23d Fighter Group The 23d Fighter Group ( 23 FG ) is a United States Air Force unit . It is assigned to the 23d Wing and stationed at Moody Air Force Base , Georgia . For the 23d Fighter Group that existed from 1997 to 2006 , see the Article on the 23d Wing . The 23d Fighter Group was established in World War II as the 23d Pursuit Group of the United States Army Air Forces ( AAF ) . Redesignated the 23d Fighter Group before its activation , the group was formed in China on 4 July 1942 , as a component of the China Air Task Force and received a small cadre of volunteer personnel from the simultaneously disbanded 1st American Volunteer Group ( AVG ) – the " Flying Tigers " of the Chinese Air Force . To carry on the traditions and commemorate the history of the AVG , aircraft of the USAF 23d Fighter Group carry the same " Shark Teeth " nose art of the AVG ' s Curtiss P - 40 Warhawk s , along with the " FT " ( Flying Tiger ) tail code . The 23d Fighter Group ' s aircraft are the only United States Air Force aircraft currently authorized to carry this distinctive and historical aircraft marking . Overview . Currently based at Moody Air Force Base , Georgia , the group is assigned as one of two operations groups of the 23d Wing at Moody . Both organizations serve as part of the Ninth Air Force and Air Combat Command . The 23d Fighter Group ' s primary missions are forward air control , close air support , air interdiction and combat search and rescue operations . The group has two operational squadron assigned : the 74th and the 75th Fighter Squadron s both flying A - 10 Thunderbolt II light attack aircraft . History . World War II . By 15 June 1942 , under orders from Tenth Air Force , an advance cadre of pilots and aircraft had proceeded over the " Hump " route to Kunming , China , for combat familiarization . Without ceremony , the 23d Fighter Group was activated 4 July 1942 , marking the first such activation of a fighter group on a field of battle . Claire L . Chennault , meanwhile , had been recalled to active duty with the rank of Brigadier General and placed at the head of the China Air Task Force ( later to become Fourteenth Air Force ) . The 23d Fighter Group , a component of the CATF , was assigned three squadrons – the 74th , 75th , and 76th Fighter Squadron s . The group inherited the mission of the 1st American Volunteer Group " Flying Tigers " . Five of Chennault ’ s staff officers , five pilots and 19 ground crewmen entered the AAF and became members of the 23d Fighter Group . Approximately 25 AVG pilots , still in civilian status , volunteered to extend their contracts for two weeks to train the new group following the disbanding of their organization . The original aircraft of the group were a mixture of P - 40s from a batch of 50 sent to China for the AVG between January and June 1942 , and a follow - up shipment of 68 P - 40Es sent to India and then flown over the Hump by the squadrons to be assigned to the 23d . Others from the ranks of the original Flying Tigers left China when their contracts expired , although some returned to duty later with the Army Air Forces in the China - Burma - India Theater . In addition to inheriting operational responsibilities from the AVG , the 23d Fighter Group also benefited from the knowledge and experience of the AVG pilots , and took on the nickname of the disbanded unit . Col . Robert L . Scott Jr . , already in India as a commander of the Hump operation , became the first commander of the 23d Fighter Group . He would later author the military classic , " God Is My Co - Pilot . " On the very first day of its activation , the 23d Fighter Group engaged three successive waves of enemy aircraft and promptly recorded the destruction of five enemy aircraft with no losses to itself . The next three years saw the 23d Fighter Group involved in much of the action over southeast and southwest Asia . It provided air defense for the Chinese terminus of the Hump route , but its operations extended beyond China to Burma , French Indochina and as far as Taiwan . The unit helped pioneer a number of innovative fighter and fighter - bomber tactics . The Group used its so - called " B - 40 " ( P - 40 ' s carrying 1 , 000 - pound bombs ) to destroy Japanese bridges and kill bridge repair crews , sometimes demolishing their target with a single bomb . The unit gained another increase in capability with its conversion to the North American P - 51 " Mustang " aircraft in November 1943 . Representative of the encounters undertaken by this small and often ill - equipped group was the defense against a major Japanese push down the Hsiang Valley in Hunan Province 17 – 25 June 1944 . Ignoring inhibiting weather conditions and heavy ground fire , the 23d Fighter Group provided air support for Chinese land forces and repeatedly struck at enemy troops and transportation . Its efforts in this instance earned it the Distinguished Unit Citation for " outstanding performance of duty in action against the enemy . " In 1945 it help turn the Japanese spring offensive and harassed the retreating Japanese by strafing and bombing their columns . Before the 23d Fighter Group returned to the United States in December 1945 , it was credited with destroying 621 enemy planes in air combat , plus 320 more on the ground ; with sinking more than 131 , 000 tons of enemy shipping and damaging another 250 , 000 tons ; and with causing an estimated enemy troop loss of more than 20 , 000 . These statistics were compiled through a total of more than 24 , 000 combat sorties , requiring more than 53 , 000 flying hours , and at a cost of 110 aircraft lost in aerial combat , 90 shot down by surface defenses , and 28 bombed while on the ground . Thirty - two pilots of the group achieved ace status by shooting down five or more enemy aircraft . The 23d Fighter Group was inactivated 5 January 1946 , at Fort Lewis , Washington . Postwar Era . The 23d Fighter Group was reactivated 10 October 1946 , in Guam and assigned to the Twentieth Air Force , equipped with the long - range Republic P - 47N Thunderbolt , replacing the 21st Fighter Group and