It later became a Twentieth Air Force very long range fighter group on Iwo Jima, escorting Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers that attacked the Japanese home Islands.

[5] The unit was originally constituted as the 15th Pursuit Group (Fighter) and was activated at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, on 1 December 1940 as part of the defense force for the Hawaiian Islands.

[10] In addition to its primary combat aircraft the group flew the Curtiss A-12 Shrike, Grumman OA-9 Goose, Martin B-12 and Boeing P-26 Peashooter during the prewar period.

Bombing and strafing attacks that morning by carrier-based planes of the Japanese strike force destroyed many assigned aircraft and caused heavy casualties.

Second Lieutenants George S. Welch and Kenneth M. Taylor, P-40 pilots assigned to the 47th Pursuit Squadron, shot down four and two Japanese aircraft, respectively,[6] and were later cited for extraordinary heroism during the attack.

During this assignment, which lasted a little more than a year, the 6th kept detachments of its Douglas P-70 Havocs and Northrop P-61 Black Widows on Guadalcanal and New Guinea.

[8] In September, the 45th squadron also deployed to the western Pacific for combat operations,[7] leaving the 47th and 78th with group headquarters in Hawaii.

[9][15] Then, in April 1944, the deployed elements of the 15th Fighter Group returned to Hawaii and began training for very long range bomber escort missions, obtaining North American P-51 Mustangs later in the year.

[6] In January 1945, ordered into combat, the group left Hawaii for Saipan in the Marianas Islands, remaining there until a landing strip could be secured by the Marines on Iwo Jima.

They supported Marine ground units by bombing and strafing cave entrances, trenches, troop concentrations, and storage areas.

[6] By the middle of March, the group also began strikes against enemy airfields, shipping, and military installations in the Bonin Islands.

[6] On 7 April 1945, the 15th flew its first Very Long Range (VLR) mission to Japan, providing fighter escort for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers that attacked the Nakajima aircraft plant near Tokyo, and was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.

[6] In late April and early May that year, the 15th struck Japanese airfields on Kyūshū to curtail the enemy's suicide attacks against the invasion force on Okinawa and also hit enemy troop trains, small factories, gun positions, and hangars in the Bonins and Japan.

[6] After the war, the group remained on lwo Jima until 25 November 1945, when it transferred (without personnel and equipment) to Bellows Field, Hawaii.

[24] There it was responsible for the air defense of an area that included Western and Northern New York and parts of Ontario, Canada.

[25] The group was also assigned several support squadrons to perform its mission as USAF host unit for the active duty portions of Niagara Falls Airport.

[32] The wing deployed 16 F-4s at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, during the Pueblo crisis in 1968.

Members of the 45 TFS achieved the first U.S. Air Force aerial victories of the Vietnam War when they destroyed two MIGs on 10 July 1965.

Captains Thomas S. Roberts, Ronald C. Anderson, Kenneth E. Holcombe, and Arthur C. Clark received credit for these kills.

In 1969, the wing assumed host USAF responsibility for MacDill from the 836th AD and was assigned the 15th Combat Support Group to carry out this mission.

[36] The 4424th CCTS remained at MacDill, coming under the 1st TFW and finally discontinuing on 30 June 1972[36] with the return of the B-57Gs to the United States (to Kansas ANG).

Almost three years later, on 8 February 2006 the wing welcomed in the first of eight C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets changing Hickam's identity and mission from strictly en route support to include performing local and worldwide airlift operations in support of combat and humanitarian missions.

Groups Operational Squadrons This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency