509th Operations Group

The 509th Operations Group (509 OG) is the flying component of the United States Air Force 509th Bomb Wing, stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It is equipped with all 20 of the USAF's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, flown by its 393rd Bomb Squadron. Its 13th Bomb Squadron, the training unit for the 509th, provides training in Northrop T-38 Talon trainers as well as in the 393rd's B-2 Spirits.

The 509 OG traces its history to the World War II 509th Composite Group, which conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945.

Redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy in 1946, the group was one of the original ten bombardment groups of Strategic Air Command. The unit was also the host organization at Roswell Army Airfield, New Mexico in July 1947 during the alleged Roswell incident.

The 509th Bombardment Group was inactivated in 1952. In 1993, the unit was reactivated as the 509 OG, as part of the Objective Wing organization implementation of the 509th Bomb Wing.

The 509th OG consists of three component squadrons:

In addition to its official insignia, during B-2 stealth bomber test flights, some members of the 509th Bomb Wing procured an unofficial insignia involving an alien, the legend To Serve Man (referring to a famous Twilight Zone episode), and the inscription Gustatus Similis Pullus (Dog Latin for "Tastes like chicken").

A second variation carried the term "Classified Test Flight" instead of the Twilight Zone reference, and both harkened to the 509th's connection to the "Roswell incident".

The historical roots of the 509th OG begin on 17 December 1944 when the 509th Composite Group was formed at Wendover Field, Utah under Second Air Force. The 509th was formed with one mission in mind: to drop the Atomic Bomb.