347th Rescue Group

Last updated

347th Rescue Group
ACC Shield.svg
PJs training (14142667342).jpg
Pararescuemen assigned to the group during training in 2014
Active1942–1946
1947–1950
1991–present
CountryFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
BranchFlag of the United States Air Force.svg  United States Air Force
Role Combat Search and Rescue
Part of Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQ Moody AFB, Georgia
Engagements Streamer APC.PNG
World War IIAsiatic–Pacific Theater
Kosovo Campaign Streamer.jpg
Kosovo War [1]
Decorations Streamer PUC Army.PNG
Distinguished Unit Citation
U.S. Navy Unit Commendation streamer.svg
Presidential Unit Citation (Navy)
AF MUA Streamer.JPG
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Streamer.jpg
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Presidential Unit Citation (Philippines) Streamer.png
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation [1]
Commanders
Current
commander
Col Gary B. Symon [2]
Notable
commanders
Victor E. Renuart Jr.
Insignia
347th Rescue Group emblem (approved 7 December 2006) [1] 347th Rescue Group.png
Aircraft of Moody AFB. Shown are the HC-130P (top), T-6 Texan II (left), T-38C (right), and HH-60G (bottom). The HC-130 and HH-60G are used by the 347th Rescue Group, the T-6 and T-38 by the 479th Flying Training Group 23dwing-aircraft-moody.jpg
Aircraft of Moody AFB. Shown are the HC-130P (top), T-6 Texan II (left), T-38C (right), and HH-60G (bottom). The HC-130 and HH-60G are used by the 347th Rescue Group, the T-6 and T-38 by the 479th Flying Training Group

The United States Air Force's 347th Rescue Group (347 RQG) is an active combat search and rescue unit assigned to the 23rd Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.

Contents

For additional lineage and history, see 347th Rescue Wing

Mission

The 347th Rescue Group directs flying and maintenance of the one of two USAF active-duty groups dedicated to combat search and rescue. Responsible for training/readiness of 1,100 personnel, including a pararescue squadron, two flying squadrons (Lockheed HC-130J/HH-60W Jolly Green II), and an operations support squadron. Deploys worldwide in support of National Command Authority taskings.

Units

History

For additional lineage and history, see 347th Rescue Wing

Lineage

Activated on 3 October 1942
Inactivated on 1 January 1946
Activated on 20 February 1947
Redesignated: 347th Fighter Group, All Weather, on 10 August 1948
Redesignated: 347th Fighter-All Weather Group on 20 January 1950
Inactivated on 24 June 1950
Activated on 1 May 1991
Redesignated: 347th Rescue Group on 1 October 2006.

Assignments

Components

Stations

Aircraft

Operational history

World War II

Constituted as the 347th Fighter Group on 29 September 1942. Activated in New Caledonia on 3 October 1942. Detachments of the group, which was assigned to Thirteenth Air Force in January 1943, were sent to Guadalcanal, where they used Bell P-39 and P-400 Airacobra aircraft to fly protective patrols, support ground forces, and attack Japanese shipping.

Operational squadrons of the 347th FG were the 67th, 68th, 70th and 339th Fighter Squadrons.

When the Allied campaign to recover the central and northern Solomon Islands began in February 1943, the detachments, still operating from Guadalcanal and using Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and P-39 Airacobras, escorted bombers and attacked enemy bases on New Georgia, the Russell Islands, and Bougainville.

It was P-38Gs of the 339th Fighter Squadron which, on 18 April 1943, flew the mission which resulted in the death of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Only their aircraft possessed the range to intercept and engage. Pilots were informed that they were intercepting an "important high officer," although they were not aware of who their actual target was.

On the morning of 18 April, despite urgings by local commanders to cancel the trip for fear of ambush, Yamamoto's planes left Rabaul as scheduled. Shortly after, eighteen specially fitted P-38s took off from Guadalcanal. They wave-hopped most of the 430 miles to the rendezvous point, maintaining radio silence throughout. At 09:34 Tokyo time, the two flights met and a dogfight ensued between the P-38s and the six Zeroes escorting Yamamoto.

