482d Operations Group The 482d Operations Group ( 482 OG ) is a United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to the 482d Fighter Wing . It is stationed at Homestead Joint Air Reserve Base , Florida , and is a direct successor to the 482d Bombardment Group . During World War II , the group was organized and activated as the 482d Bombardment Group ( Pathfinder ) , the only Eighth Air Force radar - equipped " pathfinder " heavy bomber group . Its B - 17 Flying Fortress and B - 24 Liberator aircraft were equipped with first generation radar to guide other bombardment groups to targets obscured by cloud cover over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany ( " blind bombing " ) . Overview . The mission of the 482d Operations Group ( Tail Code : FM ) is to train and equip reservists to respond to wartime and peacetime taskings as directed by higher headquarters . The group specifically trains for : Mobility , Deployment , and Employment . Components . The operational squadron of the 482 OG is the 93rd Fighter Squadron " Makos " ( F - 16C ) History . World War II . In the summer of 1943 , the Eighth Air Force conducted experiments with radar for high - altitude bombing through clouds . A special organization , the 482d Bombardment Group ( Pathfinder ) , was formed to use this technology and be devoted to pathfinder techniques using the H2S and H2X ( APS - 15 ) radars . The 482d Bomb Group was formed at RAF Alconbury on 20 August 1943 , under the command of Lt Col Baskin R . Lawrence , who had been training its 92nd BG cadre since 1 May . The 812th Bomb Squadron arrived from the United States in September with 12 new B - 17 aircraft equipped with U . S . manufactured H2S radar . The 813th was a re - designation of the325th Bomb Squadron , 92nd Bomb Group , which had been training since may in B - 17s equipped with British - manufactured H2S and Oboe sets . The 814th flew B - 24 Liberator aircraft acquired from a disbanded anti - submarine warfare group . The 482d Group was one of two Eighth Air Force groups activated overseas ( the other being the 25th Bomb Group ( Reconnaissance ) ) . The 482d BG provided a force of radar - equipped aircraft that preceded bomber formations flying from England to Germany and indicated targets such as airfields , submarine installations , and marshalling yards obscured by weather . Eight Air Force dubbed the group with the modifier " Pathfinder " because of its similarity of mission in locating and designating obscured targets that was also the mission of the Pathfinder Force ( PFF ) of the Royal Air Force . The 482d BG provided lead aircraft for other bomb groups throughout the winter of 1943 / 44 . As lead aircraft , 482 BG B - 17s and B - 24s usually flew missions from stations of other groups with some key personnel of the host group flying in the pathfinder aircraft . The group earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for 11 January 1944 mission leading Eighth Air Force bombers to targets such as aircraft factories in central Germany . Although weather prevented effective fighter protection against enemy aircraft , the group bombed assigned targets and destroyed many enemy airplanes . Individual aircraft and crews led Eighth Air Force elements on attacks against factories at Gotha , Brunswick , Schweinfurt , and other German industrial centers during Big Week , 20 – 25 February The 482d BG was transferred to Composite Command in February 1944 when emphasis shifted to training radar operators . The 482d began an H2X training school on 21 February 1944 , initially using RAF instructors . It graduated a class of 36 radar navigators each month , as the PFF was decentralized first to the air divisions and then to the combat groups , where each assigned one squadron to be its PFF unit . Training and experimentation remained the chief role of the 482d BG for the remainder of war . In March 1944 , the 482d BG was taken off combat operations and became a development unit for various radar devices in addition to its training function , but continued to undertake special operations . With radar , photographed parts of France , the Low Countries , and Germany for training and briefing combat crews . While on experimental flights , often bombed bridges , fuel depots , power plants , and railroad stations . On 6 June , it provided 18 crews to lead bomb groups in support of the Allied invasion of Normandy , on pathfinder missions to bomb coastal defenses and attacks on traffic centers behind the beachhead . From August 1944 to April 1945 , the 482d BG conducted 202 radar scope and ' pickling ' sorties over hostile territory without loss , dropping 45 tons of bombs in Nazi controlled territory . In November 1944 , the group was re - designated as the 482d Bomb Group ( Heavy ) . Redeployed to the US in May 1945 . The aircraft departed between 27 – 30 May 1945 . The ground unit sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from Gourock on 24 June 1945 . The group re - established at Victorville AAF , Ca . on 5 July 1945 , but inactivated on 1 September 1945 Cold War . Trained in the Reserve as a heavy bombardment group , June 1947 – June 1949 ; as a troop carrier group , June – December 1952 ; and as a fighter - bomber group flying various fighter and trainer aircraft , May 1955 – November 1957 . From August 1992 controlled the 482d Fighter Wing ' s flying and aerial port operations . Modern era . When Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead later that month , flying operations moved to Wright - Patterson AFB , September – December 1992 and to MacDill AFB , February 1993 – March 1994 , before returning to Homestead .