| 82d Operations Group | |
|---|---|
Emblem of the 82d Fighter Group |
|
| Active | 1942–1958 1991–1993 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Part of | Air Education and Training Command |
| Motto | Adorimini – Up and at'em! |
| Engagements |
|
The 82d Operations Group (82 OG) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 82d Training Wing, being assigned to Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. It was inactivated on 31 March 1993.
Contents |
The history of the 82d Operations Group goes back to 13 January 1942, when the War Department constituted the 82d Pursuit Group (Interceptor).
The 82d was activated at Harding Field, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on 9 February 1942. From February 1942 to 9 September 1945, the primary components of the group were the 95th, 96th and 97th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadrons.
At the end of April 1942 when it had sufficient personnel and equipment, the 82d moved to Muroc Army Air Field, California, and started formation flying and gunnery and bombing training with P-38 Lightning aircraft. In May the War Department redesignated the unit as the 82d Fighter Group. The group left California in September and arrived in Northern Ireland in October where it received additional training. At about the same time, the Allies launched their invasion of North Africa. By December 1942, Axis forces had repelled the Allied advance, and the long winter campaign had begun. It was at this time that the 82d Fighter Group moved to North Africa to serve with Twelfth Air Force.
Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the 82d operated from Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, to protect two convoys in an antisubmarine patrol. On 1 January 1943, the air echelon moved to Telergma Airport, Algeria, where it was joined by the ground echelon in February 1943.
The 82d soon distinguished itself in dogfights with enemy fighters while escorting bombers over Gabes, Sfax, Tunis, Bizerte, Kairouan, Sardinia, and other points. On 20 March 1943, while escorting B-25s in a sea search off Cape Bon, a group of P-38s engaged the enemy in an air battle. Even though they were outnumbered by 50 enemy fighters, the 82d emerged with 11 confirmed kills, 2 probables, and 2 damaged, while not losing a single bomber.
In April 1943, the group moved to Tunis to take part in the final phase of the campaign. On 11 April it destroyed 32 Junkers Ju 52s during a fighter sweep against enemy transport planes that were coming from Italy to supply the crumbling Afrika Corps. The group scored hits on 14 April during a bombing mission on a large transport off Cape Zebid and on 8 May executed a bombing attack on the airdrome at Pantelleria.
The Tunisian campaign ended in May 1943. Between December 1942 and May 1943, the 82d Fighter Group flew 152 combat missions and 2,439 combat sorties. While escorting B-25, B-26, and B-17 bombers on 1,880 sorties, the group encountered 751 enemy aircraft, destroyed 199 of them, and lost 64 P-38s.
From July to August 1943, the 82d engaged in the liberation of Sicily while supporting bomber raids against Naples on 17 July and participating in the first raid on Rome on 19 July. It flew 191 combat missions, including 3,335 combat sorties; escorted 2,987 B-25s and 382 B-26s; and engaged in 57 skip and dive bombing attacks. The 82d destroyed 78 enemy planes, had 17 probables, and damaged 56, while losing only 11 P-38s.
During the invasion of Italy by the United States Fifth Army, between 6 and 18 September 1943, the group patrolled the beachhead at Salerno where the pilots flew a round-the-clock schedule, dive-bombing enemy transports, communications, and gun positions. They also flew low altitude reconnaissance missions through the Foggia area reporting crucial enemy activities.
The movement of the 82d to Italy and its assignment to Fifteenth Air Force was part of the airpower buildup to provide fighter protection for the bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force, when they strafed and bombed Axis oil targets. From January 1944 until May 1945, the P-38s of the 82d Fighter Group struck oil centers at Ploesti in Rumania, Blechhammer in Poland, Vienna in Austria, Dubova in Czechoslovakia, as well as in Hungary, France, and Yugoslavia. On 10 June 1944, the 82d participated in one of the most daring strikes of the war, bombing the Romano-Americano oil refineries at Ploesti, the most heavily defended target on the continent.
The 82d engaged in another spectacular episode when it used a single-seat fighter aircraft for the first time to rescue a downed fighter pilot on enemy soil. On 4 August 1944, while on a strafing mission against the airdrome at Focsani, Rumania, the aircraft flown by Capt E. Willsie was hit by ground fire. A veteran of 60 missions, Willsie radioed his position to the formation, crash-landed his plane, demolished it, and then hitched a ride in the lap of 2d Lt Richard T. Andrews, who had landed his P-38 in a pasture to rescue Willsie.
When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, the 82d Fighter Group remained in Italy until it was inactivated on 9 September 1945.
On 12 April 1947, the War Department activated the 82d Fighter Group at Grenier Field in New Hampshire, and assigned it to Strategic Air Command.
The group was outfitted with F-51 aircraft, and it trained in long range fighter and fighter escort operations. A few months later, in August 1947, the Air Force decided to test a new type of organization called wing-base. Under this plan, a number of combat wings were established, including the 82d Fighter Wing on 28 July 1947; however, the Air Force did not organize (assign personnel) to the wing until 15 August. On the same day, the 82d Fighter Group became a subordinate component of the wing. The test continued until 1 August 1948, by which time the Air Force had decided to adopt this type of organization as its standard. As a result, on 1 August, the 82d Fighter Wing was discontinued, and the Air Force activated a permanent 82d Fighter Wing, still with the 82d Fighter Group assigned as a subordinate organization.
The wing continued to operate at Grenier until its inactivation on 2 October 1949.
On 18 August 1955 the Air Force again activated the unit as the 82d Fighter-Interceptor Group as part of the Air Defense Command 4710th Defense (later Air Defense) Wing. The squadrons were the 95th and 96th Fighter-Interceptor squadrons, flying F-94C Starfire interceptors. Its primary mission was to provide air defense for the northeastern United States.
In 1957, it was announced that Air Defense Command would be reducing its forces, and the 82d FIG was inactivated on 8 January 1958.
On 15 December 1991, the 82d Operations Group was activated as a result of the 82 Flying Training Wing implementing the USAF objective wing organization. Upon activation, the 82d OG was bestowed the lineage and history of the 82d Fighter Group. The 82d OG was assigned all the flying units of the 82d Flying Training Wing.
In 1991 Congress approved the second round of base closures, as identified by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. On that list was Williams AFB. The base was to cease operation as of 30 September 1993. As a result, the 82d Operations Group was inactivated on 31 March 1993.
|
|
|
|
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
|
||||||||||||||||