82d Operations Group
Encyclopedia
The 82d Operations Group (82 OG) is an inactive United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 unit. It was last assigned to the 82d Training Wing
82d Training Wing
The 82d Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Second Air Force. It is stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas where it also is the host unit....

, being assigned to Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base, located in Mesa, and about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona.It was active as a training base for both the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the USAF from 1941 until its closure in 1993...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

. It was inactivated on 31 March 1993.

History

World War II

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
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

, 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
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...

 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
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 in October where it received
additional training. At about the same time, the Allies launched their invasion of North Africa
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

. 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
Telergma Airport
Telergma Airport is a joint-use civilian/military airport in Algeria , just south of the city of Telerghma, about 300 km east of Algiers-History:...

, 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 52
Junkers Ju 52
The Junkers Ju 52 was a German transport aircraft manufactured from 1932 to 1945. It saw both civilian and military service during the 1930s and 1940s. In a civilian role, it flew with over 12 air carriers including Swissair and Deutsche Luft Hansa as an airliner and freight hauler...

s during a fighter sweep against enemy transport planes that were coming from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 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
Pantelleria
Pantelleria , the ancient Cossyra, is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and just east of the Tunisian coast. Administratively Pantelleria is a comune belonging to the Sicilian province of Trapani...

.

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
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of 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
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

 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
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...

 area reporting crucial enemy activities.

The movement of the 82d to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and its assignment to Fifteenth Air Force
Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

 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
Blechhammer
The Blechhammer area was the location of Nazi Germany chemical plants, prisoner of war camps, and forced labor camps . Labor camp prisoners began arriving as early as June 17, 1942, and in July 1944, 400-500 men were transferred from the Terezin family camp to Blechhammer...

 in Poland, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 in Austria, Dubova
Dubová, Pezinok District
Dubová is a village and municipality in western Slovakia in Pezinok District in the Bratislava region.-External links:*...

 in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, as well as in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, France, and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. 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.

Strategic Air Command

On 12 April 1947, the War Department activated the 82d Fighter Group at Grenier Field in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, and assigned it to Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

.

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.

Air Defense Command

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.

Modern era

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.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 82d Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 13 January 1942
Activated on 9 February 1942
Redesignated 82d Fighter Group in May 1942
Inactivated in Italy on 9 September 1945.
  • Established as 82d Fighter Wing on 28 July 1947
Organized on 15 August 1947
Inactivated on 2 October 1949
  • Established as 525th Air Defense Group and activated on 16 February 1953
Reactivated as 82d Fighter Group (Air Defense) by redesignation of 525th Air Defense Group
525th Air Defense Group
The 525th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 4710th Air Defense Wing, being stationed at New Castle County Airport, Delaware...

, 18 August 1955
Redesignated 82d Fighter-Interceptor Group on 6 July 1956
Inactivated on 30 June 1958
  • Redesignated 82d Operations Group and activated on 15 December 1991
Inactivated on 31 March 1993

Assignments

  • Fourth Air Force
    Fourth Air Force
    The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....

    , 9 February – September 1942
  • Eighth Air Force
    Eighth Air Force
    The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

    , September – December 1942
7th Fighter Wing
47th Air Division (United States)
- History :The 47th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, based at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 27 February 1987....

: c. November – c. 31 December 1942
  • Twelfth Air Force, December 1942 – November 1943
Attached to: 7th Fighter Wing
47th Air Division (United States)
- History :The 47th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, based at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 27 February 1987....

: 1–17 February 1943
47th Bombardment Wing
47th Air Division (United States)
- History :The 47th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, based at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 27 February 1987....

: 17 February – 31 October 1943
  • Fifteenth Air Force
    Fifteenth Air Force
    The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

    , 1 November 1943 – 9 September 1945
47th Bombardment Wing
47th Air Division (United States)
- History :The 47th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, based at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 27 February 1987....

: 1 November 1943 – 13 January 1944
5th Bombardment Group: 13 January – 27 March 1944
306th Fighter Wing
306th Fighter Wing (World War II)
The 306th Fighter Wing was a World War II United States Army Air Force organization assigned to Fifteenth Air Force as an intermediate-level command and control organization...

: 27 March 1944 – 13 June 1945
305th Bombardment Wing
305th Air Division
The 305th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Continental Air Command, assigned to Fourth Air Force, being stationed at McChord Air Force Base, California...

: 13 June 1945

  • 82d Fighter Wing, 15 August 1947 – 2 October 1949
  • Air Defense Command, 6 February 1952
  • 26th Air Division, 16 February 1953
  • 37th Air Division, 1 March – 30 June 1958
  • 82d Training Wing
    82d Training Wing
    The 82d Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command Second Air Force. It is stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas where it also is the host unit....

