447th Air Expeditionary Group

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 447th Air Expeditionary Group


caption= Unofficial 447th Air Expeditionary Group emblem
dates= 2003-Present
country= United States
allegiance=
branch= United States Air Force
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command_structure=
current_commander= Col. David Pavey
garrison= Sather AB, Iraq
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
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march=
mascot=
battles=
notable_commanders= Hunter Harris, Jr.
anniversaries=

The United States Air Force's 447th Air Expeditionary Group (447 AEG) is an Air Expeditionary unit located at Sather Air Base on Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. The 447th provides base operating support for the base, aerial port operations, aerial control, and command and control of the airport's military runway. The airfield is a joint civilian-military airport, with a military ramp on one side and a civilian runway on the other that is used for civilian flight operations.

History

The 447th AEG traces its lineage back to the 447th Bombardment Group, which was established on April 6, 1943, and activated on May 1, 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 group was based at Rattlesden, England, from Nov. 25, 1943 to Aug. 1, 1945. The group flew its first combat mission on Dec 24, 1943 against a V-1 missile site in Northern France. Between its first mission and it last on April 21, 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, Feb. 20 to 25, 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.

One group member received the Medal of Honor, 2nd Lt. Robert E. Femoyer, who was navigator assigned the 711th Bombing Squadron. During a mission over Merseburg, Germany, on Nov. 2, 1944, the bomber was struck by three enemy antiaircraft shells. The plane suffered serious damage and Lieutenant Feymoywer was severely wounded in the side and back by shell fragments. In spite of extreme pain and loss of blood, he refused an offered injection of morphine. He was determined to keep his mental faculties clear so he could direct his plane out of danger and save his comrades. Unable to get up from the floor, he was propped up on the floor with his charts and instruments. He successfully directed the navigation of his lone bomber for two and a half hours, avoiding enemy flak and returning to the field without further damage. Only when the plane had arrived in the safe area over the English Channel did the lieutenant permit an injection of a sedative. He died shortly after being removed from the plane.

The 447th returned home to United States in August 1945 where it was stationed at Drew Field, Florida. The unit was inactivated on Nov. 7, 1945. Two years later, on July 25, 1947, the 447th was redesignated the 447th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy. It was then activated in the Air Force Reserve on Aug. 12, 1947, at Bergstrom Field, Texas, and equipped with B-29 Superfortress, which the group flew until 1949.

The group was then redesignated the 447th Bombardment Group, Medium, on June 27, 1949, at Castle Air Force Base, California. The 447th was briefly ordered to active service in May 1951 before being inactivated on June 16, 1951.

The group was redesignated the 447th Air Expeditionary Group and converted to provisional status on Jan. 28, 2003. The 447th AEG was activated at Baghdad International Airport in April 2003, after elements of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division captured the airport April 4 of the same year. The base was named Sather Air Base on April 8, 2005 in honor of Air Force Staff Sergeant Scott D. Sather, who was killed two years prior in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sergeant 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.

Assignments

Major Command

*Air Combat Command/USCENTAF (2003-Present)

Numbered Air Force

* ()

Air Division

* ()

Previous designations

* 447th Air Expeditionary Group (April 2003–present)
* 447th Air Expeditionary Group (Provisional) (28 January 2003–April 2003)
* 447th Bombardment Group (Medium) (27 June 1949–16 June 1951)
* 447th Bombardment Group (???–???)

quadrons assigned

* ()

Bases stationed

*Sather AB, Iraq (2003-Present)
*

Aircraft flown

* ()
*B-17 Flying Fortress (???-???)

External links

* [http://www.balad.afnews.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4667 447th AEG Factsheet]