14th Operations Group The 14th Operations Group ( 14 OG ) is the flying component of the 14th Flying Training Wing , assigned to the United States Air Force ' s Air Education and Training Command . The group is stationed at Columbus Air Force Base , Mississippi . Overview . The 14th Operations Group and its six squadrons are responsible for the 52 - week Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training ( SUPT ) mission at Columbus AFB for the U . S . Air Force and international officers . The group uses a fleet of T - 6 Texan II , T - 38 Talon , and T - 1 Jayhawk aircraft and flight simulators . The Group ' s 250 aircraft fly about 90 , 000 hours annually in of airspace . Components . The 14th Operations Group ( Tail Code : CB ) consists of the following squadrons : History . World War II . The 14th Pursuit Group was activated on 15 January 1941 at Hamilton Field , California . It moved to March Field in California in early June 1941 . The group trained with Curtiss P - 40 s , P - 43 Lancer s and P - 38D / E Lightnings . It returned to Hamilton Field on 7 February 1942 to receive operational P - 38Fs and flew patrol s on the west coast of the US after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Although these fighters were not yet combat ready , P - 38 outfits had the only truly modern fighters then available to the Army Air Forces ( AAF ) , and provided West Coast defense at a time that Japanese attacks on the US mainland were believed to be imminent . Even though the defense of the US west coast initially took priority , plans were made in the spring of 1942 to deploy the 14th and other P - 38 groups to Great Britain . The group was redesignated as the 14th Fighter Group in May 1942 . The ground echelon departed 16 July 1942 on the first stage of the movement to England . They sailed on the USS " West Point " in early August 1942 , and arrived in Liverpool on 17 August 1942 . The air echelon departed for Bradley Field , Connecticut on 1 July 1942 . It flew its P - 38s to the United Kingdom via the northern ferry route . The first aircraft departed Presque Isle Army Air Field , Maine on 22 July 1942 . The 50th Fighter Squadron remained in Iceland and was reassigned to the 342d Composite Group to assist the Curtiss P - 40Cs of the 33d Fighter Squadron in the flying of defensive patrols over the Atlantic . This was the first transatlantic crossing successfully made by single - seat fighters . In Britain , the group was stationed at RAF Atcham as part of Eighth Air Force . The 14th was reassigned to the XII Fighter Command of Twelfth Air Force on 14 September 1942 , but continued to operate under VIII Fighter Command until mid - October flying sweeps over France and performing practice missions under the Royal Air Force ' s guidance . The Ground echelon left Atcham on 30 October 1942 , and sailed on the USS " Brazil " and USS " Uruguay " from Liverpool and arrived in Oran , Algeria on 10 November 1942 . The air echelon departed for North Africa on 6 November 1942 , and flew to Tafaraoui Airfield , Algeria from 10 to 14 November 1942 . From bases in Algeria , and later Tunisia , the group flew escort , strafing , and reconnaissance missions from the middle of November 1942 to late in January 1943 . In November , Lt . Carl T . Williams Scored the first United States victory in the western desert over a German aircraft snd Lt . Virgil Smith became the first American ace in the theater . The Lightnings were soon in regular combat in the North African Campaign . The 14th contributed a great deal toward the establishment of local air superiority in the area , being effective against bombers and had wreaked great havoc among Rommel ' s air transport well out to sea . The P - 38s earned the German nickname " der Gabelschwanz Teufel " — the Fork - Tailed Devil . In January 1943 , the 14th was withdrawn from combat , with some of the men and planes being reassigned to the 1st and 82d Fighter Group s . The group resumed combat operations in May , being re - equipped with the P - 38F and some P - 38Gs . Already prior to the Axis defeat in Tunisia , the Northwest African Air Forces ( of which the Twelfth Air Force was a component ) had begun preparations for the invasion of Sicily . Attacks on Sicily , on Pantelleria and on Lampedusa were stepped up in preparation for Operation Husky , the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943 . The group flew dive - bombing missions during the Allied assault on Pantelleria . It helped prepare for and support the invasions of Sicily and Italy . Lieut H . T . Hanna of the 14th Fighter Group made ace in one day by destroying five Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers on 9 October 1943 . The 14th was reassigned to Fifteenth Air Force in November 1943 , and moved to Triolo Airfield , Italy . It engaged primarily in escort work flying many missions to cover bombers engaged in long - range operations against strategic objectives in Italy , France , Germany , Czechoslovakia , Austria , Hungary , Yugoslavia , Rumania , and Bulgaria . However , on occasion , the group escorted the medium bombers of the Twelfth Air Force . On 2 April 1944 , the 14th Fighter Group earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for beating off attacks by enemy fighters while escorting bombers attacking ball - bearing and aircraft production facilities at Steyr , Austria , enabling the bombers to strike their targets . In