33rd Operations Group


The 33d Operations Group is the flying component of the 33d Fighter Wing, assigned to Air Education and Training Command of the United States Air Force. The group is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The group was first activated in January 1941 as the 33d Pursuit Group and began training in fighter operations at Mitchel Field, New York. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor the group moved to Philadelphia, where it assumed an air defense role while training for combat. After being redesignated the 33d Fighter Group, it moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in November 1942 as part of Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, flying its planes to its first base in Morocco from the aircraft carrier USS Chenango of the United States Navy. The group served in North Africa and Italy until February 1944, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation in January 1943 for its defense of its base from attacks by German and Italian aircraft.
In 1944, the group departed Italy for the China-Burma-India Theater, leaving its Curtiss P-40 Warhawks behind for Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. It continued combat operations until the surrender of Japan. In November 1945, it returned to the United States and was inactivated when it arrived at the Army's port of embarkation.
The group was activated as part of the Occupation Forces at Neubiberg Air Base, Germany, where it took over the personnel and equipment of the 357th Fighter Group, which was inactivated and transferred to the National Guard. In July 1947, its personnel became the cadre for the 86th Composite Group, while the group made two moves without personnel or equipment before arriving at Roswell Army Air Field, where it equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs and became part of the fledgling Strategic Air Command. A year later, it received its first jet aircraft, the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. In 1948. the group moved to Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, where it assumed an air defense role, first under Continental Air Command, then under Air Defense Command as the 33d Fighter-Interceptor Group. It was inactivated in February 1952 when ADC reorganized its forces on a geographic basis.
ADC activated the group, once more the 33d Fighter Group, at Otis in August 1955 as part of Project Arrow, a program to replace ADC's Air Defense Groups with fighter groups with distinguished combat records in World War II. As Otis expanded to add the airborne early warning and control mission the following year, the group's support units were transferred to the newly reactivated 33d Fighter Wing. In 1957, the group and wing were inactivated and the group's flying squadrons were transferred to the Boston Air Defense Sector
As the United States Air Force implemented the Objective wing reorganization in 1991, the 33d, now designated the 33d Operations Group, was activated to command the 33d Fighter Wing's operational units. It flew the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle until 2009, when it began the transition to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Overview

From its reactivation in December 1991, as part of the 33d Fighter Wing, the 33d Operations Group has deployed aircraft and personnel to Saudi Arabia, Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Jamaica, Iceland, Italy, and Puerto Rico and participated in Operation Southern Watch, Operation Coronet Macaw; Operation Restore Hope, Operation Support Justice III and IV, and Operation Uphold Democracy.
These deployments included combat as well as assistance in the United States war on drugs. The 33d lost members of three of its squadrons in the Khobar Towers bombing, Saudi Arabia on 25 June 1996.

Mission

The mission of the group is to train Air Force and international partner pilots and maintainers of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Units

The 33d Group has four squadrons assigned:

