463d Bombardment Group

463d Operations Group
463d C-130 Hercules aircraft on a Minimum Interval Takeoff at the start of a mass airdrop exercise at Dyess
Active	1943-1945; 1953-1957; 1991-1993
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Airlift
Part of	Air Mobility Command
Nickname(s)	The Swoose Group (World War II)
Motto(s)	Turris in Coelis Latin Fortress in the Sky (World War II)
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
463d Operations Group emblem
463d Bombardment Group emblem
World War II tail marking	Y on an inverted, arced triangle, yellow rudder

The United States Air Force's 463d Operations Group was a tactical airlift unit last stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. It was inactivated on 1 October 1993.

During World War II as the 463d Bombardment Unit, it was second-to-last B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber group trained in the United States. It was deployed to Southern Italy as part of the Fifteenth Air Force in March 1944.

Constituted as 463d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943. Activated on 1 August 1943. Trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses for duty overseas. Moved to Italy, February–March 1944, and assigned to Fifteenth Air Force. Operational squadrons were the 772d, 773d, 774th and 775th Bombardment Squadrons.

Entered combat on 30 March 1944 and operated chiefly against strategic objectives. Attacked such targets as marshaling yards, oil refineries, and aircraft factories in Italy, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece.

The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing oil refineries in Ploiești on 18 May 1944: when clouds limited visibility to such an extent that other groups turned back, the 463d proceeded to Ploiești and, though crippled by opposition from interceptors and flak, rendered destructive blows to both the target and the enemy fighters.

Received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for leading the wing through three damaging enemy attacks to bomb tank factories in Berlin on 24 March 1945. Also engaged interdiction and support missions. Bombed bridges during May and June 1944 in the campaign for the liberation of Rome.

Participated in the invasion of Southern France in August 1944 by striking bridges, gun positions, and other targets. Hit communications such as railroad bridges, marshalling yards, and airdromes in the Balkans. Operated primarily against communications in northern Italy during March and April 1945.