85th Group The 85th Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization . Its last assignment was with United States Air Forces in Europe at Naval Air Station Keflavik , Iceland , assigned as a unit of the 48th Fighter Wing whose home station is at RAF Lakenheath , UK . It was inactivated on 28 June 2006 . Overview . The 85th Group was the United States Air Force ( USAF ) component of U . S . Joint Forces Command ' s ( USJFCOM ) Iceland Defense Force ( IDF ) . the 85th Group was a tenant unit of U . S . Naval Air Station ( NAS ) Keflavík , strategically located on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) base in the southwest corner of Iceland . Reactivated in 1952 , the 85th Group was an Independent Group comprising seven squadrons and 13 staff agencies , with more than 1300 people assigned . Operationally , the group was assigned to the Iceland Defense Force ( IDF ) as part of Island Command Iceland . As the " Guardians of the North , " the 85th Group was responsible for deterring aggression in the North Atlantic , protecting Iceland ' s airspace and supporting contingency operations . This was accomplished through surveillance , air superiority and the use of rescue assets . The 85th Group was responsible for deterring aggression in the North Atlantic and protecting Iceland ' s airspace . It also supported contingency operations through surveillance , air superiority and rescue forces . History . World War II . The earliest predecessor of the 85th Group was formed during World War II as the 85th Bombardment Group , a dive bomber unit equipped with Vultee V - 72 Vengeance single - engine attack aircraft . The group ' s original squadrons were the 305th , 306th , 307th , and 308th Bombardment Squadrons . It moved to Bowman Field , Kentucky to train for close air support and received its first aircraft there . It converted to A - 24 Banshee dive bomber s in August 1942 and was reassigned to Fourth Air Force in California , taking part in training maneuvers at the Desert Training Center with Army ground units programmed for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa . It continued to participate in maneuvers in California during fall and winter of 1942 – 1943 . The 85th returned to Third Air Force in Louisiana and re - equipped with North American A - 36 Apache attack aircraft in early 1943 , moving briefly to Kentucky for maneuvers . The group then meved to Georgia with Curtiss P - 40 Warhawk single - engine fighter aircraft in early 1944 as a Replacement Training Unit ( RTU ) for fighter - bomber pilots . RTUs were oversized units designed to train replacement aircrew for assignment overseas . In late 1943 , it assumed a split operation as its 500th Fighter - Bomber Squadron ( FBS ) moved to Harris Neck Army Air Field , Georgia and its 502d FBS moved to Punta Gorda Army Air Field , Florida , while the group and remaining squadrons remained at Waycross Army Air Field . It received a few P - 47 Thunderbolt s in March 1944 . It served as a RTU until it disbanded in early in 1944 , when like most RTUs and Operational Training Units its personnel , equipment , and training activities at Waycross were handed over to the 345th AAF Base Unit ( Replacement Training Unit , Fighter ) . Those at Punta Gorda became the duty of the 344th AAF Base Unit ( Replacement Training Unit , Fighter ) and at Harris Neck of the 346th AAF Base Unit ( Replacement Training Unit , Fighter ) . This reorganization occurred because the AAF found that standard military units , based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the mission . Accordingly a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit . Cold War . The second predecessor of the 85th Group was the Iceland Air Defense Force , which replaced the Iceland Base Command , which had been the headquarters for Army ( and later Air Force ) units stationed in Iceland since 1942 and was assigned to Military Air Transport Service ( MATS ) . Between 1952 and 1961 , provided air defense for Iceland , operated Keflavik Airport , and furnished base support for all U . S . military forces in Iceland . Fighters assigned to the unit routinely intercepted Soviet Union flying in the Iceland area . It performed its defense mission under North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) as the Air Force component of NATO Iceland Defense Force . Keflavik Airport was transferred to the U . S . Navy on 30 June 1961 , along with base support activities . Air Forces Iceland continued the air defense mission of Iceland as a tenant organization at Keflavik . it was transferred from MATS to Air Defense Command in 1962 ; Tactical Air Command in 1978 and Air Combat Command in 1992 until it was inactivated in 1993 and replaced by the 35th Wing . In 1994 , it was consolidated with the 85th Tactical Fighter Training Wing and activated to replace the 35th Wing to serve again as the headquarters for Air Force units in Iceland , as the 85th Wing . It assumed the operational management of fighter and tanker aircraft deployed to Iceland to protect the nation ' s airspace . It defended U . S . national interests in the North Atlantic and provided in the Iceland area . In 2003 , its 56th Rescue Squadron deployed to Liberia to support Joint Task Force Liberia . It provided a peacekeeping presence over the capital of Monrovia during civil unrest and saved lives by extracting people from the US Embassy there . Air Force reductions and a new agreement with the Government of Iceland continued to affect Keflavik organizations . On 1 March 1995 , the 57th Fighter Squadron was inactivated and the interceptor force was replaced by Regular Air Force and Air National Guard F - 15 Eagle fighter aircraft rotating every 90 days to Iceland . The 85th Wing was reduced to a Group level in 1995 and supported rotational deployments . In 2002 jurisdiction of Air Force units in Iceland was transferred to the United States Air Forces in Europe . The 85th Group continued to support rotational deployments until it was inactivated during a one - hour , formal ceremony on 28 June 2006 , as a result of the Air Force reduction in forces in Iceland . All rotational fighters left and the 56th Rescue Squadron ceased operation at the end of the fiscal year . Lineage . 85th Fighter - Bomber Group Air Forces Iceland Consolidated Unit Components . Operational Components . Divisions Groups Squadrons Support Components . Groups Squadrons