World War II Training in the United States The
group was first activated at
Key Field, Mississippi as the
404th Bombardment Group (Dive) with the
620th,
621st,
622d Bombardment Squadron and 623d Bombardment Squadrons assigned. The group drew its initial
cadre from the
48th Bombardment Group, and was equipped with a mix of
Vultee A-35 Vengeance and
Douglas A-24 Banshee dive bombers and (briefly) Bell P-39 Airacobra
fighter-bombers. In July, the group moved to
Congaree Army Air Field, South Carolina, where, along with all other single engine dive bomber units of the
Army Air Forces, it reorganized in August, becoming the
405th Fighter-Bomber Group. Fighter groups were organized with three squadrons, rather than the four of bombardment groups, so the 623d Squadron was disbanded. Between November 1943 and January 1944, most of the aircrew assigned to the group were detached for training on fighter aircraft and replaced by fighter qualified pilots, many of whom had been serving as instructors in various fighter training units. On 22 March 1944, the group departed
Camp Shanks, New York for the European Theater on board the , arriving in
Liverpool on 3 April.
Combat in Europe Upon arrival in the
European Theater of Operations the group became part of
IX Fighter Command. The group's station in England was
RAF Winkton, an unimproved field, where it received 75
Republic P-47 Thunderbolts by 16 April. By 1 May, it was ready to fly its first combat mission, a fighter sweep over Normandy. Later in the month, it began to fly Noball missions, strikes on
V-1 flying bomb launching sites. For the rest of the month, the 404th helped prepare for
Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion by
bombing and
strafing targets in northern France. The group's squadrons provided top cover for
landings in Normandy on 6 and 7 June 1944. It was assigned to the Tenth Air Force of
Air Defense Command. The 137th Fighter Group was assigned the
185th Fighter Squadron at Westheimer, the
125th Fighter Squadron at
Tulsa Municipal Airport and the
127th Fighter Squadron at
Wichita Municipal Airport, Kansas as its operational units, all equipped with
North American F-51D Mustang fighters. The Group's mission was
air defense. In April 1949, a tornado struck the Westheimer. The damage was considered too extensive for economical repair and the decision was made to move the 137th Fighter Group and its 185th Fighter Squadron to
Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City in an area used as an
Army Air Forces station during World War II. The move was accomplished on 6 September 1949. However, it was August 1951 before France gave permission to establish an "interim tent camp" at Chaumont, which had runways built in 1944 and a limited parking area. By 27 November, the group's squadrons assembled at
Alexandria Air Force Base, Louisiana, for conversion training in newer F-84G Thunderjets. The need to transfer pilots and support personnel to Korea and delays in deliveries of the group's F-84Gs required the complete training cycle to be repeated twice and the group did not complete its transition to the G model of the Thunderject until February 1952. While at Alexandria, the group's pilots participated in USAF Project 7109, which sent them temporarily to
Far East Air Forces, where they acquired actual combat experience before returning to the States. Due to the delays, most of the activated National Guard airmen remained behind when the group deployed to Europs and were released from active duty without shipping overseas. With mostly regular Air Force personnel and all the delays behind them, the group's planes departed Louisiana on 5 May 1952 for Europe. The air echelon ferried brand new F-84Gs across the Atlantic. The ground echelon sailed from
New Orleans on the on 13 May. The 137th's aircraft diverted at the last moment to
Landstuhl Air Base and
Neubiberg Air Base in West Germany arriving on 13 May. The official explanation for this change was that repairs to the Chaumont runway were needed, but the F-84G was capable of carrying
nuclear weapons, which were opposed by some French political parties and it was not until 25 June that the French government permitted the group to move to Chaumont. It was first USAF fighter group to be based permanently in France (and the only F-84G unit). The 137th ended its active-duty tour in France two weeks later in July 1952
Fighter-Interceptor mission Reforming after their active duty service, the group was reformed with both the 125th and 185th squadrons being released from Federal Service and being reassigned by 1 January 1953. The 137th was gained by
Tactical Air Command (TAC), and the squadrons were again equipped with Mustangs again, due to the shortage of jet aircraft in the United States (almost all were in Korea). In the spring of 1953 they received reworked F-80A Shooting Star aircraft, brought up to F-80C standards. The C-97s were retired in February 1968 replaced by
Douglas C-124C Globemaster II transports. From October 2008 until 2015, 137th Group aircrews jointly operated the
Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft at Tinker with the aircrews of the Air Force Reserve
465th Air Refueling Squadron. The 137th Air Refueling Wing is planned to transition from
Air Mobility Command claimancy as a KC-135R unit at
Tinker Air Force Base, to
Air Force Special Operations Command flying the
MC-12W Liberty surveillance variant of the
Beechcraft C-12 Huron, returning flight operations to
Will Rogers Air National Guard Base at
Will Rogers World Airport. The wing was planned to be renamed the
137th Special Operations Wing. ==Lineage==