446th Operations Group

The 446th Operations Group is a United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to the 446th Airlift Wing. It is stationed at McChord Air Force Base, Washington.

The group was first activated as the 446th Bombardment Group and served in combat as an Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator unit in England. In 1944 the group led Eighth Air Force and the 2d Bombardment Division on the first heavy bomber mission of D-Day. The B-24H 42-95203 FL-D “Red Ass” of the 446th Bomb Group, 704th BS was lead plane. The group's 706th Bombardment Squadron flew 62 consecutive missions and 707th Bombardment Squadron had 68 missions without loss. After V-E Day the group returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in August 1945.

The group was activated again in the Air Force Reserve in 1948 at Carswell AFB, Texas. It trained alongside the active duty 7th Bombardment Group until 1951 when it was called to active duty so that its personnel could be used as fillers for other units, then inactivated.

In 1955 the group was again activated in the reserve as the 446th Troop Carrier Group at Ellington AFB, Texas. It was inactivated in 1959 when Continental Air Command reorganized its wings under the dual deputy model, which eliminated operational and maintenance group headquarters.

The group was activated a fourth time in 1992 as the command element for the flying units of the 446th Airlift Wing as reserve units reorganized under the Objective Wing organizational model.

Overview

The 446th Operations Group was activated at McChord Air Force Base on 1 August 1992 under the United States Air Force Objective Wing organizational model. The operational squadrons of the 446th Airlift Wing were reassigned to the newly established group and an operational support squadron was activated along with the group. Since 1992, the group has flown channel, special assignment, and humanitarian airlift missions worldwide and taken part in joint and combined exercises, both within the United States and abroad. The group is an associate of the regular 62d Operations Group and the units fly the same aircraft, which carry the emblems of their parent wings. The group flew the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter until it was phased out in 2002, but began transitioning into the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III in 1999.

The 446th Operations Group manages the aircrew and flight operations of the 446th Airlift Wing. The group is made up of five squadrons:
* 97th Airlift Squadron (C-17 Globemaster III)
* 313th Airlift Squadron (C-17 Globemaster III)
* 728th Airlift Squadron (C-17 Globemaster III)
* 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron
* 446th Operations Support Squadron

History

World War II

Training for combat

The group was first activated on 1 April 1943 at Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona as the 446th Bombardment Group with an initial cadre drawn from the 39th Bombardment Group.Castens, p. 20 Its original squadrons were the 704th,Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 709 705th,Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons''. pp. 709–710 706th,Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons''. p. 710 and 707th Bombardment Squadrons.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 320–321Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons''. pp. 710–711 The cadre departed for Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics, where they flew simulated combat missions from Montbrook Army Air Field.

The unit headed for Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico in June 1943, but was diverted to Lowry Field, Colorado, where the group was filled out and advanced training was completed. The group lost two aircraft to crashes during this training. The ground echelon left Lowry on 18 October 1943 for Camp Shanks, New York and embarked on the , sailing on 27 October 1943 and arrived in Greenock on the Firth of Clyde on 2 November 1943. The aircraft left Lowry on 20 October 1943 for staging at Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska. The aircrews ferried their planes under the control of Air Transport Command via the southern route from Florida through Puerto Rico, Brazil, Senegal, and Morocco to England. The 446th was the first Army Air Forces group to complete the Transatlantic hop from Brazil to Africa without the installation of additional bomb bay fuel tanks.

Combat in the European theater

The 446th suffered its first combat loss even before arriving in England when the aircraft commanded by 2nd Lt. Samuel E. Fowlkes strayed from the planned route and flew too close to the Brest Peninsula, where it was attacked by Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Junkers Ju 88 fighters and anti-aircraft fire from the Luftwaffe and was shot down. The remainder of the group safely arrived at its new base at RAF Flixton in the east of England.

The group arrived at its combat station, RAF Flixton in early November 1943 and flew its first mission on 16 December 1943 against shipping facilities in Bremen, Germany, losing one airplane that crashed just short of the field due to fuel exhaustion. The group operated chiefly against strategic objectives. Its targets included Its targets included ball bearing factories at Berlin, marshalling yards at Koblenz, submarine pens at Kiel, aircraft plants at Munich, port facilities at Ludwigshafen and aircraft engine manufacturing plants at Rostock. The group's 706th Bombardment Squadron flew 62 consecutive missions and 707th Bombardment Squadron had 68 missions without loss.

The group was occasionally diverted from strategic missions to carry out air support and interdiction missions. It supported Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by attacking transportation targets, including bridges, along with airfields and strong points in France. On D Day, the squadron and the rest of the 446th Group led the first heavy bomber mission of the day. The 446th aided ground forces at Caen

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