926TH GROUP (AIR FORCE RESERVE)
Posted 6/21/2012
Printable Fact Sheet
Mission
The 926th Group is an Air Force Reserve unit under 10th Air Force, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Fort Worth, Texas. The group is located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., as an associate unit to the United States Air Force Warfare Center. Through Total Force Integration, reservists are integrated into regular Air Force units, accomplishing the USAFWC and 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing missions side by side regular Air Force personnel on a daily basis.
Through TFI, the 926th GP provides combat-ready reservists to the USAFWC as sustained expertise integrated at the operational and tactical levels of warfare. It continuously conducts combat operations, operational test and evaluation, tactics development, and advanced training to forge the tools required to fly, fight and win.
The 926th GP also supports the U.S. Air Force's first Remotely Piloted Aircraft wing, the 432nd WG/432nd AEW, equipped with more than 100 MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft, in its mission to train pilots, sensor operators and other UAS crewmembers, and conduct combat surveillance and attack operations worldwide.
The 926th GP consists of seven squadrons and two detachments across the nation:
926th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron integrated into the 57th Maintenance Group at Nellis AFB
706th Fighter Squadron integrated into the 57th Wing and 53rd Wing at Nellis AFB
926th Force Support Squadron at Nellis AFB
926th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Nellis AFB
78th Attack Squadron integrated into the 432nd WG/432nd AEW at Creech AFB, Nev.
26th Space Aggressor Squadron accomplishing the 57th Adversary Tactics Group mission at Schriever AFB, Colo.
84th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla.
84th Test and Evaluation Squadron, Detachment 1 integrated into the 505th Command and Control Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
926th Group, Detachment 1 integrated into the 432nd WG/432nd AEW at Creech AFB
Background
On December 28, 1963 the 926th Troup Carrier Group was established at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, La., flying C-119 aircraft as part of a Tactical Air Command decision to organize all troop carrier forces, regular Air Force and Reserve, into wing-group-squadron configurations. In 1967, the unit designation was changed to the 926th Tactical Airlift Group, reflecting broader airlift capabilities to include transporting equipment and supplies for deployments worldwide.
In 1969, the 926th TAG experienced another conversion as it said goodbye to the C-119 and welcomed the C-130 Hercules. In October 1972, members of the 926th TAG flew two C-130 aircraft into South Vietnam as part of the Air Force-wide program designed to provide the South Vietnamese with increased cargo capability before the war came to an end.
In 1977, the Air Force announced the 926th TAG would convert to the A-37 Dragonfly fighter aircraft, bringing with the conversion a combat mission and a new designation, the 926th Tactical Fighter Group.
The 926th TFG continued to fly the A-37 until June 1982 when the group completed a conversion to the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the 926 TFG began deploying people in support of Operation DESERT SHIELD. Then, in December 1990, approximately 450 members of the 926th TFG were recalled to active duty in support of Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM as the nation's first Air Force Reserve combat unit recalled to active duty.
In February 1992, the unit was redesignated as the 926th Fighter Group. The name change reflected the deactivation of the Tactical Air Command. The group began conversion to the F-16 Fighting Falcon which was complete by October that year. Two years later, on October 1, 1994, the unit officially became the 926th Fighter Wing.
In 1995, the pentagon announced another conversion - the 926th FW would convert to the A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. The conversion was completed and the unit became combat-ready in September 1997.
In the late 1990s, the 926th FW participated in deployments patrolling the no-fly zones over Iraq in support of Operation DENY FLIGHT, Operations NORTHERN and SOUTHERN WATCH, and in 1999 returned to Kuwait to participate in Aerospace Expeditionary Force One.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, members of the 926th FW were mobilized and deployed to various locations worldwide in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and NOBLE EAGLE.
In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission identified the 926th FW for closure with personnel and aircraft relocating to four bases. The damage caused by Hurricane Katrina accelerated the process from two and a half years to nine months. By the spring of 2006, the A-10s transferred to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and Barksdale Air Force Base, La., logistics readiness support moved to Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., and the command element moved to Nellis AFB.
In October 2007, the 926th Group was officially activated at Nellis AFB.
Read the full lineage
(Current as of January 2012)
Point of Contact
926th Group Public Affairs
4370 N. Washington Blvd., Suite 219
Nellis AFB, NV 89191
926GP.PA@nellis.af.mil
702-652-5245
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