The group was first activated duringWorld War II as the356th Fighter Group. After training in the United States, it deployed to England in the summer of 1943 as an element ofVIII Fighter Command. It engaged in combat operations until the spring of 1945, earning aDistinguished Unit Citation for its actions duringOperation Market Garden. AfterV-E Day, it returned to the United States for inactivation.
In May 1946, thegroup was allotted to theNational Guard as the118th Fighter Group, organizing at Berry Field the following year. In 1951, it converted to anaerial reconnaissance unit as the118th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and wascalled to active duty for theKorean War. It trained reconnaissance units until returning to theAir National Guard (ANG) in 1953. The group continued with the reconnaissance mission until 1961, when it became the118th Air Transport Group, anairlift unit. In 1975, it was inactivated when the ANG discontinued its operational groups located on the same bases as their parent wings. When the Air Force reorganized under the Objective Wing Model, the group was again activated as the118th Operations Group in 1993.
The group arrived atRAF Goxhill in late August 1943. After preparing for combat, it moved toRAF Martlesham Heath in October and entered combat on 15 October.[2][4] Through January 1944, it engaged primarily in missions escortingheavy bombers attacking industrial areas, missile sites, airfields andlines of communications. The 356th engaged primarily in bombing and strafing missions after late January 1944, with targets includingsubmarine pens, barges, shipyards, airfields,marshalling yards, locomotives, trucks, vehicles, oil facilities,flak towers, and radar stations.[2]
DuringOperation Market Garden, the group bombed and strafed in theArnhem area on 17, 18, and 23 September 1944 to neutralize enemyflak emplacements, reducing the danger for troop carriers resupplying the paratroopers. Lead elements acted as "flak bait" and once German defenses opened up would peel away so following elements could attack with guns and bombs. On the first day, this tactic successfully silenced nearly all the defenses.[5] The group received aDistinguished Unit Citation for this contribution to the airborne attack on the Netherlands.[2]
In November 1944, the group transitioned intoNorth American P-51 Mustangs.[2] In one of its first engagements using the Mustang, on 26 November, the group claimed 23 enemy aircraft destroyed for no losses.[6] In early 1945, group Mustangs clashed with GermanArado 234 jet aircraft.[7] The group flew its last combat mission on 7 May 1945, escortingBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses dropping propaganda leaflets.[4][8] The group claimed 201 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air and an additional 75 1/2 on the ground for the loss of 122 fighters.[4] The highest scoringace of the group was D.J. Strait of the 361st Squadron with 13 1/2 victories.[9] During its period in combat, the group suffered the highest rate of loss compared to its claims of enemy aircraft destroyed of any fighter group inEighth Air Force.[4]
The 356th remained in England afterV-E Day until November. In August and September, it transferred its planes to depots and most of its personnel were assigned to other units. The remainder of the group sailed aboard theRMS Queen Mary on 4 November 1945 forCamp Kilmer, New Jersey, where it was inactivated on 10 November 1945.[2][4]
The group was allotted to theNational Guard as the118th Fighter Group on 24 May 1946. It was organized on 1 September 1947 atBerry Field, Tennessee and federally recognized a month later. It was assigned the105th Fighter Squadron, which had been part of theTennessee National Guard in the inter-war years, along with two of its World War II squadrons, now numbered the 155th and 156th Fighter Squadrons. The 105th was stationed with group headquarters, while the 155th was located atMemphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, and the 156th atMorris Field, North Carolina.
In the fall of 1950, the Air National Guard reorganized to theWing Base Organization system, which placed operational and support organizations under a single wing. On 1 November, the group was redesignated the118th Composite Group and assigned to the newly-activated118th Composite Wing. Three months later, however both the wing and the group becamereconnaissance units, with the group redesignating as the118th Tactical Reconnaissance Group.[10]
In April 1961, the group's mission changed as it equipped withBoeing C-97 Stratofreighters, becoming the118th Air Transport Group.[10] Along with the change in mission came a change in organization. The 118th Group's operational squadrons were located on bases as “augmented squadrons” containing support elements needed to sustain operations. By the law at the time Guardsmen could only be activated as members of a mobilized unit. This meant that, even if only operational and maintenance elements were needed for mobilization, the entire “augmented squadron” had to be called to active duty, including unneeded administrative personnel. The response was to replace the “augmented squadron” with a group including functional squadrons that could be mobilized as a group, or individually.[12] This meant that while the group retained only its 105th Squadron as a flying element, it added an air base squadron, an aeromedical evacuation squadron and a dispensary.
