52d Operations Group
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52d Operations Group
| 52d Operations Group | |
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| Active | 1940–1972; 1992–present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Part of | 52d Fighter Wing |
| Garrison/HQ | Spangdahlem Air Base |
| Engagements |
  
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The 52d Operations Group (52 OG) is the flying component of the 52d Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe. The group is stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
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Contents
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Overview
The 52d Operations Group maintains, deploys and employs F-16 Falcon; A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and TPS-75 radar systems in support of NATO and the national defense directives. The 52 OG supports the Supreme Allied Commander Europe with mission-ready personnel and systems providing expeditionary air power for suppression of enemy air defenses, close air support, air interdiction, counterair, air strike control, strategic attack, combat search and rescue, and theater airspace control.
The group also supports contingencies and operations other than war as required.
Assigned Units
The 52 OG (Tail Code: SP) commands two flying squadrons, one air control and one support squadron
- 81st Fighter Squadron "Panthers" (Yellow tail stripe)
- Activated on 15 January 1942, the 81 FS flies the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft conducting close air support missions.
- 480th Fighter Squadron "Warhawks" (Red tail stripe)
- Activated on 1 February 1940, the 480 FS flies the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions.
- 52d Operations Support Squadron "Griffins"
- Responsible for all facets of airfield operations, or ops, air traffic control, weather, aircrew life support and training, intelligence analysis and support, weapons and tactics training, 52 FW battle staff operations, airspace scheduling, range ops and wing flying hour program.
- 606th Air Control Squadron
- The 606 ACS is a self-contained mobile combat unit including the TPS-75 Radar. The unit provides daily command and control to the 52 OG's two flying squadrons in addition to the occasional control of NATO AWACS from Gelsenkirchen AB and visiting aircraft from around the USAFE Theater.
History
World War II
The unit was constituted as the 52d Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940, activated at Selfridge Field, MI on 15 January 1941 and redesignated as the 52d Fighter Group in May 1942.[1] The group trained with P-39 Airacobra and Curtiss P-40 aircraft, and participated in maneuvers with them from 1941–1942 till it moved to the United Kingdom, the air echelon arriving in July 1942 and the ground echelon in August.[1]
It trained with the Royal Air Force as part of Eighth Air Force, reequipped with Spitfires and flew missions from England to France during August and September of that year.[1] Group pilots flew Spitfires from Gibraltar to Algeria during the invasion of North Africa on 8 November 1942.[1] The remainder of the group arrived by ship after the campaign in Algeria and Morocco had ended.[1] The group then operated as part of Twelfth Air Force through April 1944, thereafter becoming a part of Fifteenth Air Force, serving in combat in the Mediterranean until the end of the war. It flew escort, patrol, strafing, and reconnaissance missions to help defeat Axis forces in Tunisia.[1] In Sicily, it attacked railroads, highways, bridges, coastal shipping and other targets to support the Allied operations. Having converted to P-51s in April and May 1944, the group escorted bombers that attacked objectives in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia.[1] It received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a mission on 9 June 1944 when the group protected bombers that struck aircraft factories, communications centers, and supply lines in Germany.[1] The 52d flew one of the first shuttle missions to Russia from 4–6 August 1944, and received a second DUC for strafing attacks on a landing field in Romania on 31 August 1944, destroying a large number of enemy fighter and transport planes.[1] On 24 March 1945, the group's aircraft flew the longest escort mission ever flown in Europe—1600 miles round-trip to Berlin. The 52d returned to the US in August 1945 and was inactivated on 7 November 1945.[1]
Cold War
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German Occupation Force
The 52d was reactivated in Germany on 9 November 1946 and was assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe as the 52d Fighter Group (All Weather).[1][2] From 1946 to 1947, the 52d served as part of the occupation forces in Germany.
Air Defense Command
In June 1947 the group was transferred without personnel and equipment to the United States, and became the 52d Fighter-Interceptor Group in May 1951 flying P-61 Black Widows and later F-82 Twin Mustangs, receiving its first jets, Lockheed F-94 Starfires beginning in 1950. In 1948, as part of the Wing/Base reorganization (Hobson Plan), the 52nd became the operational element of the 52d Fighter Wing at McGuire AFB, NJ.[3] The 52d was inactivated along with the 52nd Fighter-Interceptor Wing in a major reorganization of Air Defense Command (ADC) on 6 February 1952[1] in which its operational squadrons were transferred to the newly activated 4709th Defense Wing.[4][5]
The 52d was redesignated the 52d Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated at Suffolk County AFB on 18 August 1955, replacing the 519th Air Defense Group as part of ADC's Project Arrow, a program to restore fighter units that had achieved distinction in the two World Wars.[1][6] It was assigned to ADC and equipped with F-86D Sabre aircraft, but converted to F-102 Delta Daggers in 1957.[3] It acted as the USAF host organization for Suffolk County and was assigned several support units to fulfill this function.[7][8][9] In 1959, it also began to fly F-101 VooDoos. It served as an air defense unit in the New York/New Jersey area of the United States and also flew anti-submarine missions until being inactivated in 1963 and replaced as the host unit at Suffolk County by the 52d Fighter Wing (Air Defense).[3][10] In 1968, as USAF operations at Suffolk County were reduced, it once again activated with F-101s to replace the 52d wing and close down USAF operations at the station in 1969.[3][10]
Return to Germany
The 52d was redesignated the 52d Tactical Fighter Group and activated at Erding AB, West Germany under Seventeenth Air Force in 1971.[3] The group provided administrative and logistical support as the USAF host unit at Erding for F-102 Delta Dagger NATO air defense operations, but had no tactical units assigned. In 1972 the F-102s were withdrawn from Europe and the 52d FG was inactivated.[3]
Modern era
On 31 March 1992, the group was redesignated the 52d Operations Group (OG) and activated as a result of the USAF objective wing reorganization. Upon activation, the 52d OG assumed responsibility of the 52 Fighter Wing's operational squadrons.
