The squadron moved temporarily Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada, where they performed dive bombing and gunnery training.

[6] The "Drunken Duchess"[note 2] docked at Greenock, Scotland on 3 April and the group was transported by train to its airfield at RAF Stoney Cross, England.

[5] Having trained on single engine aircraft, the squadron's pilots were surprised to find Lockheed P-38 Lightnings sitting on Stoney Cross's dispersal pads.

[11] For the remainer of the month, the unit flew fighter sweeps, bomber escort and dive bombing, missions and suffered its first combat losses.

[12] On D-Day and the next three days the squadron flew missions maintaining air cover over shipping carrying invasion troops.

The 392d and other P-38 units stationed in England were selected for these missions with the expectation that the distinctive silhouette of the Lightning would prevent potential friendly fire incidents by anti-aircraft gunners mistaking them for enemy fighters.

[13] Shortly after the Normandy invasion, on 12 June, the 367th Group was selected to test the ability of the P-38 to carry a 2,000 lb bomb under each wing.

[14] By mid June German ground forces had withdrawn to defend a perimeter around Cherbourg Harbour, a major port whose capture had become more important to the allies with the destruction of Mulberry A, one of the artificial harbors constructed near the Normandy beachhead.

Briefed by intelligence to expect a "milk run" The 394th flew at low altitude through what turned out to be a heavily defended area.

[16] From Ibsley the group struck railroads, marshaling yards, and trains to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching the front during the Allied breakthrough at Saint Lo in July 1944.

After the breakout of ground forces in the Saint-Lô area, the squadron concentrated on close air support of General Patton's Third Army.

In late August, the squadron attacked German Seventh Army convoys which, to prevent being surrounded, were withdrawing eastward from the Falaise pocket.

The squadron dive bombed and destroyed two hangars on one airfield but were jumped by twelve Focke-Wulf Fw 190s as they completed their attack.

Eighteen Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Fw 190s engaged the 393d Fighter Squadron as it reformed from its dive bomb run.

In the afternoon the squadron conducted a long range fighter sweep of more than 800 miles to airfields in the Dijon-Bordeaux area.

[3] From Clastres The 392d supported Operation Market-Garden by escorting troop carrier aircraft and attacking flak positions.

[7] In late October, as Ninth Air Force brought its medium bombers to bases in France, the 392d was bumped from its station for the second time by the 387th Bombardment Group, when it moved to Juvincourt Airfield (A-68), north of Reims.

[20] The squadron attacked German strong points to aid the Allied push against the Siegfried Line throughout the fall of 1944.

During the Battle of the Bulge, the 392d, after escorting C-47s on a resupply drop to encircled troops at Bastogne, conducted an armed reconnaissance of the Trier area.

[7] Early in 1945 a desire to standardize the fighter-bombers in Ninth Air Force, the group transitioned into Republic P-47 Thunderbolts.

The 367th Group's target was the headquarters of Field Marshal Kesselring, the German Commander-ln-Chief, West,[note 5] at Ziegenburg near Bad Nauheim, Germany.

Aircraft of the leading 394th Fighter Squadron would attack at low level to achieve surprise, carrying a 1,000-pound bomb under each wing.

[21] Although senior German officers reached the underground bunkers and survived the attack, the group reduced the military complex to ruins, disrupting communications and the flow of intelligence at a critical time.

[7] The squadron struck tanks, trucks, flak positions, and other objectives in support of the assault across the Rhine late in March and the final allied operations in Germany.

When Japan surrendered, the Morton was diverted to Newport News, Virginia while the Ericcson sailed for Staten Island, New York.

[27] The 178th Fighter-Bomber Squadron was released from active duty and returned on paper to North Dakota state control on 1 January 1953.

On 1 November 1954, the 192d began the transition from the piston-engine, propeller driven F-51D to its first jet aircraft, the Lockheed F-94A Starfire interceptor.

In 1986, the 119th Fighter Group became the first Guard unit to assume the USAF Zulu alert mission at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany in Operation Creek Klaxon.

William Tell tests pilots and ground crews from the Air Force fighter units in air-to-air combat.