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56th Operations Group
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56th Operations Group
The 56th Operations Group is a unit of the United States Air Force, and the flying component of the 56th Fighter Wing.
The group is the direct descendant of the World War II 56th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The 56th Fighter Group is credited by the Air Force Historical Research Agency with the destruction of 665.5 aircraft in air-to-air combat, the 56th Fighter Group had more air-to-air kills than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force, was the top-scoring Republic P-47 Thunderbolt group during World War II, and recorded the second-highest number of air-to-air kills of any USAAF fighter group. The 56th also claimed 311 fighters destroyed on the ground.
The 56th Operations Group is the second largest Operations Group in the United States Air Force with 13 separate reporting organizations (second only to the 55th Operations Group in Offutt Air Force Base, NE).
In fiscal year 2006, the 56th Operations Group flew 37,000 sorties and 50,000 hours while graduating 484 F-16 students. With huge spaces in the western Arizona desert and clear weather skies for most of the year, Luke AFB and its ranges have been an important training asset for the United States Air Force for many years. This is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.
Aircraft assigned to the 56 OG are tail coded "LF", for "Luke Field".
The mission of the 56 OG is to train Air Battle Managers, command and control operators, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-35A Lightning II fighter pilots.
(Except where noted, this material prior to 1958 is extracted from Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2021. ).
The group was activated as the 56th Pursuit Group on 15 January 1941 at the Savannah Army Air Base in Georgia. Expansion of the group began after the move to Charlotte Army Air Base, North Carolina in May 1941 when they were equipped with a small number of Bell P-39 Airacobra and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft. Intensive training at Charleston Municipal Airport, South Carolina in Dec 1941 and from January to June 1942 at airfields in New York, at area headquarters at Mitchel Field. Here they flew on air defense patrols. Selected to train with the new Republic P-47B Thunderbolt, they received the first aircraft in June 1942. The group then moved to Bridgeport Municipal Airport, Connecticut on 7 July 1942 and continued testing and training with early P-47s. Alerted for overseas duty in December 1942 they sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 6 January 1943 and arrived in Gourock on 11 January 1943.The 56th PG was assigned three fighter squadrons:
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56th Operations Group
The 56th Operations Group is a unit of the United States Air Force, and the flying component of the 56th Fighter Wing.
The group is the direct descendant of the World War II 56th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces. The 56th Fighter Group is credited by the Air Force Historical Research Agency with the destruction of 665.5 aircraft in air-to-air combat, the 56th Fighter Group had more air-to-air kills than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force, was the top-scoring Republic P-47 Thunderbolt group during World War II, and recorded the second-highest number of air-to-air kills of any USAAF fighter group. The 56th also claimed 311 fighters destroyed on the ground.
The 56th Operations Group is the second largest Operations Group in the United States Air Force with 13 separate reporting organizations (second only to the 55th Operations Group in Offutt Air Force Base, NE).
In fiscal year 2006, the 56th Operations Group flew 37,000 sorties and 50,000 hours while graduating 484 F-16 students. With huge spaces in the western Arizona desert and clear weather skies for most of the year, Luke AFB and its ranges have been an important training asset for the United States Air Force for many years. This is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.
Aircraft assigned to the 56 OG are tail coded "LF", for "Luke Field".
The mission of the 56 OG is to train Air Battle Managers, command and control operators, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-35A Lightning II fighter pilots.
(Except where noted, this material prior to 1958 is extracted from Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2021. ).
The group was activated as the 56th Pursuit Group on 15 January 1941 at the Savannah Army Air Base in Georgia. Expansion of the group began after the move to Charlotte Army Air Base, North Carolina in May 1941 when they were equipped with a small number of Bell P-39 Airacobra and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk aircraft. Intensive training at Charleston Municipal Airport, South Carolina in Dec 1941 and from January to June 1942 at airfields in New York, at area headquarters at Mitchel Field. Here they flew on air defense patrols. Selected to train with the new Republic P-47B Thunderbolt, they received the first aircraft in June 1942. The group then moved to Bridgeport Municipal Airport, Connecticut on 7 July 1942 and continued testing and training with early P-47s. Alerted for overseas duty in December 1942 they sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 6 January 1943 and arrived in Gourock on 11 January 1943.The 56th PG was assigned three fighter squadrons:
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