The 52d Operations Group is the flying component of the 52d Fighter Wing, assigned to the

United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(USAFE-AFAFRICA). The group is stationed at

Spangdahlem Air Base Spangdahlem Air Base (IATA: SPM, ICAO: ETAD, former code EDAD) is a NATO air base with the USAF as a tenant constructed between 1951 and 1953 and located near the small German town of Spangdahlem, approximately 30 km NNE of the city of Trier ...

, Germany.

Overview

The 52d Operations Group maintains, deploys and employs

F-16 Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

;

MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

aircraft and

AN/TPS-75 The AN/TPS-75 is a transportable passive electronically scanned array air search 3D radar produced in the United States. It was originally designated the TPS-43E2. Although the antenna is a radically new design from the TPS-43, the radar van itse ...

radar systems in support of

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO) and national defense directives. The 52 OG supports the

Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

with mission-ready personnel and systems providing expeditionary air power for suppression of enemy

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s, close air support,

air interdiction Air interdiction (AI), also known as deep air support (DAS), is the use of preventive tactical bombing and strafing by combat aircraft against enemy targets that are not an immediate threat, to delay, disrupt or hinder later enemy engagement of fr ...

, counterair, air strike control, strategic attack, combat

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

, 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 one flying squadron, one air control and one support squadron *

480th Fighter Squadron The 480th Fighter Squadron (480th FS), nicknamed the "Warhawks", is an active United States Air Force unit operating the General Dynamics F-16CJ Fighting Falcon. The 480 FS assigned to the 52nd Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany is the ...

"Warhawks" (Red tail stripe) : The 480 FS flies the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting

air superiority Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of c ...

missions. * 52d Operations Support Squadron "Griffins" : Responsible for all facets of

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

operations,

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

, weather, aircrew

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...

and training,

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

analysis and support, weapons and tactics training, 52 FW battle staff operations, airspace scheduling, range ops and wing flying hour program. * Detachment 2 ** Currently operating

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

temporarily deployed to Campia Turzil ( RoAF 71st Air Base) from their usual base of Miroslawiec (

12th Air Base The 12 Baza Bezzałogowych Statków Powietrznych ( en, 12th Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Base) is a Polish Air Force base, located 5 km north of Mirosławiec. It was constituted as 12 Baza Lotnicza on 1 January 2001. In 2008, it was the site o ...

History

: ''See 52d Fighter Wing for additional lineage and history''

World War II

The unit was constituted as the 52d Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940, activated at

Selfridge Field Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Unit ...

, Michigan on 15 January 1941 with the 2d,Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 4th, and 5th Pursuit SquadronsMaurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 34-35 assigned as its original squadrons. It was redesignated as the 52d Fighter Group in May 1942.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 113–115 The group trained with

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

and

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

aircraft, and participated in

maneuvers A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

with them until 1942 when it moved to the United Kingdom, the air echelon arriving in July 1942 and the ground echelon in August. The

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

trained with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as part of

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

, reequipped with

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

s and flew missions from England to France during August and September of that year. Watkins, pp. 24–25 Group pilots flew Spitfires from Gibraltar to Algeria during

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

, the invasion of North Africa on 8 November 1942. The remainder of the group arrived by ship after the

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

in Algeria and Morocco had ended. The group then operated as part of

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

through April 1944, thereafter becoming a part of

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

, serving in combat in the Mediterranean until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It flew escort, patrol,

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

, and

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

missions to help defeat

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

forces in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. In

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, it attacked railroads, highways, bridges, coastal shipping and other targets to support the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

operations. Having converted to

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...

s in April and May 1944, the group escorted

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s that attacked objectives in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia. It received a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...

(DUC) for a mission on 9 June 1944 when the group protected bombers that struck aircraft factories, communications centers, and supply lines in Germany. 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. On 24 March 1945, the group's aircraft flew the longest escort mission ever flown in Europe—1600 miles round-trip to Berlin. By the end of the war, the group's Mustangs had adopted yellow markings that covered the entire tail of the aircraft, earning them the nickname of "Yellow Tails. The 52d returned to the US in August 1945 and was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

Cold War

German Occupation Force

The 52d was reactivated in Germany on 9 November 1946 and was assigned to

United States Air Forces Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

as the 52d Fighter Group (All Weather).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. Robertson, AFHRA Factsheet, 52 Operations Group. Retrieved 3 May 2012 It received

Northrop P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night fight ...

s in early 1947, From 1946 to 1947, the 52d served as part of the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

forces in Germany.

