398th Air Expeditionary Group The 398th Air Expeditionary Group ( 398 AEG ) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe . The 398 AEG may be activated or inactivated at any time . During World War II , its predecessor unit , the 398th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) was an Eighth Air Force B - 17 Flying Fortress unit in England , stationed at RAF Nuthampstead . The group flew 195 combat missions , the last being on 25 April 1945 . Known operations . During Operation Iraqi Freedom the title 398 AEG was given to a collection of units and personnel operating from Souda Bay , Greece . Later in 2003 , the unit participated in Operation Shining Express in Liberia , a rescue operation directed by United States European Command to evacuate civilians from parts of Liberia affected by the Second Liberian Civil War . Among the groups contributions was delivering a United States Marine Corps security forces team . History . World War II . The group was constituted as the 398th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) on 15 February 1943 , and equipped with the B - 17 Flying Fortress . It was activated 1 March 1943 at Ephrata Army Air Base , Wash . , with the 600th , 601st , 602d , and 603d Bombardment Squadron s . The Group assembled at Blyth Army Airfield , Cal . and then moved to Geiger Fd , Wash . on 20 April 1943 to complete training . On 20 June 1943 moved to Rapid City AAB , SD . to take up Replacement Training Unit duties . Trained 326 B - 17 crews from August to December 1943 but at the beginning of the New Year reverted to training for combat . Ground echelon began movement overseas on 4 April 1943 . The unit moved to Camp Myles Standish , Mass . on 7 – 12 April 1943 . Personnel embarked on USS Wakefield . Sailed to Boston on 13 April , and arrived in Liverpool on 21 April 1944 . Moved to England in April 1944 and assigned to Eighth AF . The 398th BG entered combat in May 1944 , and until V - E Day operated primarily against strategic objectives in Germany , attacking targets such as factories in Berlin , warehouses in Munich , marshalling yards in Saarbrücken , shipping facilities in Kiel , oil refineries in Merseburg , and aircraft plants in Münster . The group temporarily suspended strategic missions to attack coastal defenses and enemy troops on the Cotentin Peninsula during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944 . The group struck gun positions near Eindhoven in support of the air attack on Holland in September 1944 , and raided power stations , railroads , and bridges during the Battle of the Bulge , December 1944 – January 1945 . The group flew missions attacking airfields to aid the Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945 . The 398th flew its last combat mission , attacking an airfield in Pilsen , Czechoslovakia , on 25 April 1945 . After V - E Day the group transported liberated prisoners from Germany to France . From Nuthampstead , the 398th Bomb Group flew 195 combat missions . Redeployed USA in May / June 1945 . The aircraft left on 21 – 27 May 1945 . The Ground unit went to Greenock on 22 June 1945 and sailed on Queen Elizabeth arriving in New York on 29 June 1945 . After 30 days R & R some personnel assembled at Drew Fd , Fla , where the Group was inactivated on 1 September 1945 Post Cold War . The 398th BG was redesignated as the 398th Operations Group and activated 1 June 1992 . Reactivated in 1992 as 398th Operations Group . Assigned first to 340th Air Refueling Wing , later to 97th Air Mobility Wing as a KC - 135 air refueling group . From 1 June 1992 – 31 March 1995 the 93d Air Refueling Squadron was part of the group . The 398th OG was inactivated on 31 March 1995 . Air Expeditionary Service during Global War On Terrorism , with JTF - Liberia 2003 ; 2008 . During this period the group flew the HH - 60 helicopter , and Marine units attached to the group in 2003 operated the AV - 8B Harrier .