page_title: 48th Operations Group
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: 48th Operations Group / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: F-84Gs 51-890 of the 494th Fighter Bomber Squadron and 51-830 of the 493d FBS - 48th Fighter Bomber Wing - Chaumont AB France
context_page_description: The 48th Operations Group is the flying component of the 48th Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The group is stationed at RAF Lakenheath, England.
context_section_description: On 10 July 1952 the United States Air Force reactivated the group as the 48th Fighter-Bomber Group at Chaumont Air Base, where it assumed the mission, personnel and 58 Republic F-84G Thunderjets of the federalized Oklahoma Air National Guard 137th Fighter-Bomber Group, which was simultaneously inactivated and returned to state control.  Similarly, the group's 492d, 493d and 494th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons replaced the 125th, 127th and 128th Squadrons of the 137th Group. The group and supporting units were assigned to the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing under the wing base organization plan.
  The few National Guardsmen still with the wing departed and the last were released from active duty on 9 July, although a few reserve officers remained on active duty for an additional six to twelve months.
  Chaumont Air Base was still largely under construction at the time of the activation of the 48th FBG and living and working conditions were primitive. The men were billeted in tents that were heated by pot-bellied stoves; all of the roads on the base were yet unpaved and were basically mud ruts through the turf. The only hardened facilities were a concrete runway and a handful of tarpaper shacks. Within two years, the wing headed up an engineering project that resulted in the construction of permanent barracks, a wing headquarters, flightline shops, and warehouses
  With the F-84, the 48 FBG supported NATO and the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), activities, participating in exercises with the US Seventh Army. With the F-84, the wing supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), and participated in exercises with the Seventh United States Army. In addition, the wing conducted operational readiness exercises and tactical evaluations. The 48th frequently deployed to Wheelus Air Base, Libya, for training in bombing and gunnery skills.
  In September 1953, the 48th FBG had become so proficient with the F-84 that it assumed the role of the "Skyblazers" aerial demonstration team in Europe from the 86th Fighter-Bomber Group and commenced flying air shows throughout Western Europe. They would continue with their F-84Gs until the spring of 1954 when the Group's Tunderjets were replaced by F-86F Sabres.
  In late 1956, the Liberty Wing became USAFE's first unit to convert to the F-100 Super Sabre. However, at this time the Chaumont runway was closed for repair, which resulted in the wing deploying to Berrechid Airfield, Morocco (near Casablanca), to train with its new aircraft.
  The group was inactivated on 8 December 1957 when its component squadrons were assigned directly to the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing as the Air Force reorganized its wings into the tri-deputate system.
caption: Republic F-84G-1-RE Thunderjets 51–890 of the 494th Fighter Bomber Squadron and 51–830 of the 493d FBS. Note the Pierced Steel Planking being used for the parking apron as concrete pads have not yet been poured. Both aircraft were eventually sold to the Belgian Air Force as Serials FZ-175 and FZ-199. 890 was destroyed on 25 May 1955 at Sylt, West Germany.
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