Air Defense Command

5th FAWS North American F-82F Twin Mustang 46-415

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 again flying P-61s and later

North American F-82 Twin Mustang The North American F-82 Twin Mustang is the last American piston-engined fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the North American P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter ...

s, receiving its first jets,

Lockheed F-94 Starfire The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was a first-generation jet powered all-weather, day/night interceptor of the United States Air Force. A twin-seat craft, it was developed from the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainer in the late 1940s. It reached ope ...

s beginning in 1950. In 1947, the Air Force began a service test of what was called the

Hobson Plan The Hobson Plan was an organizational structure established by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1948, following experimental organization in 1947. Known as the "Wing-Base Organization," it replaced the organization used by the United States A ...

Ravenstein, p. 10 to unify control at air bases. As a result of this test, the group was assigned to a provisional fighter wing at

Mitchel Air Force Base Mitchel Air Force Base also known as Mitchel Field, was a United States Air Force base located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, United States. Established in 1918 as Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2, the facility was renamed later ...

, New York. This test proved the wing-base plan to the satisfaction of the Air Force and in 1948 group was assigned as the operational element of the 52d Fighter Wing before moving with the wing to

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

, New Jersey. In a major reorganization of

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...

(ADC) responding to ADC's difficulty under the existing wing base organizational structure in deploying fighter squadrons to best advantage. the 52d was inactivated along with the 52nd Fighter-Interceptor Wing on 6 February 1952 and its two operational squadrons were transferred to the recently activated

4709th Defense Wing The 4709th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, where it was discontinued in 1956. It was ...

52d Fighter-Interceptor Group Lockheed F-94A-5-LO 49-2563

The 52d was redesignated the 52d Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated at

Suffolk County Air Force Base Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base is an air defense military installation located at civilian public-use Francis S. Gabreski Airport, located just north of Westhampton Beach, New York. It is currently the home base of the New York Ai ...

, New York 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. Because one of the additional objectives of Project Arrow was to reunite groups with their traditional squadrons, the 2d and 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons (FIS) moved to Suffolk County from McGuire and took over the personnel, equipment, and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

equipped and

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

armed North American F-86D Sabre aircraft of the 75th and 331st FIS, which moved elsewhere. It also became the USAF host organization for Suffolk County and was assigned several support units to fulfill this function.Cornett & Johnson, p. 136Cornett & Johnson, p. 145''See'' ''See'' The 2d FIS converted to F-102 Delta Daggers in January 1957, followed by the 5th FIS in April.Cornett & Johnson, p. 113 In December 1959, the 2d FIS began to fly

F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a ''p ...

s, while the 5th FIS retained its F-102s until moving to

Minot Air Force Base Minot Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation in Ward County, North Dakota, north of the city of Minot via U.S. Route 83. In the 2020 census, the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 5,017, down from 5,521 in 2 ...

, North Dakota two months later. The group served as an air defense unit in the New York/New Jersey area of the United States and also flew

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

missions until being inactivated in 1963 and replaced as the host unit at Suffolk County by the 52d Fighter Wing (Air Defense). 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.

Return to Germany

F-4G 81st TFS serviced at Spangdahlem 1990

The 52d was redesignated the 52d Tactical Fighter Group and activated at

Erding Air Base Erding Air Base (German: ''Fliegerhorst Erding'', ICAO: ETSE) is a German Air Force airfield near the town of Erding, about northeast of central Munich in Bavaria. It is the home of the 5th Air Defense Missile Squadron and the 1st Air Force M ...

, West Germany under

Seventeenth Air Force The Seventeenth Expeditionary Air Force (17 EAF) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force located at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The command served the United States Air Forces in Europe during (1953–1996) and AFAFRICA, United Sta ...

in 1971. The group provided administrative and logistical support as the USAF host unit at Erding for F-102 Delta Dagger

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

air defense operations, but had no tactical units assigned. In 1972 the F-102s were withdrawn from Europe and the 52d FG was inactivated.

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 for the 52 Fighter Wing's operational squadrons and the newly activated 52d Operations Support Squadron. 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 Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

and

Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, deploying combat and support elements in support of US and NATO missions. Although the group has also provided forces for

Operation Urgent Fury The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of mon ...

, Operation Coronet Macaw,

Operation Restore Hope The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...

, Operation Support Justice and

Operation Uphold Democracy Operation Uphold Democracy was a military intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The operation was effectively authorized by ...

, its forces were organized into provisional organizations, rather than remaining under group control for operations. A U

On 9 November 2012, the 52nd OG formed a detachment at

Łask Air Base 32nd Air Base ( pl, 32. Baza Lotnicza) is a Polish Air Force base, located in Łask, about 30 km south-west of Łódź. It is one of the two bases where Poland's F-16 fighters are stationed, the other being 31st Air Base. 9 of them wer ...

in Poland – 52nd OG Det 1. The

81st Fighter Squadron The 81st Fighter Squadron (81 FS) is a training squadron of the United States Air Force's Air Education and Training Command (AETC), stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. It is a Geographically Separate Unit of the 14th Operations Group, ...

was inactivated at Spangdahlem on 18 June 2013, leaving the

as the 52nd OG's sole flying unit.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 52d Pursuit Group (Interceptor) on 20 November 1940 : Activated on 16 January 1941 : Redesignated 52d Fighter Group on 15 May 1942 : Redesignated 52d Fighter Group, Single Engine ''ca''. 20 August 1943 : 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

* 6th Pursuit Wing, 16 January 1941 * I Interceptor (later, I Fighter) Command, 1 October 1941 * First Air Force, c. 15 June 1942 *

VIII Fighter Command The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command of fighter operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European Thea ...

(attached to

), 13 July 1942 * 6th Pursuit Wing, 18 August 1942 * XII Fighter Command, 14 September 1942 (attached to Tunis Fighter Sector, ''ca''. 19 January 1943) * XII Air Support Command, 18 February 1943 * North West African Coastal Air Force, 23 May 1943 * 1st Air Defense Wing, 19 August 1943 * 62d Fighter Wing, 1943 * 63d Fighter Wing, 16 November 1943 *

, 1 May 1944 * 306th Bombardment (later, 306th Fighter) Wing, 3 May 1944 * 305th Bombardment Wing, 13 June – August 1945 *

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...

, 22 August – 7 November 1945 * 64th Fighter Wing, 9 November 1946 * XII Tactical Air Command, 15 May 1947 * Air Defense Command, 25 June 1947 * First Air Force, 29 October 1947 * 104th Wing (Provisional), 26 December 1947 * 52d Fighter Wing, All-Weather (later, 52d Fighter-All Weather Wing 52d Fighter-Interceptor Wing), 9 June 1948 – 6 February 1952 *

4709th Air Defense Wing The 4709th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 26th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, where it was discontinued in 1956. It was ...

, 18 August 1955 * 4707th Air Defense Wing, 1 March 1956 * 4709th Air Defense Wing, 8 July 1956 * 4621st Air Defense Wing (later,

New York Air Defense Sector The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) is a United States Air Force unit of Air Combat Command (ACC), permanently assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). A joint, bi-national military organization, EADS is composed of US ...

), 1 October 1956 – 1 July 1963 * 35th Air Division, 30 September 1968 * 21st Air Division, 19 November – 31 December 1969 * Seventeenth Air Force, 1 April 1971 – 31 July 1972 * 52d Fighter Wing, 31 March 1992 – present

Components

Operational Squadrons * 2d Pursuit (later, 2d Fighter; 2d Fighter ll Weather 2d Fighter, All Weather; 2d Fighter-Interceptor) Squadron: 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) Squadron: 16 January 1941 – 7 November 1945 * 5th Pursuit (later, 5th Fighter; 5th Fighter ll Weather 5th Fighter, All Weather; 5th Fighter-Interceptor) Squadron: 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 *

: 31 March 1992 – 18 June 2013 * 98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: attached, c. 20 June – 1 July 1963 *

: 31 March 1992 – 1 April 1994, 13 August 2010 – present * 510th Fighter Squadron: 1 October 1992 – 1 February 1994 Support Organizations * 52d USAF Infirmary (later 52d USAF Dispensary), 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1963, 30 December 1968 – 31 December 1969 * 52d Air Base Squadron (later 52d Combat Support Squadron), 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1963, 30 December 1968 – 31 December 1969 * 52d Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 8 July 1957 – 1 July 1963, 30 December 1968 – 31 December 1969 * 52d Materiel Squadron, 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1963 * 52d Operations Support Squadron, 1 October 1992 – present * 52d Supply Squadron, 30 December 1968 – 31 December 1969 * 606th Air Control Squadron, 1 October 1993 – present * 7026th Combat Support Squadron, 1 April 1971 – 31 July 1972 * 29th Crash Rescue Boat Flight, 18 August 1955 - ''ca''. 8 September 1955

Stations

* Selfridge Field, Michigan, 16 January 1941 * Norfolk Airport, Virginia, 18 December 1941 * Selfridge Field, Michigan, 16 January 1942 * Florence Army Airfield, South Carolina, 18 February 1942 * Wilmington Airport, North Carolina, 27 April 1942 *

Grenier Field Grenier is a surname. It is a French word for ''attic, loft,'' or ''granary''. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Grenier * Angèle Grenier, Canadian maple syrup producer * Auguste Jean François Grenier (1814–1890), French docto ...

, New Hampshire, 14 – 24 June 1942 *

RAF Eglinton Royal Naval Air Station Eglinton or RNAS Eglinton was a Royal Naval Air Station located north east of Eglinton, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It opened as a Royal Air Force Station (RAF Eglinton) in 1941, before being transferred to th ...

(USAAF Station 344),Station numbers in Anderson Derry, Northern Ireland, 14 July 1942 *

RAF Goxhill Royal Air Force Goxhill or RAF Goxhill is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Goxhill, on the south bank of the Humber Estuary, opposite the city of Kingston upon Hull, in north Lincolnshire, England. Origins During the First World ...

