447th Air Expeditionary Group The 447th Air Expeditionary Group ( 447 AEG ) was a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) and United States Air Forces Central ( USAFCENT ) . The unit presently was last stationed at Sather Air Base on Baghdad International Airport in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and . During World War II , its predecessor unit , the 447th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) was an Eighth Air Force B - 17 Flying Fortress unit in England , stationed at RAF Rattlesden . During Big Week , 20 – 25 February 1944 , the 447th took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry . 2d Lieutenant Robert E . Femoyer was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during a mission over Merseburg , Germany , on 2 November 1944 . Overview . The 447th AEG provided aerial port , command and control of the military runway , aerial control , base operating support , combat Airmen and combat medical support . The group also supported U . S . and Coalition forces with airlift , supplies and delivery of these forces and materials within the Baghdad area . The 447th operated a true joint environment , with Air Force aerial port Airmen working next to U . S . Army Soldiers . The airfield was a joint civilian - military airport , with a military ramp on the west side and a civilian runway and terminal on the other that is used for international civilian flight operations . Squadrons assigned . The 447th Air Expeditionary Group ’ s forces were organized under seven squadrons : History . World War II . The 447th AEG traces its lineage back to the 447th Bombardment Group , which was established on 6 April 1943 , and activated on 1 May 1943 at Ephrata Army Air Base , Washington . The group consisted of four squadrons : the 708th , 709th , 710th and 711th Bombardment Squadrons . The mission of the 447th was to form a heavy bombardment group and begin training in the B - 17 Flying Fortress aircraft . After six months of training , first at Rapid City Army Air Base , South Dakota , in June 1943 and then at Harvard Army Air Field , Nebraska , in August 1943 , the first 42 of the group ' s B - 17s began its move from the United States to the European theater of operations in November 1943 . The unit sailed on the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 23 November 1943 and arrived Clyde on 29 November 1943 . The air echelon moved overseas via southern ferry route in early November 1943 . The group was stationed at RAF Rattlesden , England , from 25 November 1943 to 1 August 1945 . The group flew its first combat mission on 24 December 1943 against a V - 1 missile site in Northern France . Between its first mission and it last on 21 April 1945 , the 447th engaged chiefly in strategic bombardment . The group flew 257 combat missions over Europe , comprising 7 , 605 sorties . Only 15 percent of the aircraft launched on combat missions failed to reach their target . From December 1943 to May 1944 , the 447th helped prepare for the invasion of the European continent by attacking submarine pens , naval installations , and cities in Germany ; missile sites and ports in France ; and airfields and marshaling yards in France , Belgium and Germany . The group conducted heavy bombardment missions against German aircraft industry during Big Week , 20 to 25 February 1944 . The group supported the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 by bombing airfields and other targets , and the group aided in the breakthrough at St . Lo , France , and the effort to take Brest , France , from July to September 1944 . They bombed strategic targets from October to December 1944 and assaulted marshalling yards , railroad bridges and communication centers during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 and January 1945 . In March 1945 the group bombed an airfield in support of airborne assault across the Rhine . Lt Franklin Stanley flew an astonishing 35 missions , having waived rotation . The 447th was returned to the United States August 1945 and inactivated 7 November 1945 . Cold War . Redeployed to the United States during June / August 1945 . The air echelon departed the United Kingdom on 29 / 30 June 1945 . Ground echelon sailed part on the U . S . Army Transport ( USAT ) ship Joseph T . Robinson and part on the USAT Benjamin R . Milam from Liverpool on 1 and 3 August 1945 respectively . Ships arrived Boston on 12 and 15 August 1945 . Personnel had 30 days R & R . Group was established at Drew Field , Florida in August 1945 , but apparently was unmanned , and inactivated on 7 November 1945 . Two years later , on 25 July 1947 , the 447th was redesignated the 447th Bombardment Group , Very Heavy . It was activated in the Air Force Reserve on 12 August 1947 , at Bergstrom Field , Texas , and equipped with B - 29 Superfortress . The group was redesignated as the 447th Bombardment Group , Medium as a result of the B - 29 being designated as a " medium " bomber and reassigned to Castle Air Force Base , California . The 447th was ordered to active service in May 1951 as a result of the Korean War , with personnel and equipment reassigned to units in Far East Air Force as replacements . Inactivated as a " paper unit " on 16 June 1951 . Modern era . The group was redesignated the 447th Air Expeditionary Group ( 447 AEG ) and converted to provisional status on 28 January 2003 . The 447 AEG was activated at Baghdad International Airport in April 2003 , after elements of the 3rd Infantry Division captured the airport 4 April of the same year . The base was named Sather Air Base on 8 April 2005 in honor of Air Force Staff Sergeant Scott D . Sather , who was killed two years prior in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom . SSgt Sather , of Clio , Michigan , was an Air Force Special Operations combat controller serving with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron , Pope Air Force Base , North Carolina .