18th Operations Group The 18th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 18th Wing , stationed at Kadena Air Base , Okinawa , Japan . The 18th OG is the largest combat operations group in the Air Force with eight squadrons , one flight , 842 active - duty members and approximately 80 aircraft , including the F - 15 Eagle , E - 3 Sentry , KC - 135 Stratotanker and the HH - 60 Pave Hawk . The group is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force , being a successor organization of the 18th Pursuit Group , one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II . Units . The group ' s nine squadrons ( Tail Code : ZZ ) and flight include : History . Heraldry . The fighting cock emblem , approved in 1931 , symbolizes the courage and aggressiveness of a combat organization . Operations . Origins . The 18th Wing has the unique distinction of being the only wing never stationed in the Continental United States . 18th Wing heritage began on 21 January 1927 , when the War Department activated a provisional pursuit group at Wheeler Field , Hawaii . Shortly thereafter the group was re - designated the 18th Pursuit Group with the following squadrons : The " fighting cock " Group insignia with " Unguibus et Rostro " , " With Talon and Beak " was chosen by 18th Pursuit Group CO Maj . Carlyle H . Walsh in February 1931 , and officially approved in 1932 . Major Kenneth M . Walker ( for whom Walker AFB , New Mexico was later named ) assumed command in March 1940 , having on his staff Captain Roger W . Ramey ( for whom Ramey AFB Puetro Rico was named ) , and Lieutenants Bruce K . Holloway , K . P . Bocquist , John G . Simpson , and William F . Savidge . The Group was flying Boeing P - 26 Peashooters , then upgraded into the radial - engined Curtiss P - 36 Hawk s before being re - equipped with Curtiss P - 40s a few months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese naval aircraft which immediately drew the United States into World War II . In the immediate months before the Pearl Harbor attack , the group was expanded as follows : World War II . The Imperial Japanese attack on 7 December 1941 , severely hurt the group – its only two P - 40C Warhawk s of the 44th Pursuit Squadron to get airborne were immediately shot down , and the rest of the group ’ s aircraft were heavily damaged . Over 60 P - 40Cs were destroyed on the ground at Wheeler . The group , assigned to Seventh Air Force in February 1942 , had to be re - equipped before it could resume training and begin patrol missions . During March 1943 , the group moved to the South Pacific Theater and rejoined the war effort as part of Thirteenth Air Force and began operations from Guadalcanal . Flew protective patrols over US bases in the Solomons ; later , escorted bombers to the Bismarcks , supported ground forces on Bougainville , and attacked enemy airfields and installations in the northern Solomons and New Britain . Used Lockheed P - 38 Lightnings ; Bell P - 39 Airacobra ; Northrop P - 61 Black Widows , and Douglas P - 70 Havoc aircraft . The following operational squadrons were assigned to the 18th Fighter Group : Moved to New Guinea in August 1944 . Equipped with P - 38 ' s . Escorted bombers to targets in the southern Philippines and Borneo , and attacked enemy airfields and installations in the Netherlands Indies . Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for actions at Ormoc Bay : on 10 November 1944 the group withstood intense flak and vigorous opposition from enemy interceptors to attack a Japanese convoy that was attempting to bring in additional troops for use against American forces that had landed on Leyte ; on the following day a few of the group ' s planes returned to the same area , engaged a large force of enemy fighters , and destroyed a number of them . Moved to the Philippines in January 1945 . Supported ground forces on Luzon and Borneo , attacked shipping in the central Philippines , covered landings on Palawan , attacked airfields and railways on Formosa , and escorted bombers to such widely scattered targets as Borneo , French Indochina , and Formosa . At the end of the war , the group moved to Clark Field on Luzon and became part of Far East Air Forces after the war . Flew patrols and trained with Lockheed F - 80 Shooting Stars , with the distinction of being the first overseas fighter unit to be jet - equipped . The group lost all personnel in March 1947 but was re - manned in September 1947 . Equipped first with Republic F - 47 Thunderbolts , later