23rd Fighter Group

23rd Fighter Group
23rd Fighter Group A-10C Thunderbolt II attached to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing takes off from a forward-deployed location during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Active1942–1946, 1946–1949, 1951–1952, 1955–1959, 1991–1997, 2006–present
CountryUnited States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleClose Air Support
Size900 personnel
48 A-10C aircraft
Garrison/HQMoody Air Force Base, Georgia
Nickname(s)Flying Tigers
Mascot(s)Tiger with Wings
EngagementsWorld War II
Iraqi no-fly zones conflict
Operation Uphold Democracy
War on terror
Iraq War
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Commanders
Current
commander
Colonel Nicholas DiCapua[1]
Notable
commanders
Col. Robert L. Scott
General Bruce K. Holloway
Brig, Gen. David Lee "Tex" Hill
Col. Edward F. Rector
Insignia
23rd Wing emblem (approved 24 January 1957)[2]

The 23rd Fighter Group (23 FG) is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 23rd Wing and stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.

The 23rd Fighter Group was established in World War II as the 23rd Pursuit Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).[3] Redesignated the 23rd Fighter Group before its activation, the group was formed in China on 4 July 1942,[3] as a component of the China Air Task Force and received a small cadre of volunteer personnel from the simultaneously disbanded 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) – the "Flying Tigers"[3] of the Chinese Air Force.

To carry on the traditions and commemorate the history of the AVG, aircraft of the USAF 23rd Fighter Group carry the same "Shark Teeth" nose art of the AVG's Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, along with the "FT" (Flying Tiger) tail code. The 23rd Fighter Group's aircraft are the only United States Air Force aircraft currently authorized to carry this distinctive and historical aircraft marking.

  1. ^ "23rd FG changes hands". Moody Air Force Base. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. ^ Haulman, Daniel L. (9 April 2012). "Factsheet 23 Fighter Wing (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Maurer, Combat Units, p. 72