World War II

The 33d Fighter Group was activated early in 1941 as the 33d Pursuit Group with the 58th, 59th, and 60th Pursuit Squadrons assigned. It trained with Bell P-39 Airacobras in 1941, but soon changed to Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and served as part of the United States defense force for the east coast after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Its 58th and 59th squadrons were based on the West Coast in May and June 1942 to provide additional air defense there.
The group was requested as air support for the Western Task Force of Operation Torch and assigned on 19 September 1942. Its 77 P-40Es moved from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to North Africa on the deck of the as part of the invasion force on 8 November 1942. Pilots had been given brief training at Philadelphia in carrier launches but the Navy had serious misgivings about the aircraft's ability to withstand the strain and the pilot's ability to launch by catapult from the escort carrier. With securing of the Port Lyautey airfield on 10 November the launch from Chenango began and was successful but the airfield's runways were so damaged that the launch was discontinued and not completed until two days later. Two of the 77 aircraft were lost to a crash and vanishing in a fog with 17 damaged in landing with none getting into action. The 35 planes of the group following on D+5 aboard the British carrier also were launched to land at the Port Lyautey airfield and suffered four loses on landing due to pilot inexperience.
Meanwhile, the group's ground echelon sailed for Morocco aboard the . Shortly after the squadron's arrival in North Africa, a provisional "J Squadron" was organized, commanded by Lt. Col. Philip Cochran, at Rabat. The squadron was organized to provide an advanced replacement center for aircraft and pilots. On 6 December, the 58th squadron moved forward to Thelepte Airfield, where it became the first American air unit stationed in Tunisia.
The unit operated with Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean theater until February 1944, providing close air support for ground forces, and bombing and strafing personnel concentrations, port installations, fuel dumps, bridges, highways, and rail lines. The 33d received a Distinguished Unit Citation for action on 15 January 1943 when nine German Junkers Ju 88 bombers escorted by four Italian Macchi C.202 fighters attempted to knock out the group's base at Thelepte. Group airplanes on combat air patrol drove off the escorting fighters. Other group planes took off while the field was being bombed. The group destroyed eight of the attackers, and the ninth was shot down by antiaircraft fire.
In May 1943 the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first AAF unit to enter combat with black personnel, was attached to the group, and again from August to October 1943. It took part in the reduction of Pantelleria and flew patrol missions while Allied troops landed after surrender of the enemy's garrison. It also participated in the invasion and conquest of Sicily by supporting landings at Salerno. The group supported additional landings in southern Italy, and the beachhead at Anzio.
After moving to India in February 1944, the group trained with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. It then moved to China where it continued training and flew patrol and intercept missions. Upon returning to India in September 1944, it flew dive bombing and strafing missions in Burma until the Allied campaigns in that area had been completed.
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Occupation forces

In August 1946, the 33d Fighter Group took over the personnel and equipment of the 357th Fighter Group at Neubiberg Air Base and began service as part of the United States occupation force in Germany, initially operating North American P-51 Mustangs. The 357th was inactivated and transferred to the National Guard. In July 1947, the 33d's personnel became the cadre for the 86th Composite Group, while the group made two moves without personnel or equipment to Bad Kissingen Airfield, Germany and Andrews Field, Maryland.

Cold War

The group was organized as an operational unit at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico on 16 August 1947, where it again equipped with Mustangs and became part of Eighth Air Force of Strategic Air Command. At Roswell, the group participated in the experimental Wing Base organization, which was intended to unify control at air bases under a single wing. As a result, the group was assigned to the 33d Fighter Wing. The test proved successful, and the wing-base plan was adopted by the Air Force.
A year later, in June 1948, it received its first jet aircraft, the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. The group was the second in the Air Force to fly the F-84C model of the Thunderjet. A few months later the group moved to Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, where it assumed an air defense role, first under Continental Air Command, then under Air Defense Command as the 33d Fighter-Interceptor Group.
There it trained to maintain tactical proficiency and participated in exercises and aerial demonstrations. In February 1949, the group transitioned to North American F-86A Sabres. By December the group had completed its transition to Sabres and assumed an air defense mission, providing air defense in the northeastern US. Toward the end of 1949, ADC was inactivated and the group and its parent wing became elements of Continental Air Command. In December 1950 ADC was reactivated, and the group, which since spring had been designated as the 33d Fighter-Interceptor Group rejoined the command. Because of ADC's need to expand its coverage, the group dispersed the 60th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron to Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts in August 1950. The group was inactivated in February 1952 along with the 33d Fighter Wing in a major reorganization of ADC responding to ADC's difficulty under the existing wing base organizational structure in deploying fighter squadrons to best advantage. Fighter-interceptor groups and wings were replaced by regionally organized air defense wings.
The 564th Air Base Group was activated on 1 February 1952 to replace the support elements of the 33d Fighter-Interceptor Wing. The group became the 564th Air Defense Group in February 1953 when it assumed control of fighter-interceptor squadrons at Otis. The unit was replaced by the reactivated 33d Fighter Group as part of ADC's "Project Arrow", which reactivated fighter units that had achieved distinction in the two world wars.
The 33d Fighter Group was assigned to ADC's 4707th Air Defense Wing, and in 1956 reunited with the 33d Fighter Wing. Again, it provided air defense in northeastern US flying the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. It was also the host organization for USAF units until 1956, and was assigned several support organizations to fulfill this function. when the 33d Fighter Wing was activated and the group was assigned to it once again, along with the support units assigned to the group. The group was inactivated on 18 August 1957 and replaced by 4735th Air Defense Group when the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing assumed host responsibilities for Otis from the 33d Fighter-Interceptor Wing.