In January 1966, the squadron was redesignated118th Military Airlift Group with no change in mission or aircraft. The following year, it replaced its Stratofreighters withDouglas C-124 Globemaster IIs. In 1971, its mission changed from strategic to tactical airlift as it became the118th Tactical Airlft Group and equipped with theLockheed C-130 Hercules.[10] In the 1970s, the Air National Guard decided that flying groups located on the same bases as their parent wings constituted an additional layer of management. In this elimination of operational groups, the 118th was inactivated on 26 February 1975 and its elements reassigned directly to the 118th Wing.
Nearly eighteen years later, on 1 January 1993, the group was again activated as the118th Operations Group, as the ANG implemented the Air Force's Objective Wing reorganization. Once again, the group's 105th Airlift Squadron was flying the C-130 Hercules, although the newer C-130H, rather than the C-130A it flew in 1975. In 2003, the group deployed most of its aircraft to Southwest Asia to supportOperation Iraqi Freedom.[10] In 2007, it exchanged its C-130Hs forLockheed WC-130s as its mission changed from airlift to international training.[13]
Following an announcement in 2012 that the group would lose its piloted aircraft mission, it converted to operating theGeneral Atomics MQ-9 Reaper.
^While assigned to the 118th Wing, the group uses the wing emblem with the group designation on the scroll. AF Instruction 84-105, Organizational Lineage, Honors and History, 27 April 2017, paragraph 3.3.3.
^Approved 5 January 1954. Description: On a blue oval with a yellow border an aerial camera supporting binoculars and a torch, the whole group winged, all yellow with flame proper and lenses blue and white, above the torch and between the tips of the wings three white stars.
^The group's pilots sailed separately,and a few of the group's Thunderbolts were ferried to England via theNorth Atlantic ferry route. Freeman, p. 251.
^Aircraft is Republic P-47D-6-RE Thunderbolt, QI-F, serial 42-74702,Clarkie of the 361st Fighter Squadron.Dirkx, Marco (13 May 2024)."1942 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher’s Serial Number List. Retrieved17 December 2025.
^Aircraft is North American P-51K-5-NT Mustang, serial 44-11564Princess Jocelyn of the 359th Fighter Squadron.Dirkx, Marco (18 August 2025)."1944 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher’s Serial Number List. Retrieved17 December 2025.
^Aircraft is Lockheed RF-80A-5-LO Shooting Star, serial 45-8371 of the 106th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Sent to theMilitary Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center (MASDC) on 23 April 1958.Dirkx, Marco (9 June 2025)."1945 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher’s Serial Number List. Retrieved19 December 2025.
^Aircraft is Republic RF-84F-10-RE Thunderflash, serial 51-1893 of the 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Sent to MASDC on 1 October 1970, sold for scrap on 26 January 1977.Dirkx, Marco (28 July 2025)."1951 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher’s Serial Number List. Retrieved19 December 2025.
^Aircraft is Lockheed C-130A-LM, serial 54-1640 of the 105th Tactical Airlift Squadron. Sent toFort Bragg as a ground trainer, then to MASDC on 23 April 1990.Dirkx, Marco (30 July 2025)."1954 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher’s Serial Number List. Retrieved19 December 2025.
^Freeman dates this assignment from 26 August 1943.
Citations
^No byline (6 February 2018)."356th Fighter Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved20 December 2025.
Freeman, Roger A. (1970).The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company.ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
United States
Tennessee
Air National Guard
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Tactical Air Command (TAC).jpg)
