53d Weapons Evaluation Group The 53d Weapons Evaluation Group is a United States Air Force unit that reports to the 53d Wing . It is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida . The unit is assigned to the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) . The unit ' s World War II predecessor unit , the 475th Fighter Group operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater . The 475th Fighter Group was perhaps the best known of the Lockheed P - 38 Lightning groups in the Theater since it contained among its personnel the top scoring Flying ace s in the Pacific - - Richard I . Bong ( 40 kills ) and Thomas B . McGuire , Jr . ( 38 kills ) , both Medal of Honor recipients . By the war ' s end , no fewer than 38 other pilots from the 475th had achieved ace status while flying exclusively P - 38s . The group ' s commander for 20 months , Colonel Charles H . MacDonald , scored 27 kills in his famous aircraft , the " Putt Putt Maru " , the seventh - ranking American ace . Overview . The WEG comprises five squadrons and two detachments and conducts the Air Force ' s air - to - air Weapon System Evaluation Program , known as Combat Archer , and the Air Force ' s air - to - ground Weapon System Evaluation Program , known as Combat Hammer . It also supports Weapons Instructor Course air - to - air formal training syllabi . Unit personnel provide all Air Force aerial target support for DOD users in the Gulf Ranges and full - scale targets for Title 10 testing at White Sands Missile Range , Holloman AFB , N . M . The group also plans , manages and executes the U . S . Air Force Air - to - Air Weapons Meet , William Tell . History . World War II . In 1943 Japanese air strength in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II was powerful , and they were capable of launching large scale attacks against our ground forces and installations at any time . On New Guinea , the Japanese had many bases from which to launch their air strikes . The swiftest and most effective means of gaining control of the air was to bomb both of those Japanese strongholds and destroy as many aircraft on the ground as possible . Such bombing strikes could best be accomplished during daylight hours , when fighter escort was essential . The only fighter aircraft then in the Southwest Pacific with sufficient range to escort bombers to and from Rabaul and Wewak was the Lockheed P - 38 Lightning . However , the limited P - 38 strength in the Fifth Air Force in April 1943 consisted of only three squadrons ( the 80th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group ; the 39th Fighter Squadron of the 35th Fighter Group ; and the 9th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group ) . The limited number of Lightnings available during late 1942 and early 1943 had to be used to make up attrition in these squadrons . To augment the small force , the 475th Fighter Group was activated as a P - 38 unit on 14 May 1943 at Amberley airfield in Queensland , Australia . However , the continuing shortage of P - 38s forced the 35th and 49th Fighter Groups to convert their single P - 38 squadrons to P - 47Ds , thus leaving the Fifth Air Force at the end of 1943 with only the 475th Fighter Group , and the 80 FS from the 8th Fighter Group . Operational squadrons of the 475th were the 431st , 432d and 433rd Fighter . The group was specifically trained to provide long - range escort for bombers during daylight raids on Japanese airfields and strongholds in the Netherlands Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago . On 14 August 1943 , the 475th Fighter Group and its 431st , 432d and 433d Fighter Squadrons transferred from Amberley airfield to Dobodura , in New Guinea . The 431st and 432d operated from Port Moresby . The 431st operated until October 1943 and the 432nd until September 1943 . The 433d squadron flew its first mission on 15 August 1943 . The 475 FG received a Distinguished Unit Citation for missions in August 1943 when the group not only protected B - 25 Mitchell s that were engaged in strafing attacks on airdromes at Wewak but also destroyed a number of the enemy fighter planes that attacked the formation . The group received a second DUC for intercepting and destroying many of the planes the Japanese sent against American shipping in Oro Bay on 15 and 17 October 1943 . Covered landings in New Guinea , New Britain , and the Schouten Islands . After moving to Biak in July 1944 , the group flew escort missions and fighter sweeps to the southern Philippines , Celebes , Halmahera , and Borneo . For a while , the 475th included among its personnel the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh . He was serving with the Group as a technical representative from the United Aircraft Corporation . Lindbergh flew a number of combat missions with the Group in June / August 1944 as a civilian to instruct pilots on how to use their cruise control to get maximum range and endurance from their P - 38Js . On 28 July , Lindbergh was credited with shooting down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki - 51 over Elpaputih Bay in the Dutch East Indies in a 433d Fighter Squadron P - 38 42 - 104995 . The group moved to the Philippines in October 1944 and received another DUC for bombing and strafing enemy airfields and installations , escorting bombers , and engaging in aerial combat during the first stages of the Allied campaign to recover the Philippines , October – December 1944 . Major Thomas B . McGuire , Jr . was awarded the Medal of Honor for missions on 25 and 26 December 1944 leading flights of P - 38 ’ s escorting bombers that struck Mabalacat Airdrome and Clark Field . He scored three confirmed victories on that Christmas day , and on the following day , he scored four more against Japanese fighters . On 7 January 1945 , while attempting to save a fellow flyer from attack during a fighter sweep over Negros Island in the Philippines , Maj McGuire risked a hazardous maneuver at low altitude , crashed , and was killed . The group flew many missions to support ground forces on Luzon during the first part of 1945 . Also flew escort missions to China and attacked railways on Formosa . Began moving to Ie Shima near Okinawa in August but the war ended before the movement was completed . During World War II , the 475th Fighter Group was engaged in combat for approximately two years . The group completed 3042 missions , ( 21 , 701 Sorties ) and shot down 551 Japanese aircraft . On the other hand , the Group lost only 56 Planes to the Japanese . During the war , the Group took part in seven campaigns , and was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations for outstanding performance of duty in action . In addition to Majors Bong and McGuire , the unit boasted such " Aces " of the Pacific War as Col . Charles MacDonald ( 27 ) , Capt . Daniel T . Roberts ( 14 ) , Lt . Francis J . Lent ( 11 ) , Lt . Col . John S . Loisel ( 11 ) , Capt . Elliot Summer ( 10 ) , plus many more Postwar era . After active combat ended , on 22 September 1945 , the 475th FG moved to Seoul Airfield , Korea for occupation duty as part of the 308th Bomb Wing , assigned to the 315th Air Division of Far East Air Forces . The group moved to Kimpo Airfield , on 7 January 1946 where the group converted to the long - range P - 51H Mustang . The group was reassigned to Nagoya , Japan in March 1947 and later moved to Itazuke Airfield , Japan in August 1948 . It became a subordinate unit of 475th Fighter Wing on 10 August . The 475th Fighter Group was inactivated on 1 April 1949 at Ashiya Airfield , Japan Cold War . On 18 August 1955 , the 475th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) was reactivated as part of Air Defense Command by a redesignation the 514th Air Defense Group as result of ADC " Project Arrow " notable unit redesignation program . The group and its operational squadron , the 432nd Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was assigned to Minneapolis - St . Paul Airport and equipped with F - 86D Sabres , then F - 89H Scorpions . The group performed Air Defense missions over the north central United States until its inactivation in June 1958 . Modern era . From 1983 to present , group responsibilities included management of the Air Force Weapon System Evaluation program , range control for live - firing missile programs on the Gulf Range , and providing aerial targets support for special test projects , which included full - scale and sub - scale drones . Target Drones