446th Operations Group

The 446th Operations Group was activated at McChord Air Force Base on 1 August 1992 under the United States Air Force Objective Wing organizational model. The operational squadrons of the 446th Airlift Wing were reassigned to the newly established group and an operational support squadron was activated along with the group. Since 1992, the group has flown channel, special assignment, and humanitarian airlift missions worldwide and taken part in joint and combined exercises, both within the United States and abroad. The group is an associate of the regular 62d Operations Group and the units fly the same aircraft, which carry the emblems of their parent wings. The group flew the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter until it was phased out in 2002, but began transitioning into the McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III in 1999. The 446th Operations Group manages the aircrew and flight operations of the 446th Airlift Wing. The group is made up of five squadrons: • 97th Airlift Squadron (C-17 Globemaster III) • 313th Airlift Squadron (C-17 Globemaster III) • 728th Airlift Squadron (C-17 Globemaster III) • 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron • 446th Operations Support Squadron ==History==

World War II Training for combat The group was first activated on 1 April 1943 at Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona as the 446th Bombardment Group with an initial cadre drawn from the 39th Bombardment Group. Its original squadrons were the 704th, 705th, 706th, and 707th Bombardment Squadrons. The cadre departed for Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics, where they flew simulated combat missions from Montbrook Army Air Field. The ground echelon left Lowry on 18 October 1943 for Camp Shanks, New York and embarked on the , sailing on 27 October 1943 and arrived in Greenock on the Firth of Clyde on 2 November 1943. The aircraft left Lowry on 20 October 1943 for staging at Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska. The aircrews ferried their planes under the control of Air Transport Command via the southern route from Florida through Puerto Rico, Brazil, Senegal, and Morocco to England. The 446th was the first Army Air Forces group to complete the Transatlantic hop from Brazil to Africa without the installation of additional bomb bay fuel tanks. Combat in the European theater The 446th suffered its first combat loss even before arriving in England when the aircraft commanded by 2nd Lt. Samuel E. Fowlkes strayed from the planned route and flew too close to the Brest Peninsula, where it was attacked by Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and Junkers Ju 88 fighters and anti-aircraft fire from the Luftwaffe and was shot down. The remainder of the group safely arrived at its new base at RAF Flixton in the east of England. The group arrived at its combat station, RAF Flixton in early November 1943 and flew its first mission on 16 December 1943 against shipping facilities in Bremen, Germany, losing one airplane that crashed just short of the field due to fuel exhaustion. The group operated chiefly against strategic objectives. Its targets included Its targets included ball bearing factories at Berlin, marshalling yards at Koblenz, submarine pens at Kiel, aircraft plants at Munich, port facilities at Ludwigshafen and aircraft engine manufacturing plants at Rostock. The group was occasionally diverted from strategic missions to carry out air support and interdiction missions. It supported Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by attacking transportation targets, including bridges, along with airfields and strong points in France. After V-E Day, the 446th flew transport missions to France, sometimes landing at fields that had been targets the previous year. It also flew "Trolley" missions, transporting support personnel for "sightseeing" trips over Germany to view the results of their efforts. The group began to redeploy to the US in June 1945. The first aircraft of the air echelon departed the United Kingdom in mid-June 1945 flying the northern route via Iceland. One aircraft was lost over the Azores on the return flight. The ground echelon sailed from Greenock on the Queen Mary on 6 July 1945 and arrived in New York on 11 July 1945. Personnel were given 30 days leave. The ground and air echelons reassembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in late July. Its personnel were transferred to other Second Air Force units or demobilized and the Group was inactivated on 28 August 1945. Reserve operations Corollary unit The group was reactivated in March 1948 at Carswell AFB near Fort Worth, Texas, along with the 704th 705th and 706th squadrons, although the 706th was located across the state at Biggs Air Force Base near El Paso. However, the Air Force desired that all reserve units be designed to augment the regular forces in the event of a national emergency. The six reserve pilot training wings, including the 8706th Pilot Training Wing at Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, however, had no mobilization mission. On 18 May 1955, the 8706th Wing was replaced by the 446th Troop Carrier Wing. The group was reactivated as the 446th Troop Carrier Group, along with the 704th and 705th Troop Carrier Squadrons and initially equipped with Curtiss C-46 Commandos. and in 1959 the 706th was activated again, this time at Barksdale Air Force Base. In 1992, Air Force Reserve Command reorganized its flying wings under the Objective Wing system, and in August, the group was reactivated at McChord Air Force Base, Washington as the 446th Operations Group, a reserve associate of the 62d Operations Group. ==Lineage==

• Established as the 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 20 March 1943 : Activated on 1 April 1943 : Redesignated 446th Bombardment Group, Heavy on 20 August 1943 : Inactivated on 28 August 1945 • Redesignated 446th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 26 September 1947 : Activated in the reserve on 26 March 1948 : Redesignated 446th Bombardment Group, Heavy on 27 June 1949 : Ordered to Active Duty on 1 May 1951 : Inactivated on 25 June 1951 • Redesignated 446th Troop Carrier Group, Medium on 11 April 1955 : Activated in the reserve on 25 May 1955 : Inactivated on 14 April 1959 • Redesignated 446th Military Airlift Group on 31 July 1985 (Remained inactive) • Redesignated 446th Operations Group on 1 August 1992 : Activated in the reserve on 1 August 1992 • 313th Airlift Squadron: 1 August 1992 – present • 357th Troop Carrier Squadron: 25 March 1958 – 14 April 1959 • 446th Airlift Control Flight: 1 August 1992 – present Stations • Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 1 April 1943 • Lowry Field, Colorado, 8 June 1943 – 19 October 1943 • RAF Flixton (USAAF Station 125), England, 2 November 1943 – 6 July 1945 • Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, 15 July 1945 – 28 August 1945 • Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, 26 March 1948 – 25 June 1951 • Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, 25 May 1955 – 14 April 1959 • McChord Air Force Base, Washington, 1 August 1992 – present Aircraft assigned • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945 • Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor, 1955–1958 • Curtiss C-46 Commando, 1955–1958 • Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1958–1959 • Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, 1992–2002 • McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III, 1999–present Awards and campaigns ==Notes==