1st Lt. Rex T. Barber engaged the first of the two Japanese bombers, which turned out to be Yamamoto's plane. He sprayed the plane with gunfire until it began to spew smoke from its left engine. Barber turned away to attack the other bomber as Yamamoto's plane crashed into the jungle. Afterwards, another pilot, Capt Thomas George Lanphier, Jr., claimed he had shot down the lead bomber, which led to a decades-old controversy until a team inspected the crash site to determine direction of the bullet impacts. Most historians now credit Barber with the claim.

One US pilot—1st Lt. Raymond K. Hine—was killed in action.

Headquarters moved up from New Caledonia at the end of 1943; and the following month the group moved from Guadalcanal to Stirling Island to support ground forces on Bougainville, assist in neutralizing enemy bases at Rabaul, and fly patrol and search missions in the northern Solomons.

The 347th was reassigned to New Guinea in August 1944, and equipped completely with P-38G's. Escorted bombers to oil refineries on Borneo; bombed and strafed airfields and installations on Ceram, Amboina, Boeroe, Celebes, and Halmahera. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a series of long-range bombing and strafing raids, conducted through intense flak and fighter defense, on the airfield and shipping at Makassar, Celebes, in November 1944.

Moved to the Philippines in February 1945. Supported landings on Mindanao in March 1945: bombed and strafed enemy installations and supported Australian forces on Borneo, attacked Japanese positions in northern Luzon, and flew escort missions to the Asiatic mainland.

The 347th Fighter Group was reassigned back to the United States in December 1945, and inactivated on 1 January 1946.

Korean War
North American F-82G Twin Mustang Serial 46-394 of the 68th Fighter (All Weather) Squadron flying a night interceptor mission over the wartime skies of Korea, 1951. 68th FAWS North American F-82G Twin Mustang 46-394.jpg
North American F-82G Twin Mustang Serial 46-394 of the 68th Fighter (All Weather) Squadron flying a night interceptor mission over the wartime skies of Korea, 1951.

As the war in Korea began, on 24 June 1950 the 347th Fighter Wing was inactivated and the 347th Fighter Group's Twin Mustang squadrons were transferred to South Korea. They were the only fighter aircraft available with the range to cover the entire Korean peninsula.

The 339th Squadron was attached to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kimpo Airfield, near Seoul South Korea to stem the North Korean advance. The 68th Fighter (AW) Squadron was based at Itazuke, Japan. The 4th (AW) Squadron was reassigned to the provisional 6302d Air Base Group and provided air defense of Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.

The 347th Fighter Group provided fighter cover for the C-54 and C-47 transports flying in and out of Kimpo Airfield. On 27 June 1950, an F-82G (46–383) of the 68th Fighter (AW) Squadron flown by Lieut. William (Skeeter) Hudson (pilot) and Lieut. Carl Fraser (radar operator) shot down a North Korean Yak-7U (possibly a misidentified Yak-11). This was the first air-to-air kill of the Korean War, and, incidentally, the first aerial victory by the newly formed United States Air Force.

It is believed that Lt. Hudson was flying an F-82G named "Bucket of Bolts" (46–601) instead of his usual aircraft on that historic day. Later that same day, an F-82G (46–392) flown by Major James Little of the 339th Fighter (AW) Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group shot down a North Korean Yak-9. Records are unreliable, and some experts maintain that Major Little actually was the first to kill.

The 339th and 68th Fighter (AW) Squadrons served in South Korea until December 1950, being attached to the 8th FBW, 35th FIW, and 51st FIW. As more jets, especially the all-weather Lockheed F-94 Starfire, became available the F-82s were relegated to ground attack missions before eventually being withdrawn from the Korean Theater, modified, and reassigned to bomber escort duties at Ladd AFB, Alaska. With their F-82's reassigned to Alaska, the 347th Fighter Group was inactivated and stood down.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Robertson, Patsy (April 2014). "347 Rescue Group (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency . Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. "347th Rescue Group changes hands". 10 July 2023.
  3. See also Copeland, Larry (4 October 2003). "Ga. town can't forget 6 who died in Afghanistan". USA Today. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
  4. "Moody's final HH-60G retires, begins new combat rescue era". 30 September 2021.
  5. "Air Force, Moody receive first Jolly Green II". 6 November 2020.

General references