14th Operations Group
 | |
|---|---|
 T-6 Texan IIs over Columbus AFB, Mississippi | |
| Active | 1941–1945; 1946–1949; 1955–1960; 1991–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Pilot Training |
| Size | Group |
| Part of | Air Education and Training Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi |
| Nickname(s) | Blaze |
| Motto(s) | To Fight to Death (1941–1960) Day and Night – Peace and War (Wing Motto, 1991–present) |
| Engagements | European theater of World War II |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Col. Stan Lawrie |
| Notable commanders | General Robert H. Foglesong |
| Insignia | |
| 14th Operations Group emblem[1][note 1] |  |
| 14th Flying Training Wing emblem from 1991–2007 |  |
| 14th Fighter Group emblem (approved 17 June 1942)[2] |  |
The 14th Operations Group 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.
The group was first activated in 1941 as the 14th Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field, California. For a short time following the Attack on Pearl Harbor it flew patrols along the Pacific coast. It moved to the United Kingdom as the 14th Fighter Group in the summer of 1942 and was the first fighter unit to ferry its own aircraft across the Atlantic. After combat training with the Royal Air Force, the group moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations following Operation Torch, the North Africa invasion. It continued in combat until V-E Day, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for defending bombers attacking a target in Austria in 1944. It was inactivated in Italy in September 1945.
The 14th was again activated at Dow Field, Maine in 1946 as part of Air Defense Command (ADC). It became the first Army Air Forces combat unit to equip with the Republic P-84 Thunderjet. The group was inactivated in 1949 when reductions in the Department of Defense budget required a reduction of groups in the United States Air Force (USAF) to 48.
In the summer of 1955 the group was activated at Ethan Allen Air Force Base, where it assumed the mission, personnel and equipment of the 517th Air Defense Group under ADC's Project Arrow, which was designed to replace post-war units with fighter organizations with distinguished combat records. It remained there until 1960, when it was inactivated.
The group was again activated as the 14th Operations Group at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi in December 1991 and assumed its current mission of training pilots for the USAF.
- ^ Robertson, Patsy (23 August 2011). "Factsheet 14 Flying Training Wing (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 57–58
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