20th Operations Group

20th Operations Group
Emblem of the 20th Operations Group
Active	1930–1945; 1946–1955; 1992–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force

The 20th Operations Group (20 OG) is a component of the 20th Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. It is stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.

The 20th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 20th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the US Army before World War II.

During World War II the 20th Fighter Group was an Eighth Air Force fighter unit stationed in England. Assigned to RAF Kings Cliffe in 1943. It was the oldest USAAF group to be assigned to the Eighth Air Force for an extended period, flying 312 combat missions. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for a sweep over Germany on 8 April 1944.

The 20th Operations Group is the flying component of the 20th Fighter Wing. The unit employs approximately 80 F-16CJ fighter aircraft in a mission-ready, multi-role capability to mobilize, deploy and tactically employ forces worldwide for any contingency in support of US national objectives. It is responsible for providing the people and resources necessary for conventional air-to-surface, air superiority, suppression of enemy air defenses, destruction of enemy air defenses and maritime operations.

The 20th OG flies the F-16CJ Fighting Falcon. Its tail code is "SW", and consists of the following squadrons:

The 20th Balloon Group was authorized as an inactive organization of the United States Army Air Corps on 18 October 1927. It was redesignated as the 20th Pursuit Group in 1929 and activated on 15 November 1930 at Mather Field, California and consisted of the 71st Service Squadron (the administrative and support element of the group) and initially two flying squadrons:

The 20th flew Boeing P-12 single-seat, biplane fighters which featured two .30 caliber machine guns, an open cockpit, a 500 horsepower (370 kW) Pratt and Whitney engine, and a top speed of 180 miles per hour.