85th Fighter Group


The 85th Fighter Group is an active United States Air Force organization, stationed at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Arkansas, as an active associate of the 188th Wing, Arkansas Air National Guard. It serves as a training unit for countries using the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.
The first predecessor of the group was organized in 1942 as the 85th Bombardment Group. It served as a training unit and participated in military exercises until it was disbanded in a general reorganization of Army Air Forces units in the spring of 1944.
The second predecessor of the group was organized in 1952 as the Iceland Air Defense Force. Except for a brief period in the early 1980s, it served as the United States' air defense headquarters in Iceland until inactivating in 2006.

Mission

The group trains pilots from other nations on Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales program.

History

World War II

The earliest predecessor of the 85th Group was formed during World War II as the 85th Bombardment Group, a dive bomber unit equipped with Vultee V-72 Vengeance single-engine attack aircraft. The group's original squadrons were the 305th, 306th, 307th, and 308th Bombardment Squadrons. It moved to Bowman Field, Kentucky to train for close air support and received its first aircraft there. It converted to Douglas A-24 Banshee dive bombers in August 1942 and was reassigned to Fourth Air Force in California, taking part in training maneuvers at the Desert Training Center with Army ground units programmed for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. It continued to participate in maneuvers in California during fall and winter of 1942–1943.
The 85th returned to Third Air Force in Louisiana and re-equipped with North American A-36 Apache attack aircraft in early 1943, moving briefly to Kentucky for maneuvers. The group then moved to Georgia with Curtiss P-40 Warhawk single-engine fighter aircraft in early 1944 as a Replacement Training Unit for fighter-bomber pilots. RTUs were oversized units designed to train replacement aircrew for assignment overseas. In late 1943, it assumed a split operation as its 500th Fighter-Bomber Squadron moved to Harris Neck Army Air Field, Georgia and its 502d FBS moved to Punta Gorda Army Air Field, Florida, while the group and remaining squadrons remained at Waycross Army Air Field. It received a few Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in March 1944. It served as a RTU until it disbanded in early in 1944, when like most RTUs and Operational Training Units its personnel, equipment, and training activities at Waycross were handed over to the 345th AAF Base Unit. Those at Punta Gorda became the duty of the 344th AAF Base Unit and at Harris Neck of the 346th AAF Base Unit. This reorganization occurred because the AAF found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.

Cold War

The second predecessor of the 85th Group was the Iceland Air Defence Force, which replaced the Iceland Base Command, which had been the headquarters for Army units stationed in Iceland since 1942 and was assigned to Military Air Transport Service. Between 1952 and 1961, provided air defense for Iceland, operated Keflavik Airport, and furnished base support for all Department of Defense activities in Iceland. Fighters assigned to the unit routinely intercepted Soviet Naval Aviation aircraft flying in the Iceland area. It performed its defense mission under North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the Air Force component of NATO's Iceland Defense Force. It was supervised on the U.S. side by United States Atlantic Command, later United States Joint Forces Command. Keflavik Airport was transferred to the United States Navy on 30 June 1961, along with base support activities.
Air Forces Iceland continued the air defense mission of Iceland as a tenant organization after the Keflavik airfield became Naval Air Station Keflavik. it was transferred from MATS to Air Defense Command in 1962; Tactical Air Command in 1978 and Air Combat Command in 1992 until it was inactivated in 1993 and replaced by the 35th Wing. In 1994, it was consolidated with the 85th Tactical Fighter Training Wing and activated to replace the 35th Wing to serve again as the headquarters for Air Force units in Iceland, as the 85th Wing. It assumed the operational management of fighter and tanker aircraft deployed to Iceland to protect the nation's airspace. It defended U.S. national interests in the North Atlantic. In 2003, its 56th Rescue Squadron deployed to Liberia as part of Joint Task Force Liberia. It provided a U.S. presence over the capital of Monrovia towards the end of the Second Liberian Civil War and saved lives by extracting people from the United States Embassy in Monrovia.
Reactivated in 1952, the 85th Group was an independent group comprising seven squadrons and 13 staff agencies, with more than 1300 people assigned. Operationally, the group was assigned to the Iceland Defense Force as part of Island Command Iceland.
As the "Guardians of the North," the 85th Group was responsible for deterring aggression in the North Atlantic, protecting Iceland's airspace. This was accomplished through surveillance, air superiority and the use of rescue assets. The 85th Group was responsible for deterring aggression in the North Atlantic and protecting Iceland's airspace. It also supported contingency operations through surveillance, air superiority and rescue forces.
Air Force reductions and a new agreement with the Government of Iceland continued to affect Keflavik organizations. On 1 March 1995, the 57th Fighter Squadron was inactivated and the interceptor force was replaced by Regular Air Force and Air National Guard F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft rotating every 90 days to Iceland. The 85th Wing was reduced to a Group level in 1995 and supported rotational deployments. In 2002 jurisdiction of Air Force units in Iceland was transferred to the United States Air Forces in Europe.
The 85th Group continued to support rotational deployments until it was inactivated on 28 June 2006, as a result of the Air Force reduction in forces in Iceland. All rotational fighters left and the 56th Rescue Squadron ceased operation at the end of the fiscal year.

Foreign pilot training

The group was redesignated the 85th Fighter Group and activated at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Arkansas on 2 July 2024, drawing its resources from Detachment 1, 33rd Fighter Wing, which was discontinued. Detachment 1 had been established in 2023, when Ebbing was selected as the site for Foreign Military Sales associated training on the F-35 Lightning II and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Its initial mission was to establish the tasks required to prepare for flight operations. In May 2025, the group reached initial operational capability, graduating its first class, pilots from the Polish Air Force.

Lineage

; 85th Fighter-Bomber Group
  • Constituted as the 85th Bombardment Group on 13 January 1942
; Air Forces Iceland

Operational Components

Divisions
Groups
  • 85th Operations Group, 1 October 1994 – 1 July 1995
  • 1400th Operations Group, 18 December 1955 – 1 July 1960
Squadrons
Groups
  • 85th Support Group, 1 October 1994 – 1 July 1995
  • 1400th Air Base Group, 1 April 1952 – 1 July 1960
  • 1400th Maintenance & Supply Group, 1 May 1959 – 1 July 1960
  • 1400th USAF Hospital, 1 July 1960 – 1 October 1961
Squadrons
  • 85th Civil Engineering Squadron, 1 July 1985 – 28 June 2006
  • 85th Logistics Squadron, 1 July 1985 – c. 30 September 2002
  • 85th Mission Support Squadron, 1 July 1985 – 28 June 2006
  • 85th Security Police Squadron, 1 July 1985 – 28 June 2006
  • 1400th Air Base Squadron, 1 July 1960 – 1 October 1961
  • 1400th Civil Engineering Squadron, 1 July 1960 – 1 October 1961
  • 1400th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 1 July 1960 – 1 July 1961
  • 1400th Supply Squadron, 1 July 1960 – 1 October 1961
  • 1400th Support Squadron, 1 July 1960 – 1 July 1962
  • 1400th Transportation Squadron, 1 July 1960 – 1 October 1961
  • 4557th Security Police Squadron, c. 1985 – 31 May 1993
  • 4557th Supply Squadron, 1 March 1987 – 31 May 1993