World War II The group was constituted as the 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 15 February 1943, and equipped with the
B-17 Flying Fortress. It was activated 1 March 1943 at
Ephrata Army Air Base, Wash., with the
600th,
601st,
602d, and
603d Bombardment Squadrons. The Group assembled at
Blythe Army Air Field, California, and then moved to
Geiger Field, Washington, on 20 April 1943 to complete training. On 20 June 1943 moved to
Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, to take up
Replacement Training Unit duties. Trained 326 B-17 crews from August to December 1943 but at the beginning of the New Year reverted to training for combat. Ground echelon began movement overseas on 4 April 1944. The unit moved to
Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, on 7–12 April 1944. Personnel embarked on
USS Wakefield. Sailed to Boston on 13 April, and arrived in Liverpool on 21 April 1944. Moved to England in April 1944 and became part of
Eighth Air Force. The 398th entered combat in May 1944, and until
V-E Day operated primarily against strategic objectives in Germany, attacking targets such as factories in Berlin, warehouses in
Munich, marshalling yards in
Saarbrücken, shipping facilities in
Kiel, oil refineries in
Merseburg, and aircraft plants in
Münster. The group temporarily suspended strategic missions to attack coastal defenses and enemy troops on the
Cotentin Peninsula during the
Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. The group struck gun positions near
Eindhoven in support of the
air attack on Holland in September 1944, and raided power stations, railroads, and bridges during the
Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945. The group flew missions attacking airfields to aid the
Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945. The 398th flew its last combat mission, attacking an airfield in
Plzeň, Czechoslovakia, on 25 April 1945. After
V-E Day the group transported liberated prisoners from Germany to France. From Nuthampstead, the 398th Bomb Group flew 195 combat missions. Redeployed USA in May/June 1945. The aircraft left on 21–27 May 1945. The Ground unit went to
Greenock on 22 June 1945 and sailed on arriving in New York on 29 June 1945. After 30 days R & R some personnel assembled at
Drew Field, Florida, where the Group was inactivated on 1 September 1945.
Post Cold War , 14 August 2003. The 398th was redesignated as the
398th Operations Group and activated 1 June 1992. Reactivated in 1992 as
398th Operations Group. Assigned first to
340th Air Refueling Wing, later to
97th Air Mobility Wing as a KC-135 air refueling group. From 1 June 1992 – 31 March 1995 the
93d Air Refueling Squadron was part of the group. The 398th was inactivated on 31 March 1995. During
Operation Iraqi Freedom the title 398th Air Expeditionary Group was given to a collection of units and personnel operating from
Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece. Colonel
Marcelyn A. Atwood commanded the group. Later in 2003, the unit participated in
Operation Shining Express in Liberia, a rescue operation directed by the
United States European Command to evacuate civilians from parts of Liberia affected by the
Second Liberian Civil War. Among the groups contributions was delivering a
United States Marine Corps security forces team. From 23 March and 10 April 2008, the 398th with the
712th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron was deployed to the
Budapest International Airport, assigned to the
323d Air Expeditionary Wing. It provided air refueling missions to fighters in support of Operation Noble Endeavor during the
2008 Bucharest summit. ==Lineage==