late July and early August 1944 , the 14th flew shuttle missions to Russia and returned to their Italian base after spending three days at a Soviet base in the Ukraine . Along with their P - 51 escorts , they shot down thirty German planes and destroyed twelve on the ground . The last Lightning shuttle mission was flown on 4 / 6 August . The group provided escort for reconnaissance operations , supported the invasion of Southern France in August 1944 , and on numerous occasions flew long - range missions to strafe and dive - bomb motor vehicles , trains , bridges , supply areas , airdromes , and troop concentrations in an area extending from France to the Balkans . The 14th Fighter Group was inactivated in Italy on 9 September 1945 . Cold War . The Group was once more activated in the US on 20 November 1946 at Dow Field , Maine as part of the First Air Force of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) . Its assigned squadrons were 37th , 48th and 49th Fighter Squadrons . The 14th Fighter Group was one of the first AAF groups assigned to ADC . The group was initially equipped with surplus P - 47N Thunderbolt s and later with first generation P - 84B Thunderjet s . It was responsible for air defense of the Northeastern United States . In 1947 , the group became the first in the AAF to equip with the P - 84 . In July 1947 the group deployed to Muroc AFB , California to conduct accelerated service tests with new F - 84Bs prior to acceptance . The first operational production USAF F - 84Bs arrived at Dow AFB on 7 November ; the last F - 84B was delivered in February 1948 . Throughout the winter of 1947 / 48 the 14th Fighter Group lost three F - 84s at Dow . Findings indicated that the extreme cold weather at the base enhanced aircraft performance over what was found during testing in California , however as the temperatures moderated in the spring of 1948 , accident rate remained high . In August 1947 , the Air Force began a service test of the Wing - Base organization ( Hobson Plan ) . As a result , the group was assigned to the 14th Fighter Wing , along with three newly created support groups . This rorganization was intended to unify control at air bases , This test proved the wing - base plan to the satisfaction of the Air Force . The 14th ' s mission was daylight and fair weather defense of northeast United States from New York City north to Maine / New Brunswick border , shared with 52d Fighter Group ( All - Weather ) at Mitchel AFB , New York which flew F - 82 Twin Mustang s for night and inclement weather operations . In July 1949 , the group sent sixteen F - 84Bs to New York City for a flyover display at newly opened Idlewild Airport . The group was inactivated on 2 October 1949 due to budget cutbacks . Its F - 84B aircraft were returned to Republic Aircraft for refurbishment and reassignment to Air National Guard units . The group was redesignated as the 14th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) and reactivated on 18 August 1955 at Ethan Allen AFB , Vermont to replace the 517th Air Defense Group , whose mission , equipment , and personnel were transferred to the 14th as part of ADC ' s Project Arrow , which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units that had compiled memorable records in the two world wars . Its operational component was the 37th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron ( FIS ) , which was already stationed at Ethan Allen . It was initially assigned to Air Defense Command ( ADC ) ' s 4711th Defense Wing and equipped with airborne intercept radar equipped and HVAR rocket armed North American F - 86D Sabre interceptor aircraft . It also acted as the host organization for USAF units at Ethan Allen and was assigned several support units to fulfill that duty . It was reassigned to the 32d Air Division ( Defense ) , 1 March 1956 . Its 37th FIS upgraded in December 1957 to the F - 102 Delta Dagger interceptor until being inactivated on 1 May 1960 . The group wound up active USAF operations at Ethan Allen and inactivated along with its support organizations the following month . Modern era . While inactive , the group was redesignated as the 14th Tactical Fighter Group , but was redesignated as the 14th Operations Group ( OG ) in December 1991 and activated as a result of the 14th Flying Training Wing ( FTW ) implementing the USAF Objective Wing reorganization . Upon activation , the 14th OG was assigned the flying and operational support components of the 14th FTW . From its activation , the group trained USAF and allied pilots in basic flying skills and from 1993 to 2005 in fighter fundamentals , using AT - 38 aircraft . In 1993 , Captains Kathy McDonald and Ellen McKinnon became the first women at Columbus AFB to complete the fighter fundamentals course . On 27 January 1995 , Second Lieutenant Kelly Flinn graduated from pilot training with the 14th Operations Group on her way to becoming the first woman to enter B - 52 Stratofortress combat crew training . Fighter fundamentals training at Columbus resumed on 10 May 2007 with the reassignment of the 49th Fighter Training Squadron from Moody AFB , Georgia . Lineage . Components . Operational Squadrons Support Units Awards . Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award European Theatre of World War II See also . 529th Air Service Group Support organization for group at Dow AFB prior to implementation of Wing - Base organization ( Hobson Plan )