Armed Forces Expeditionary. Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary. The 1st Operations Group is the oldest major air combat unit in the United States Air Force , being the successor organization of the 1st Pursuit Group.
It experienced significant combat as part of the Twelfth Air Force , moved to Italy, and became part of the fighter force of the Fifteenth Air Force. The 1st FG was equipped with the first operational U. Inactivated in , after 30 years the group was renamed the 1st Operations Group OG and activated on 1 October as a result of the 1st Fighter Wing implementing the USAF objective wing organization.
In , the 1st OG was the first operational combat unit to receive the FA Raptor , a fifth generation fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. The 1st OG directs the training and employment of two FA Raptor air dominance squadrons and an operations support squadron. The group's flying squadrons maintain 36 F air superiority fighter aircraft. In addition to carrying out local training requirements, the group deploys personnel and equipment on a regular basis to support air expeditionary operations worldwide as part of the Global War on Terrorism.
This made it difficult, however, to coordinate aerial activities. Some higher organization was required. The 94th and 95th Aero Squadrons had trained and traveled together since their organization on 20 August at Kelly Field , Texas. When the two squadrons boarded a train at Kelly Field on 20 September for the trip to Mineola, New York , they consisted entirely of the enlisted echelon that would form the squadron's ground support element.
Each unit completed training there in about three weeks and proceeded to Pier No. The two squadrons arrived at Liverpool on 10 November, spent about fourteen hours in a rest camp, boarded a steamer at Southampton , and sailed for France on 12 November. The 94th and 95th entered camp at Le Havre the next day, but their travels were not quite over. On 18 November the 94th moved to the 1st Aviation Training Center at Paris , where it divided into seven detachments that immediately began advanced maintenance training in the region's airframe and aero-engine plants.
