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The 86th Operations Group celebrated their 83rd birthday on February 10. Activated in 1942, the group began as a bombardment group in World War II, flying the A-20 Havoc (light bomber, attack aircraft, night fighter) and the A-36 Mustang (ground attack/dive bomber aircraft), then transitioned to a fighter-bomber group and added the P-40 Warhawk and P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. The group participated in combat operations in North Africa and Italy and supported the Allied landings at Salerno, and later, southern France. The unit earned a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for its action against the enemy in Italy, May 1944, and another DUC for actions against enemy transportation targets in April 1945. By V-E Day (May 8, 1945), the 86 OG had flown 3,645 combat missions in Africa and Europe.
After World War II, the 86 OG took part in sending experienced pilots to Japan, to train forces fighting in the Korean War, and later participated in Operation HOMECOMING, the repatriation of POWs from Vietnam back to the United States. As the 86 OG transitioned in the early 1990s from tactical air defense and deterrence for Europe to airlift, the group wholly embraced the humanitarian operations era. Airlift, air drop, and aeromedical evacuation have continued to be the mainstay of the 86 OG for over thirty years.
