- Sloan, John S. The Route as Briefed: the History of the 92d Bomb Group, USAAF, 1942–1945. Cleveland, Ohio: Argus Press, 1946. (Republished in 1976 by S. Wilson)
- 92d Bomb Group. 92d Bomb Group (H): "Fame's Favoured Few". Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1-56311-241-8.