332d Expeditionary Operations Group The 332d Expeditionary Operations Group ( 332 EOG ) is a Provisional Air Expeditionary Group of Air Combat Command , currently inactive . It was inactivated on 8 May 2012 . The 322d EOG holds the lineage , history and honors of the World War II 332d Fighter Group , the Tuskegee Airmen . The title Tuskegee Airmen refers to all who trained in the groundbreaking Army Air Forces African - American pilot training program at Moton Field and Tuskegee Army Airfield , Alabama between 1941 and 1945 . It includes pilots , navigators , bombardiers , maintenance and support staff , instructors and all the personnel who kept the planes in the air . History . World War II . Constituted as the 332d Fighter Group on 4 July 1942 , then activated on 13 October . Consisted of the 100th , 301st and 302d Fighter Squadrons at Tuskeegee Army Airfield , Alabama . Trained with P - 39 Aircobra and P - 40 Warhawk aircraft for an extended period of time as the Army Air Forces was reluctant to deploy African - American fighter pilots to an overseas combat theater . The 100th Fighter Squadron pre - dates the 332d Fighter Group , being formed on 19 February 1942 . The 100th carried out advanced fighter training of graduates of the Tuskegee Institute primary and basic flight training programs for African - American flight cadets at nearby Moton Field . The first class ( 42 - C ) of twelve cadets included student officer Captain Benjamin O . Davis , Jr . , began training on 19 July 1941 . who served as Commandant of Cadets . After difficulty in establishing a core of African American pilots and ground crews and providing for training at Tuskeegee AAF and First Air Force stations in Michigan , by April 1943 , the 332d Fighter Group deployed to Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean theater . The group ' s first combat assignment involved attacking enemy units on the strategic volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea , to clear the sea lanes for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 . The air assault on the island began on 30 May 1943 . The assignment to a predominately ground attack role prevented the 99th from engaging in air - to - air combat . In September 1943 the unit was criticized by Col . William W . Momyer for " ( failure ) to display . . . aggressiveness and daring for combat " and recommended for removal from operations . Congressional hearings were held on this perceived failure , with the aim of disbanding the squadron . However , neither the recommendation nor the hearings shut down the unit after an AAF study reported that the 99th had performed as well as other P - 40 units in the Mediterranean . In the meantime the 99th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance in combat on Sicily . Shortly after a Washington hearing on the feasibility of continuing to use African American pilots , three new fighter squadrons graduated from training at Tuskegee : the 100th , 301st and 302nd . The units then embarked for Africa and were combined to form the all - black 332d Fighter Group . The squadrons were moved to mainland Italy , where the 99th Fighter Squadron , assigned to the group on 1 May 1944 , joined them on 6 June at Ramitelli Airfield , near Termoli , on the Adriatic coast . From Ramitelli , the 332d Fighter Group escorted Fifteenth Air Force heavy strategic bombing raids into Czechoslovakia , Austria , Hungary , Poland and Germany . Flying escort for heavy bombers , the 332d earned an impressive combat record . The Allies called these airmen " Red Tails " or " Red - Tail Angels , " because of the distinctive crimson paint predominately applied on the tail section of the unit ' s aircraft . The Tuskegee Airmen initially were equipped with Curtiss P - 40 s , briefly with Bell P - 39 Airacobra s ( March 1944 ) , later with Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt s ( June – July 1944 ) , and finally with the aircraft with which they became most commonly identified , the North American P - 51 Mustang ( July 1944 ) . On 27 and 28 January 1944 , " Luftwaffe " Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighter - bombers raided Anzio , where the Allies had conducted amphibious landings on 22 January . Attached to the 79th Fighter Group , 11 of the 99th Fighter Squadron ' s pilots shot down enemy fighters . Captain Charles B . Hall claimed two shot down , bringing his aerial victory total to three . The eight fighter squadrons defending Anzio together claimed 32 German aircraft shot down , while the 99th claimed the highest score among them with 13 . They began operations with Twelfth Air Force on 5 February . They used P - 39s to escort convoys , protect harbors , and fly armed reconnaissance missions , converted to P - 47s during April – May , and changed to P - 51s in June . They operated with the Fifteenth Air Force from May 1944 to April 1945 , being engaged primarily in protecting bombers that struck such objectives as oil refineries , factories , airfields , and marshaling yard s in Italy , France , Germany , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Austria , Hungary , Yugoslavia , Rumania , Bulgaria , and Greece . They also made successful strafing attacks on airdromes , railroads , highways , bridges , river traffic , troop concentrations , radar facilities , power stations , and other targets . The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 24 March 1945 when the group escorted B - 17s during a raid on the Daimler - Benz tank factory at Berlin , fought