458th Air Expeditionary Group

458th Air Expeditionary Group
C-9 Nightingale of the 458th Air Expeditionary Group at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base
Active	1943–1945; 1992–1995; 2004; 2006 (twice); 2007 (twice); 2007–2011
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Provisional
Role	Air Expeditionary
Part of	United States Air Forces in Europe

The 458th Air Expeditionary Group (458 AEG) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe. As a provisional unit, the 458 AEG may be activated or inactivated at any time.

The last known activation of the unit was at Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport, 26 km NW of Constanţa, Romania. The group was active from about March to June 2003, charged with maintaining an airbridge at the base to transport supplies and people to the US Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR).

During World War II, the 458th Bombardment Group was an Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator unit in England. Assigned to RAF Horsham St Faith in early 1944, the group flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945, flying 240 missions losing 47 aircraft in combat.

The Group flew its first diversionary missions on 24 and 25 February 1944 to draw enemy fighters from German targets being attacked by other USAAF bombers. The group's first bombing mission was on 2 March 1944, and afterward the group operated primarily against strategic targets in Nazi Germany, examples being the industrial areas of Saarbrücken, oil refineries at Hamburg, an airfield at Brunswick, aircraft factories at Oschersleben building the Fw 190 under contract, a fuel depot at Dulmen, a canal at Minden, the aircraft works at Brandenburg, the marshalling yards at Hamm and an aircraft engine plant at Magdeburg.