assuming its equipment , personnel , and mission . While stationed in Guam , the 23 FG became a part of the United States Air Force ( USAF ) when it became a separate military service on 18 September 1947 . In 1948 it was assigned to the 23rd Fighter Wing as part of the USAF Wing / Base Reorganization ( Hobson Plan ) , which was intended to unify command and control on air bases by assigning operational and support groups to a single base . In April 1949 , the group moved with the wing to Howard AB in the Panama Canal Zone , where it assumed the air defense mission of the Panama Canal . It was inactivated along with the wing a few months later . Air Defense Command . The group was redesignated as the 23d Fighter - Interceptor Group ( FIG ) and activated once again and assigned to the 23d Fighter - Interceptor Wing ( FIW ) at Presque Isle AFB , Maine as part of the Air Defense Command ( ADC ) , with the 74th and 75th Fighter - Interceptor Squadrons ( FIS ) assigned , flying F - 86E Sabre aircraft . Before the year was over , both squadrons had converted to F - 86As . In February 1952 , the 23d FIW and 23d FIG were inactivated , in a major reorganization of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) responding to ADC ' s difficulty under the existing wing base organizational structure in deploying fighter squadrons to best advantage . In August 1955 , ADC implemented Project Arrow , which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars . As a result of this project , the group , now designated the 23d Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) , replaced the 528th Air Defense Group at Presque Isle and once again assumed command of the 75th FIS and 76 FIS , which also returned to Presque Isle to replace the 82d FIS and 318th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron , because Project Arrow was also designed to reunite wartime squadrons with their traditional headquarters . However , the two squadrons were now operating F - 89 Scorpion s In addition , the group assumed USAF host responsibility for Presque Isle AFB and was assigned the 23rd USAF Infirmary ( later USAF Dispensary ) , 23rd Air Base Squadron , 23rd Materiel Squadron , and in 1957 , the 23rd Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron to carry out these duties . In 1957 , the group converted from the F - 89D to the nuclear capable F - 89H armed with AIR - 2 Genie rocket s . In 1958 , the 76th FIS moved to McCoy AFB , Florida and was assigned away from the group . The 75th FIS was in the process of converting to F - 101 VooDoo s , when the group was inactivated in 1959 as Presque Isle was being transferred to Strategic Air Command as host base for the SM - 62 Snark Missile and the 702d Strategic Missile Wing . Modern era . 23d Operations Group . On 1 June 1992 , the 23d Tactical Fighter Group was redesignated the 23d Operations Group and activated at Pope AFB , North Carolina under the redesignated 23d Wing under the USAF Objective Wing plan . It was given the mission of controlling the flying components of the parent 23d Wing . In December 1992 , C - 130 s from the group ' s 2d Airlift Squadron deployed to Mombasa , Kenya , to participate in Operation Provide Relief . The aircraft and crews delivered tons of food and other relief supplies to small airstrips throughout Somalia . 23d Wing C - 130s were also tasked to assist in other humanitarian relief efforts , to include Hurricane Andrew in Florida . They also airdropped relief supplies into Bosnia and Herzegovina and flew relief missions into Sarajevo for more than 28 months . In September 1994 , its C - 130s participated in what was to be the largest combat personnel drop since World War II , Operation Uphold Democracy . They were to assist in dropping more than 3 , 000 paratroopers from the 82d Airborne Division onto Port au Prince Airport , Haiti . The invasion force was recalled at the last minute after word that the Haitian president had resigned upon hearing that the aircraft were on their way . The 75th Fighter Squadron ' s A - 10s were deployed their aircraft to Shaw AFB , South Carolina , where they were scheduled to launch close air support operations for the invasion force before recovering in Puerto Rico . The first operational deployment of a composite wing happened in October 1994 , when Iraqi troops began massing near the Kuwaiti Border . Within 72 hours , 56 aircraft and 1 , 500 personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf region for Operation Vigilant Warrior . Eventually , the 75th Fighter Squadron redeployed to Al Jaber AB , Kuwait , becoming the first U . S . fixed - wing aircraft to be stationed in that country since the end of the Gulf War . On 1 July 1996 , the 74th Fighter Squadron ' s F - 16C / D Fighting Falcons were transferred to the 27th Fighter Wing ' s 524th Fighter Squadron at Cannon AFB , New Mexico , and the squadron transitioned to A / OA - 10 Thunderbolt IIs received from the 20th Fighter Wing ' s 55th Fighter Squadron at Shaw AFB , South Carolina . This gave the 23d Group a 2d A - 10 squadron . 23d Fighter Group . On 1 April 1997 , the 23d Operations Group was inactivated and replaced by the downsized 23rd Wing , which was redesignated as the 23d Fighter Group . The 23d Fighter Group was assigned to the 347th Wing of Air Combat Command at Moody AFB , Georgia but physically remained at Pope as a Geographically Separated Unit ( GSU ) . Its C - 130 s and Pope Air Force Base were realigned to Air Mobility Command and assigned to the 43d Airlift Wing . Moody Air Force Base . On 1 October 2006 , the 347th Rescue Wing at Moody AFB redesignated as the 347th Rescue Group , while the 23 FG was expanded and redesignated the 23d Wing . Along with the 347th Rescue Group , the original 23d Fighter Group was reactivated , this time at Moody Air Force Base , for only the second time in over fifty years . The 23d Fighter Group was then assigned as one of the 23d Wing ' s operations groups , although retaining the designation of " Fighter Group " . Both the 23 WG and 23 FG are charged with carrying on the historic Flying Tiger ' s heritage .