32d Air Expeditionary Group The 32d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . It is assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ) to activate or inactivate at any time . It was last active in December 2006 at Ramstein Air Base , Germany . Its mission is to provide command and control of expeditionary units as directed by the Commander , USAFE . History . The United States Army constituted the 32d Pursuit Group in late 1940 . Shortly afterwards , on 1 January 1941 , the Air Corps activated the group at Rio Hato Army Air Base , Panama . For the most part , however , the group consisted only of cadres provided by other units in the Canal Zone . Although headquarters were at Rio Hato , as a tactical organization it was located at Albrook Field , where all pursuit organizations in the Panama Canal Zone were concentrated , and its squadrons had only an average of 4 to 6 officers assigned . The group and its three assigned flying squadrons , the 51st , 52d , and 53d Pursuit Squadrons , had the mission of protecting the Panama Canal using obsolete Boeing P - 26 Peashooter s . On 9 December 1941 , just after Pearl Harbor , the newly redesignated Caribbean Air Force moved the unit to France Field in the Canal Zone . The Air Corps equipped the 32d Pursuit Group with Curtiss P - 36 Hawk s to strengthen the defenses of the region . On 15 May 1942 , the US Army Air Forces redesignated the unit as the 32d Fighter Group ( 32 FG ) and provided it Lockheed P - 38 Lightning s . However , the group swapped these fighters for Curtiss P - 40 Warhawk s . From 1941 to 1943 the group trained in flying intercept and fighter sweeps over the area surrounding the Canal Zone . However , as the perceived threat to the Canal Zone diminished , the US Army Air Force disbanded the 32d Fighter Group at France Field on 1 November 1943 . Reconnaissance in the Far East . In August 1948 , the USAF established the 32d Composite Wing , which was activated by Far East Air Forces the same month at Kadena Field , Okinawa as part of the implementation of the Wing Base reorganization ( Hobson Plan ) of the USAF , replacing the 316th Bombardment Wing and various support elements . In October , the wing also replaced the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , which had become a paper unit attached to the wing . The wing had no operational group , but the 5th Reconnaissance Group ' s 23d Reconnaissance Squadron ( Very Long Range , Photographic ) and the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group ' s 31st Reconnaissance Squadron ( Very Long Range , Photographic ) were attached to the wing for operations . The wing mission was to provide the Thirteenth Air Force with photographic air reconnaissance and search and rescue support . The wing , along with its 23d and 31st Reconnaissance Squadrons , used Boeing B / FB - 17 Flying Fortresses , Boeing RB - 29 Superfortresses , and Curtiss C - 46 Commando s to accomplish this mission until the Air Force inactivated the wing in 1949 and replaced it as the host wing at Kadena with the 6332d Station Wing Air Defense of the United States . At the end of 1956 , USAF reconstituted the 32d Fighter Group as the 32d Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) , subsequently activating it at Minot AFB , North Dakota as part of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) on 8 February 1957 . The group assumed USAF host responsibilities for the base and was assigned a medical unit and three support squadrons to perform these duties . On 1 April 1959 , the 32d FG was reassigned from the 29th Air Division to the Minot Air Defense Sector , which was activated at Minot . In November , the 433d Fighter - Interceptor Squadron ( FIS ) moved to Minot from Ladd AFB , AK , but the squadron was a paper unit , without aircraft or personnel . It was not until 1960 that the first truly operational unit , the 5th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron moved to Minot , was assigned to the Group , and began to train to become operational with Convair F - 106 Delta Dart s . By 1960 the first elements of Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) ' s 4136th Strategic Wing ( SW ) had activated at Minot . The 32d managed the rapid expansion of facilities to support both ADC and SAC at Minot By 1961 , however , Minot had become a larger facility than could be managed by a group . The first Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es of the 4136 SW ' s 525th Bombardment Squadron were arriving at Minot , and the expansion of the base required a full wing to operate it . As a result , the 32 FG was discontinued on 1 February 1961 , and USAF organized the wing , now redesignated the 32d Fighter Wing ( Air Defense ) , at Minot in 1961 to replace it . The 5th FIS and some of the 32d FG support organizations were reassigned to the wing or its newly activated 32d Air Base Group . Shortly thereafter in 1962 , it was apparent that the primary mission of Minot would be to Support SAC and USAF transferred the base to SAC and discontinued the wing and its support elements , while the 5th FIS was reassigned to Minot Air Defense Sector . Tactical Fighters . In April 1964 , Tactical Air Command activated the wing as the 32d Tactical Fighter Wing ( TFW ) at George AFB , California , to be equipped with F - 4C Phantom II s . The wing had four assigned tactical fighter squadrons , the 782nd , 783d , 784th , and 785th . But , before the wing became fully equipped and trained with the new fighter aircraft , the Air Force replaced the wing with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing , which returned to the US from Japan in July . In anticipation of this replacement , three fighter - interceptor squadrons , the 68th , 431st , and 497th , were transferred to the 32 TFW shortly before its inactivation . These squadrons were redesignated as tactical fighter squadrons and transferred to the 8th TFW when the 32 TFW was inactivated , while its original four squadrons inactivated with the wing . NATO Support in Europe . In 1989 , the Netherlands government allowed United States Air Forces in Europe to expand the Air Force squadron at Soesterberg Air Base to group status . Thus , in late 1989 USAFE activated the recently redesignated 32d Tactical Fighter Group at Soesterberg . The group assumed command of the 32d Tactical Fighter Squadron , along with eight support squadrons , a medical clinic , and an explosive ordnance disposal ( EOD ) flight . After United States Senate ratification of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Reduction Treaty , the group supported the Soviet verification team inspecting the reductions at nearby Woensdrecht Air Base . In 1990 , the group supported Desert Storm both at its home base and at deployed locations . Following the war , the group deployed personnel and equipment to Incirlik AB , Turkey to support operations Proven Force and Provide Comfort , to support humanitarian efforts for refugees . In 1992 , the group was reorganized on a downsized model of the USAF Objective Wing as the 32d Fighter Group , losing two squadrons and the EOD flight , while most of its support squadrons were reduced to flights and reassigned to its support or logistics squadrons . With the end of the Cold War a major force draw - down occurred in Europe and USAF reduced its fighter force structure . As a result in July 1994 , the 32d Tactical Fighter Group Moved to Ramstein Air Base and assumed a new mission . It was replaced as USAF host unit at Soesterberg by the 632d Air Base Squadron . Its aircraft were sold to the Royal Saudi Air Force . Upon arrival at Ramstein , USAF redesignated the unit as the 32d Air Operations Group , as part of the USAFE Theater Air and Space Operations Center ( USAFE TASOC ) at Kapaun Air Station , Germany . The USAFE Theater Air and Space Operations Center is an operational echelon which functions to consolidate operational command and control of joint space forces , similar to the functioning of a traditional Air Operations Center ( AOC ) , but is classed , by AF doctrine , as a " Functional AOC . " The USAFE TASOC , supplies the Joint Functional Component Command for Space operations expertise to create space situational awareness and command and control space forces . All of these efforts are in continuous around - the - clock support of global and theater operations . The 32d was inactivated on 1 December 2006 and replaced by the Third Air Force ' s 603rd Air Operation Center . Lineage . Group Wing Consolidated Unit Component Units . Wing Groups Operational Squadrons Support Squadrons Flight Other