During the 1990s, the wing supported no-fly zone operations over Bosnia and northern Iraq and combat operations against Serbia during Operation Allied Force in 1999. After terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, the wing supported Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, deploying combat and support elements in support of US and NATO missions.
Lineage
- Established as 52d Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940
- Activated on 16 January 1941
- Redesignated 52d Fighter Group on 15 May 1942
- Inactivated on 7 November 1945
- Redesignated 52d Fighter Group (All Weather) on 18 October 1946
- Activated on 9 November 1946
- Redesignated: 52d Fighter Group, All Weather on 10 May 1948
- Redesignated: 52d Fighter-All Weather Group on 20 January 1950
- Redesignated: 52d Fighter-Interceptor Group on 1 May 1951
- Inactivated on 6 February 1952
- Redesignated 52d Fighter Group (Air Defense) on 20 June 1955
- Activated on 18 August 1955
- Discontinued and inactivated, on 1 July 1963
- Activated on 30 September 1968
- Inactivated on 31 December 1969
- Redesignated 52d Tactical Fighter Group on 17 February 1970
- Activated on 1 April 1971
- Inactivated on 31 July 1972
- Redesignated 52d Operations Group on 1 March 1992
- Activated on 31 March 1992.
Assignments
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Components
- 2d Pursuit (later, 2d Fighter; 2d Fighter [All Weather]; 2d Fighter, All Weather; 2d Fighter-Interceptor): 16 January 1941 – 7 November 1945; 9 November 1946 – 6 February 1952; 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1963; 30 September 1968 – 31 December 1969
- 4th Pursuit (later, 4th Fighter): 16 January 1941 – 7 November 1945
- 5th Pursuit (later, 5th Fighter; 5th Fighter [All Weather]; 5th Fighter, All Weather; 5th Fighter-Interceptor): 16 January 1941 – 7 November 1945; 9 November 1946 – 6 February 1952; 18 August 1955 – 1 February 1960
- 22d Fighter Squadron: 1 April 1994 – 12 August 2010
- 23d Fighter Squadron: 31 March 1992 – 12 August 2010
- 53d Fighter Squadron: 25 February 1994 – 31 March 1999
- 81st Fighter Squadron: 31 March 1992 – present
- 98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: attached, c. 20 June – 1 July 1963
- 480th Fighter Squadron: 31 March 1992 – 1 April 1994, 13 August 2010–present
- 510th Fighter Squadron: 1 October 1992 – 1 February 1994.
Stations
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Awards
- Distinguished Unit Citation
- Munich, Germany, 9 June 1944
- Rumania, 31 Aug 1944
- Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
- 19 March 2003-16 April 2003 (with Combat V Device)
- (31 March 1992)-30 June 1993
- 1 July 1993-30 June 1995
- 1 August 1995-31 July 1997
- 1 July 1997-30 June 1999
- 24 March 1999-1 June 1999
- 1 July 1999-30 June 2001
- 1 July 2001-30 June 2003
- 1 July 2003-30 June 2005
Aircraft assigned
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22 FS
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23 FS
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81 FS
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606 ACS
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 113-115
- ^ Between 1946 and 1951, the group held three variations of this designation, becoming the 52d Fighter Group, All Weather in 1948 and the 52d Fighter All-Weather Group in 1950. Factsheet, 52d Operations Group (accessed 3 May 2012)
- ^ a b c d e f Factsheet, 52d Operations Group
- ^ Factsheet, 2d Fighter Squadron (accessed 3 May 2012)
- ^ Factsheet, 5th Fighter Squadron (accessed 3 May 2012)
- ^ Buss, Sturm, Volan & McMullen, p.6
- ^ 52d USAF Infirmary (later 52d USAF Dispensary) (accessed 3 May 2012)
- ^ 52d Air Base Squadron (later 52d Combat Support Squadron) (accessed 3 May 2012)
- ^ 52d Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (accessed 3 May 2012)
- ^ a b Factsheet, 52d Fighter Wing (accessed 3 May 2012)
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Buss, Lydus H.(ed), Sturm, Thomas A., Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F., History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1956.
- Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 - 1980. Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/handbookofadcorg.pdf.
- Ivie, Tom; Ludwig, Paul. Spitfires and Yellow Tail Mustangs: The 52d Fighter Group in World War 2. Crowborough, East Sussex, UK: Hikoki Publications. ISBN 1-902109-43-0.* Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/af_combat_units_wwii.pdf.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/combat_sq_of_the_af_wwii.pdf.
- 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. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/combat_wings.pdf.
- Rust, Kenn C.. Fifteenth Air Force Story...In World War II. Temple City, CA: Historical Aviation Album. ISBN 0-911852-79-4.
- Anonymous, (1958) History of the 52d Fighter Group. Suffolk County Air Force Base, NY 52d Fighter Group, 1958.
External links
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