(USAAF Station 345), England, 26 August – 22 October 1942 *

Tafaraoui Airfield Oran Tafaraoui Airport is a joint civil/military airport in Oran Province, Algeria . History During World War II, it was a primary mission objective of the United States Army 34th Infantry Division during the Allied Operation Torch landings on ...

, Algeria, 9 November 1942 *

La Senia Airfield Ahmed Ben Bella Airport ( ar, مطار أحمد بن بلة), formally Es-Sénia Airport is an airport located 4.7 nm (8.7 km) south of Oran (near Es Sénia), in Algeria. History During World War II, La Sénia Airport was first used by ...

, Oran, Algeria, 14 November 1942 *

Orleansville Airfield Orleansville Airfield was a World War II military airfield in Algeria, near Chlef, approximately 170 km southwest of Algiers. It was a temporary airfield constructed by Army Engineers using compacted earth for its runway, parking and dispe ...

, Algeria, 2 January 1943 * Telergma Airfield, Algeria, 20 January 1943 *

Youks-les-Bains Airfield Youks-les-Bains Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Algeria, located about 20 km northwest of Tebessa. The airfield today consists of several agricultural fields, with the faint remains of its main runway, parts of a taxiway and ...

, Algeria, 9 March 1943 *

Le Sers Airfield Le Sers Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, about 3 km of As Sars; 130 km southwest of Tunis. It was a temporary airfield constructed by Army Engineers using compacted earth for its runway, parking and ...

, Tunisia, 14 April 1943 *

La Sebala Airfield La Sebala Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Tunisia, which was located about 1 km north of Cebalat; 15 km north-northwest of Tunis. It was first used as an airfield and landing ground by the Luftwaffe in 1942 ...

, Tunisia, 21 May 1943 * Boccadifalco Airfield, Sicily, 30 July 1943 *

Borgo Airfield Borgo may refer to the following places: Finland * Borgå France * Borgo, Haute-Corse Italy * Borgo (rione of Rome), a ''rione'' in the City of Rome. *Borgo a Mozzano, in the province of Lucca *Borgo d'Ale, in the province of Vercelli *Borgo d ...

, Corsica, 1 December 1943 * Aghione Airfield, Corsica, 23 April 1944 *

Madna Airfield The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a radius of Foggia, in the Province of Foggia, Italy. The airfields were used by the United States Army Air Force Fifteenth Air Force as part of the strat ...

, Italy, 19 May 1944 * Piagiolino Airfield, Italy, 21 April 1945 * Lesina Airfield, Italy, 8 July – 10 August 1945 *

Drew Field Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. The ...

, Florida, 25 August – 7 November 1945 *

AAF Station Schweinfurt Schweinfurt Army Heliport was a military facility near Schweinfurt, that was part of U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt. History The facility's origins begin in 1936 as a Luftwaffe airfield, its primary mission being the home of light bomber (Dor ...

, Germany, 9 November 1946 * AAF Station Bad Kissingen, Germany, 5 May – 25 June 1947 * Mitchel Field (later Mitchel Air Force Base), New York, 25 June 1947 * McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 4 October 1949 – 6 February 1952 * Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York, 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1963; 30 September 1968 – 31 December 1969 : Detachment operated at Atlantic City Airport, New Jersey, 30 September 1968 – 31 December 1969 * Erding Air Base, West Germany, 1 April 1971 – 31 July 1972 * Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, 31 March 1992 – present : Detachment operated at

, Poland, 9 November 2012 – present

Awards and campaigns

Aircraft assigned

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

(1941–1942) *

(1942) *

(1942–1944) *

(1944–1945) *

(1947, 1947–1948) *

(1948–1952) *

(1950–1952) *

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...

(1955–1957) *

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a ''p ...

(1959–1963, 1968–1969) *

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpos ...

(1957–1960) * McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel V (1992–1994) * General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcon (1992–present) *

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republ ...

(1992–2013) * McDonnell Douglas F-15C/D Eagle, 1994–1999
Image:480th Fighter Squadron - Emblem.png, 480 FS Image:52d Operations Support Squadron.PNG, 52 OSS

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * 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 * * * Grant, C.L., (1961
The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, USAF Historical Study No. 126
* * * Newton, Wesley P., Jr. and Senning, Calvin F., (1963
USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II, USAF Historical Study No. 85
* * Further reading * * * Anonymous, (1958) ''History of the 52d Fighter Group''. Suffolk County Air Force Base, NY 52d Fighter Group, 1958. {{Navboxes , list = {{Aerospace Defense Command {{USAAF 12th Air Force World War II {{USAAF 15th Air Force World War II {{USAAF 1st Air Force World War II 052