1st Operations Group

1st Operations Group
F-22 Raptor, 27th Fighter Squadron
Active5 May 1918 – present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeGroup
RoleAir Dominance
Part of1st Fighter Wing
Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQLangley Field, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia
Motto(s)Aut Vincere Aut Mori – Conquer or Die
Tail Code"FF"
Engagements
World War I
  • Champagne-Marne Defensive Campaign
  • Aisne-Marne Offensive Campaign
  • St Mihiel Offensive Campaign
  • Meuse-Argonne Offensive Campaign


World War II (EAME Theater)

  • Air Offensive, Europe Campaign
  • Algeria-French Morocco Campaign
  • Tunisia Campaign
  • Sicily Campaign
  • Naples-Foggia Campaign
  • Anzio Campaign
  • Rome-Arno Campaign
  • Normandy Campaign
  • Northern France Campaign
  • Southern France Campaign
  • North Apennines Campaign
  • Rhineland Campaign
  • Central Europe Campaign
  • Po Valley Campaign


Armed Forces Expeditionary


Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary

Decorations
Distinguished Unit Citation
  • Italy, 25 August 1943; 30 August 1943
  • Ploesti, Rumania, 18 May 1944

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (4x)
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Frank M. Andrews
General Carl A. Spaatz
Insignia
1st Operations Group emblem
Aircraft flown
FighterF-22 Raptor

The 1st Operations Group (1 OG) is the flying component of the 1st Fighter Wing, assigned to the USAF Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The 1st Operations Group is the oldest major air combat unit in the United States Air Force, being the successor organization of the 1st Pursuit Group. The 1st Pursuit Group was the first air combat group formed by the Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, on 5 May 1918.

The Group was first organized at Croix de Metz Aerodrome, near Toul, France, as a result of the United States entry into World War I. As the 1st Pursuit Group it saw combat on the Western Front in France, and during World War II as the 1st Fighter Group combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Pilots of the 1st Group are credited by the USAF with destroying 554.33 aircraft and 50 balloons, and 36 pilots are recognized as being aces.

The pilots of the 1st Group included Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, credited as the top scoring American ace in France during World War I. During World War II, the 1st FG was among the first groups deployed overseas in the summer of 1942. The group flew missions in England as part of the Eighth Air Force, then was transferred to North Africa in November 1942. It experienced significant combat as part of the Twelfth Air Force, moved to Italy, and became part of the fighter force of the Fifteenth Air Force. The 1st FG was equipped with the first operational U.S. jet fighter aircraft, the P-80A Shooting Star, in 1946.

Inactivated in 1961, after 30 years the group was renamed the 1st Operations Group (OG) and activated on 1 October 1991 as a result of the 1st Fighter Wing implementing the USAF objective wing organization. In 2005, the 1st OG was the first operational combat unit to receive the F-22A Raptor, a fifth generation fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology.