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 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 Air Force Base, 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 it was inactivated.

In 1955 the group was again activated in the reserve as the 446th Troop Carrier Group at Ellington Air Force Base, 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.

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:

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. Its original squadrons were the 704th, 705th, 706th, and 707th Bombardment Squadrons. 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.