the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet interceptors that attacked the formation , and strafed transportation facilities while flying back to the base in Italy . During the action , its pilots were credited with destroying three Me 262s of the " Luftwaffe " s all - jet " Jagdgeschwader 7 " in aerial combat that day , despite the American unit initially claiming 11 Me 262s on that particular mission . Upon examination of German records , " JG 7 " records , just four Me 262s were lost and all of the pilots survived . In return , the 463rd Bomb Group , one of the many B - 17 groups the 332d were escorting , lost two bombers , and the 332d lost three P - 51s during the mission . Fifteenth Air Force dispatched about 660 bombers , 250 of these headed for Berlin . Altogether , Fifteenth Air Force lost nine B - 17s and one B - 24 , out of the fighter escort , five P - 51 Mustangs were destroyed during this sortie . Three of the four Me 262 jets that were lost by the " Luftwaffe " were reportedly shot down , all their pilots bailed out wounded . Flying escort for heavy bombers , the 332d earned an impressive combat record . Reportedly , the Luftwaffe awarded these airmen the nickname , " Schwarze Vogelmenschen , " or " Black Birdmen . " The Allies called these airmen " Redtails " or " Redtail Angels , " because of the distinctive crimson paint applied on the vertical stabilizers of the unit ' s aircraft . With the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 , the 332d was reassigned to the 305th Bombardment Wing , to prepare for a move to the Pacific Theater and engage in combat against Japan . With the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of the war , this became unnecessary and the 332d returned to the United States and was assigned to Camp Kilmer , New Jersey , where it inactivated on 19 October 1945 . Postwar era . The unit was activated again in 1947 at Lockbourne Air Force Base as operational component of 332d Fighter Wing , with Col . Davis in command . The group was finally inactivated in 1949 as part of the Air Force plan to achieve racial integration . Its operational squadrons were assigned directly to wing as part of Air Force Tri - Deputate unit reorganization . Air Expeditionary Group . In 1998 , the 332d Air Expeditionary Group , “ The Tip of the Spear , ” was activated at Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base , Kuwait in November 1998 , replacing the 4406th Operations Group ( Provisional ) which was formed in 1996 . The 332d AEG evolved and grew to reflect the Aerospace Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) concept of a consolidated force in a forward location . The package previously included F - 15Es and A - 10s . The mission of the 332d AEG was supporting Joint Task Force - Southwest Asia , which monitoreds a no - fly zone mission dubbed Operation Southern Watch . Active - duty , Guard and Reserve A - 10 and F - 16 fighter units , along with support individuals , rotated in and out , ensuring Iraqi aircraft don ' t fly below the 32d parallel . At the Al Jaber AFB the 332 ELS Commander and 10 personnel are on a one - year tour ; all others ( 1190 personnel ) rotate every 90 days . That mix of aircraft , including HH - 60 rescue helicopters , gave the 332d the ability to conduct any Operation Southern Watch mission . The Group ' s personnel turned over almost completely every 120 days with a population of 1 , 400 people constantly rotating , a need existed for continuity to guide the base and its mission . The US compound at Al Jaber was a sandy “ fortress ” of less than a mile ' s circumference . Most people lived in dorms — Airmen doing 12 month rotations had their own rooms . Beginning in 2001 , the 332d Air Expeditionary Group participated in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan . The Group ' s F - 15Es , F - 16s . F / A - 18s and later A - 10s played a critical role in the defeat of the Taliban and later provided key air support for the provisional government in Afghanistan . Later , the unit was expanded to a wing , with the 332d Air Expeditionary Group operating as the operational component of the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing after the initiation of Operation Iraqi Freedom ( OIF ) . It was moved to Tallil Air Base , Iraq , in support of OIF , then moving to Balad Air Base , Iraq , in 2004 . During the height of operations , the 332d AEW contained nine groups — including four geographically separated groups at Ali AB , Sather AB , Al Asad AB , and Kirkuk AB — as well as numerous detachments and operating locations scattered throughout Iraq . The wing had as many as four fighter squadrons , an airlift squadron , a helicopter combat search and rescue squadron , two aerial reconnaissance squadrons and an air control squadron . During the drawdown of forces from Iraq , the 332d AEW provided intelligence , surveillance and reconnaissance , combat search and rescue , armed overwatch and close air support to one of the largest logistics movements since World War II . In support of the re - posture of U . S . forces , the wing continued to support U . S . Forces - Iraq after forward deploying to an undisclosed air base in Southwest Asia in November 2011 so Joint Base Balad could be returned to the government of Iraq . And as the last U . S . convoy left Iraq on Dec . 18 , 2011 , it was the 332d AEW ' s F - 16s and MQ - 1B Predators in the skies providing overhead watch . Components . 332d AEG / EOG Attached Squadrons , 1998 - 2012 . Known units include :