459th Operations Group
military unit
The 459th Operations Group is a reserve component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 459th Air Refueling Wing, Fourth Air Force of Air Force Reserve Command, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. If mobilized, the Wing is gained by Air Mobility Command.
The group's mission is to recruit, train and equip its citizen airmen to fly and maintain the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker to help the Air Force protect its interests in air and space power. It consists of the 756th Air Refueling Squadron, 459th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, and the 459th Operations Support Flight.
History
World War II
The group was first activated as the 459th Bombardment Group on 1 July 1943 at Alamogordo Army Air Field, along with its component 756th, 757th, 758th, and 759th Bombardment Squadrons. The group trained with Consolidated B-24 Liberators under Second Air Force Until October, when it moved to Westover Field, Massachusetts. The group flew long-range convoy escort missions over area between the Newfoundland Banks and Long Island Sound in November and December 1943 while Giulia Airfield, its station in Italy, was being constructed. In January 1944, the group began its overseas movement.
The 459th Group arrived in Italy in February 1944 and began flying combat missions in March.
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This entry incorporates text from “459th Operations Group” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.