The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
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.
Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located in Maricopa County, Arizona east of Chandler, and about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Phoenix. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants.
The Group's history goes back to January 1942, when the War Department constituted the 82d Pursuit Group (Interceptor).
History
A formation of P-38 Lightnings from the 96th Fighter Squadron, 82nd Fighter Group over Italy, 1944
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).[1]
The 82d was activated at Harding Field, Baton Rouge, Louisiana on 9 February 1942.[1] From February 1942 to 9 September 1945, the primary components of the group were the 95th, 96th and 97th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadrons.[2]
Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, also known as Ryan Field, is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) north of the central business district of Baton Rouge, a city in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States.
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana and its second-largest city. Located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish.
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 Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft.[1] In May the War Department redesignated the unit as the 82d Fighter Group (Two Engine). The group left California in September and arrived in Northern Ireland in October where it received additional training.[1] At about the same time, the Allies launched their invasion of French 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.
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is a World War II–era American piston-engined fighter aircraft. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament. Allied propaganda claimed it had been nicknamed the fork-tailed devil by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" by the Japanese. The P-38 was used for interception, dive bombing, level bombing, ground attack, night fighting, photo reconnaissance, radar and visual pathfinding for bombers and evacuation missions, and extensively as a long-range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings.
Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the UK's population. Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the British government. Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland in some areas, and the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to "put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments".
Operation Torch was an Anglo–American invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. It was aimed at reducing pressure on Allied forces in Egypt, and enabling an invasion of Southern Europe. It also provided the ‘second front’ which the Soviet Union had been requesting since it was invaded by the Germans in 1941. The region was dominated by the Vichy French, officially Nazi-controlled, but with mixed loyalties, and reports indicated that they might support the Allied initiative. The American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commanding the operation, planned a 3-pronged attack, aimed at Casablanca (Western), Oran (Center) and Algiers (Eastern), in advance of a rapid move on Tunis.
Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the 82d operated from Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, to protect two convoys in an anti-submarine patrol. On 1 January 1943, the air echelon moved to Telergma Airport, Algeria, where it was joined by the ground echelon in February 1943.
Telerghma Airport is a joint-use civilian/military airport in Algeria, just south of the city of Telerghma, about 300 km east of Algiers
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 North American B-25 Mitchells 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.[citation needed]
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American twin-engine, medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation (NAA).
In April 1943, the group moved to Tunis to take part in the final phase of the Tunisian 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 Korps. 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 Allied invasion 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 in this period. The missions amounted to 3,335 combat sorties; escorted 2,987 B-25 and 382 B-26s; and engaged in 57 skip and dive bombing attacks. [Needs clarification.] The 82d destroyed 78 enemy planes, had 17 probables, and damaged 56, while losing only 11 P-38s. On 25 August, it conducted a low level strafing attack against enemy aircraft concentrations at Foggia, Italy for which it received a Distinguished Unit Citation(DUC).[1] Just over a week later, the group was awarded a second DUC for its actions in protecting a group of bombers that encountered strong enemy opposition in an attack on marshalling yards near Naples.[1]
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 Ploiești in Romania, 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 Ploiești, the most heavily defended target on the continent.[1] The group was awarded a third DUC for this mission, in which it braved head-on attacks by enemy interceptors.[1]
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 Second Lieutenant 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.[1]
The group was outfitted with F-51 Mustang aircraft, and it trained in long range fighter and fighter escort operations. A few months later the Air Force decided to test the wing-base (Hobson Plan) organization. Under this plan, combat wings were established. On 15 August, the 82d Fighter Group became a subordinate component of the 82d Fighter Wing.[7] 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. In August 1949, the wing and its components were transferred from SAC to Continental Air Command.The group continued to operate at Grenier until its inactivation on 2 October 1949.[1]
Air Defense Command
F-94 Starfire
In 1955, the Air Force redesignated the unit as the 82d Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated it at New Castle Airport, DE,[1] where it assumed the personnel and equipment of the inactivating 525th Air Defense Group[8] as part of Air Defense Command's Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.[9] It was assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC)'s 4710th Air Defense Wing. Its operational squadrons were the 96th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was transferred from the 525th Air Defense Group,[10] and the 97th FIS, which moved from Wright-Patterson AFB, OH without personnel or equipment and replaced the 332d FIS,[11] since another goal of Project Arrow was to reunited fighter squadrons with their traditional headquarters.[9] Both Squadrons flew F-94C Starfire interceptors.[12] Its primary mission was to provide air defense for the northeastern United States. It also acted as the host base organization for the USAF portion of New Castle Airport and was assigned several support units to fulfil this mission.[13][14] In 1957, it was announced that Air Defense Command would be reducing its forces, and the 82d FIG was inactivated on 8 January 1958.
Williams AFB 1991-1993
On 15 December 1991, the group was redesignated as the 82d Operations Group (82d OG) and activated at Williams AFB, AZ as a result of the 82 Flying Training Wing implementing the USAF objective wing organization. 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 as the 82d Fighter Group (Two Engine) on 15 May 1942
Inactivated in Italy on 9 September 1945.
Redesignated as the 82d Fighter Group, Single Engine 1947
Activated on 12 April 1947
Inactivated on 2 October 1949
Redesignated as 82d Fighter Group (Air Defense) on 20 June 1955
Activated on 18 August 1955
Inactivated on 30 June 1958
Redesignated as 82d Operations Group and activated on 15 December 1991
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The United States Air Force's 66th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force Weapons School Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II instructional flying unit, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
Sturm, Thomas A.; Volan, Denys; McMullen, Richard F. (1956). Buss, Lydus H., ed. History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955. Ent AFB, CO: Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command.
Anonymous (1949). 82nd Fighter. Robert W. Kelly Publishing Co.
Blake, Steven (2012). P-38 Lighting Aces of the 82nd Fighter Group in World War II. Aircraft of the Aces. Vol 108. Osprey Publishing. ISBN978-1-780968-71-1.
Blake, Steven (1992). Adorimini:"Up and at 'Em" A History of the 82nd Fighter Group in World War II. Boise, ID: Walsworth Publishing Co.
Watkins, Robert A. (2009). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Volume IV, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-3401-6.
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