with North American F - 51 Mustangs , and still later ( 1949 ) with F - 80 ' s . In August 1948 , it became a subordinate unit to the newly activated 18th Fighter Wing . On 20 January 1950 , the wing was re - designated the 18th Fighter - Bomber Wing . Korean War . The 18th Fighter - Bomber Wing was reassigned to Korea in July 1950 and entered combat . Its organization was as follows : At the outbreak of the Korean War , the 18th FBG ' s 12th FBS provided personnel to form the " Dallas " fighter squadron , which rushed into battle . In late July , the group headquarters with two of its squadrons ( 12th and 67th FBSs ) deployed with F - 80s from the Philippines to Taegu AB ( K - 2 ) , South Korea . From 28 July to 3 August , the 18th Group operated directly under Fifth Air Force then passed to the control of the 6002nd Fighter ( later , Tactical Support ) Wing . Pilots exchanged their F - 80s for F - 51 Mustangs . Combat targets included tanks and armored vehicles , locomotives and trucks , artillery and antiaircraft guns , fuel and ammunition dumps , warehouses and factories , and troop concentrations . In August , advancing enemy forces and insufficient aircraft parking at Taegu forced the group to move to Japan , but it returned to South Korea the following month to support UN forces in a counteroffensive . Because the front advanced so rapidly , operations from Pusan ( K - 9 ) soon became impractical , and the group moved in November to Pyongyang East ( K - 24 ) , North Korea . The 2nd SAAF Squadron joined the 18th in mid - November . Maj Louis Sebille was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his action on 5 August 1950 : although his plane was badly damaged by flak while attacking a concentration of enemy trucks , Maj Sebille continued his strafing passes until he crashed into an armored vehicle . The Chinese Communist ( CCF intervention ) caused the group to move twice in as many weeks , first to Suwon AB ( K - 13 ) , South Korea , then to Chinhae ( K - 10 ) . From there the 18th FBG continued to support ground forces and carry out armed reconnaissance and interdiction missions . From November 1950 through January 1951 , it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for destroying roughly 2 , 400 enemy vehicles and severely damaging almost 500 more . From early 1951 until January 1953 , the group and its tactical squadrons , moving from base to base in South Korea , operated separately from the rest of the 18th FBW . The group earned its second Distinguished Unit Citation from 22 April to 8 July 1951 , when it flew 6 , 500 combat sorties while operating from sod , dirt filled , and damaged runways to counter the enemy ' s 1951 spring offensive . When in January 1953 the group rejoined the wing at Osan - ni AB ( K - 55 ) , its squadrons transitioned to F - 86 Sabrejets without halting the fight against the enemy . It flew its first F - 86 counter air mission on 26 February 1953 . In the final days of the war , the 18th FBG attacked dispersed enemy aircraft at Sinuiju and Uiju Airfields . The group remained in Korea for some time after the armistice . Cold War . In 1955 , deployed to Formosa to support Nationalist Chinese evacuation of Tachen Islands . During subsequent active periods from 1978 to 1981 trained for air operations in western Pacific region Modern era . The designation of the wing changed on 1 October 1991 to the 18th Wing with the implementation of the Objective Wing concept . With the objective wing , the mission of the 18th expanded to the Composite Air Wing concept of multiple different wing missions with different aircraft . The operational squadrons of the wing were assigned to the 18th Operations Group . The mission of the 18th OG was expanded to include aerial refueling with Boeing KC - 135R / T Stratotanker tanker aircraft ( 909th ARS ) ; and surveillance , warning , command and control Boeing E - 3B / C Sentry ( 961st AACS ) , and communications . Added airlift mission in June 1992 with the Beech C - 12 Huron , transporting mission critical personnel , high - priority cargo and distinguished visitors . In February 1993 , the 18th gained responsibility for coordinating rescue operations in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean with the addition of the 33d Rescue Squadron ( 33d RQS ) . In November 1999 , the 18th underwent another change as one of its three F - 15 units , the 12th Fighter Squadron , was reassigned to the 3d Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base , Alaska .