47th Operations Group The 47th Operations Group ( 47 OG ) is the flying component of the 47th Flying Training Wing , assigned to the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . The group is stationed at Laughlin Air Force Base , Texas . Overview . The 47th Operations Group contains five flying squadrons , one support squadron , and a maintenance flight . The Operations Group is responsible for training US Air Force and allied nation pilots under the Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Program ( SUPT ) . The group provides management , control , and standardization / evaluation of all aspects of flying training operations , aircraft maintenance , and airfield management at Laughlin AFB , Texas . Components . Squadrons of the 47th Operations Group ( Tail Code : XL ) are : History . World War II . Constituted as 47th Bombardment Group ( Light ) on 20 November 1940 , and activated on 15 January 1941 . Operational squadrons of the group were : Initially based at McChord Field , Washington , the group ' s mission was to perform anti - submarine patrols along the Pacific coast with the Douglas B - 18 Bolo its primary aircraft . This was a short - lived mission , however , as after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor , the group began training for duty overseas when it was assigned Douglas A - 20Cs which were taken over by the USAAF from Lend - Lease contracts . Training at several bases in the midwest and southeast , it was first believed that the 47th would be sent to the South Pacific . However shortly after Operation Torch , the Allied invasion of North Africa in November 1942 , the 47th became the first USAAF A - 20 group to participate in large - scale combat in the North African Campaign , being assigned to Twelfth Air Force . Flying to a former Vichy French Air Force base at Mediouni , French Morocco . the aircrews used ferry tanks on their A - 20s to cross the North Atlantic . The group began operations by flying low - level missions against the enemy in North Africa flying its first combat mission from Youks - les - Bains , Algeria on 13 December 1942 . 47th Group A - 20s provided valuable tactical support to US and British ground forces , especially during and after the allied defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass . Though undermanned and undersupplied , the group flew eleven missions on 22 February to attack the advancing Nazi armored columns and thus to help stop the enemy ’ s offensive - an action which helped save the day , and eventually the Germans were forced back into a small perimeter in Tunisia . For these actions , the group was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation . The 47th remained active in combat during March and April 1943 while training for medium level bombardment . In 1943 the group was upgraded to the A - 20G , which increased their forward firepower during low - level strafing missions . Moving to Malta , the group participated in the reduction of Pantelleria and Lampedusa ( Operation Corkscrew ) in June 1943 and the invasion of Sicily ( Operation Husky ) in July . The group also bombed German evacuation beaches near Messina in August . The group supported the British Eighth Army during the invasion of Italy in September . Moving to Italy as part of the Italian Campaign , the group assisted the Allied advance toward Rome , September 1943 – June 1944 at the battles of the Bernhardt Line , Monte Cassino , and Operation Shingle . The 47th began flying numerous night intruder missions after June 1944 , and supported the invasion of Southern France from bases in Corsica and also in France during August – September 1944 . Returning to Italy , the group attacked German communications in northern Italy , 1 September – 4 April 1945 . Received a second DUC for performance from to 21 – 24 April 1945 when , in bad weather and over rugged terrain , the group maintained operations for 60 consecutive hours , destroying enemy transportation in the Po Valley to prevent the organized withdrawal of German forces . After January 1945 , the 47th received some new Douglas A - 26Cs which flew alongside its A - 20s during the last four months of the war for specialized night attacks . The group flew support and interdictory operations attacking such targets as tanks , convoys , bivouac areas , troop concentrations , supply dumps , roads , pontoon bridges , rail lines , and airfields . The A - 26 was regarded as being the USAAF ' s best twin - engined bomber , and plans were being made for the conversion of the 47th to the type . The 47th Bombardment Group returned to the United States in July 1945 and was reassigned to Seymour Johnson Field , North Carolina . Its mission was to prepare for redeployment to the Pacific Theater for night pathfinder operations against Japan . Its black - painted A - 26Cs were equipped with radar however the surrender by Japan in August 1945 , cancelled all redeployment plans . Postwar era . With the closing of Seymour Johnson in August 1945 , the group was reassigned to Lake Charles AAF , Louisiana and was fully equipped with the Douglas A - 26 Invader ( renamed B - 26 in June 1948 ) . The A - 26 was selected as the standard light bomber and night reconnaissance aircraft of the postwar USAAF , primarily as the main offensive light bomber of the Tactical Air Command which was created in 1946 out of the remnants of the wartime 9th and 12th Air Forces . At Lake Charles , the unit trained in night tactical operations , conducted firepower demonstrations , and participated in tactical exercises . The group was moved Biggs Field , Texas in October 1946 when Lake Charles became a Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) base . At Biggs , the Group was reduced from four to three tactical squadrons when the 97th Bombardment Squadron was inactivated . On 1 February 1948 Biggs was also turned over to SAC , forcing a relocation of the group to Barksdale AFB , Louisiana in November . The 47th moved into the jet age in 1949 , when the North American B - 45 Tornado , bomber replaced the B - 26s . The 47th was the first USAF wing equipped with the B - 45 . The 47th was inactivated at Barksdale 2 October 1949 as a result of budgetary reductions . However the 84th and 85th Squadrons continued with the B - 45 ' s and moved to Langley AFB , Virginia where they were attached to the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing . Cold War . On 12 March 1951 , the 47th Bombardment Group was reactivated at Langley Air Force Base , Virginia , with tactical squadrons the 84th and 85th . The group was the only Jet - Medium Bomber Group in the Air Force . After becoming proficient in the handling and use of nuclear weapons , moved to RAF Sculthorpe , United Kingdom where it began operations there on 1 June 1952 . For nearly three years , the 47th Bombardment Group provided an in - place Atomic Air Strike Force to back up NATO Ground Forces in Europe . Operational missions of the group were training for tactical bombardment training operations , including participation in exercises and firepower demonstrations in support of NATO . Owing to the small size of Sculthorpe , the group operated two B - 45A jet bomber squadrons ( 84th and 85th ) from Sculthorpe . In March 1954 , a third B - 45A jet bomber squadron ( 86th ) was assigned to the wing , but operated from RAF Alconbury in order to accommodate the additional aircraft . A few months after moving to England that year , the group ceased operations and remained a paper organization until inactivation again in 1955 as a result of the Air Force tri - deputate reorganization . Modern era . The group was reactivated in on 9 December 1991 as the 47th Operations Group and assigned to the 47th Flying Training Wing as part of the " Objective Wing " concept adapted by the Air Force . The 47th OG was bestowed the lineage , honors and history of the 47th Bombardment Group and its predecessor units . The 47OG was assigned the flying components of the wing , and since its reactivation has USAF and Allied pilots using various types of trainer aircraft .