    , 15 December 1991 – 31 March 1993


Components

  • 95th Fighter Squadron
    95th Fighter Squadron
    The 95th Fighter Squadron was part of the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It conducted advanced fighter training for the F-15 Eagle aircraft.-History:...

    , 9 February 1942 – 9 September 1945; 12 April 1947 – 2 October 1949
  • 96th Fighter (later Fighter-Interceptor, Training) Squadron, 9 February 1942 – 9 September 1945; 12 April 1947 – 2 October 1949; 18 August 1955 – 8 January 1958; 15 December 1991 – 31 March 1993
  • 97th Fighter (later Fighter-Interceptor, Training) Squadron, 9 February 1942 – 9 September 1945; 12 April 1947 – 2 October 1949; 18 August 1955 – 8 January 1958; 15 December 1991 – 31 March 1993
  • 98th Flying Training Squadron 15 December 1991 – 31 March 1993
  • 99th Flying Training Squadron
    99th Flying Training Squadron
    The 99th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 12th Flying Training Wing based at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron was formed during World War II as the first flying unit for African Americans. Known as the Tuskegee Airmen...

     15 December 1991 – 31 March 1993

Stations

  • Harding Field
    Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport
    Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport , also known as Ryan Field, is a public use airport located four nautical miles north of the central business district of Baton Rouge, a city in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States....

    , Louisiana
    Louisiana
    Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

     9 February 1942
  • Muroc AAF, California 30 April 1942
  • Los Angeles AAF
    Los Angeles International Airport
    Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...

    , California May 1942
  • Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale
    Glendale, California
    Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

    , California c. 16 August – 16 September 1942
  • Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland
    Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

     October 1942
  • Telergma Airfield, Algeria January 1943
  • Berteaux Airfield
    Berteaux Airfield
    Berteaux Airfield is an abandoned World War II United States Army Air Forces military airfield in Algeria, which was located approximately 9 km east of Telerghma; 35 km southwest of Constantine....

    , Algeria 28 March 1943
  • Souk-el-Arba Airfield
    Souk-el-Arba Airfield
    Souk-el-Arba Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, located approximately 2.3 km southeast of Jendouba; 130 km west-southwest of Tunis...

    , Algeria 13 June 1943

  • Grombalia Airfield
    Grombalia Airfield
    Grombalia Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, which is located approximately 112 km east-southeast of Hammam-Lif, about 16 km southeast of Tunis...

    , Tunisia 3 August 1943
  • San Pancrazio Airfield
    San Pancrazio Airfield
    San Pancrazio Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, which is located approximately 4 km northeast of San Pancrazio Salentino in the province of Brindisi in Puglia,on the south-east Italy coast...

    , Italy c. 3 October 1943
  • Lecce Airfield
    Lecce Airfield
    Lecce Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, which is located approximately 5 km southeast of Lecce in the Salentine Peninsula. Built in 1943 by United States Army Engineers, the airfield was primarily a Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator heavy bomber base used in...

    , Italy 10 October 1943
  • Vincenzo Airfield, Italy 11 January 1944
  • Lesina Airfield, Italy c. 30 August – September 1945
  • Grenier Air Force Base
    Grenier Air Force Base
    Grenier Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located three miles south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire on the county line of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties...

    , New Hampshire
    New Hampshire
    New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

     12 April 1947 – 2 October 1949
  • New Castle Airport
    New Castle Air National Guard Base
    New Castle National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at New Castle Airport in New Castle County, Delaware.-Overview:...

    , Delaware
    Delaware
    Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

    , 6 February 1952 – 30 June 1958
  • Williams AFB, Arizona
    Arizona
    Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

    , 15 December 1991 – 31 March 1993


Aircraft assigned

  • P-38 Lightning
    P-38 Lightning
    The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...

     (1942–1945)
  • P/F-51 Mustang
    P-51 Mustang
    The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...

     (1947–1949)
  • F-86D Sabre (1953–1955)
  • F-94 Starfire
    F-94 Starfire
    The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the twin-seat T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.-Design and development:...

     (1955–1958)
  • T-37 Tweet
    Cessna T-37
    The Cessna T-37 Tweet is a small, economical twin-engine jet trainer-attack type aircraft which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force and in the air forces of several other nations...

     (1991–1992)
  • T-38 Talon
    T-38 Talon
    The Northrop T-38 Talon is a twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2011 in air forces throughout the world....

    (1991–1993)
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