The 18th OG is the largest combat operations group in the Air Force with eight squadrons, one flight, 842 active-duty members and approximately 80 aircraft, including the F-15 Eagle, E-3 Sentry, KC-135 Stratotanker and the HH-60 Pave Hawk.

The group's nine squadrons (Tail Code: ZZ) and flight include: The fighting cock emblem, approved in 1931, symbolizes the courage and aggressiveness of a combat organization.

18th Wing heritage began on 21 January 1927, when the War Department activated a provisional pursuit group at Wheeler Field, Hawaii.

During March 1943, the group moved to the South Pacific Theater and rejoined the war effort as part of Thirteenth Air Force and began operations from Guadalcanal.

Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for actions at Ormoc Bay: on 10 November 1944 the group withstood intense flak and vigorous opposition from enemy interceptors to attack a Japanese convoy that was attempting to bring in additional troops for use against American forces that had landed on Leyte; on the following day a few of the group's planes returned to the same area, engaged a large force of enemy fighters, and destroyed a number of them.

Its organization was as follows: At the outbreak of the Korean War, the 18th FBG's 12th FBS provided personnel to form the "Dallas" fighter squadron, which rushed into battle.

From 28 July to 3 August, the 18th Group operated directly under Fifth Air Force then passed to the control of the 6002nd Fighter (later, Tactical Support) Wing.

Combat targets included tanks and armored vehicles, locomotives and trucks, artillery and antiaircraft guns, fuel and ammunition dumps, warehouses and factories, and troop concentrations.

Because the front advanced so rapidly, operations from Pusan (K-9) soon became impractical, and the group moved in November to Pyongyang East (K-24), North Korea.

The group earned its second Distinguished Unit Citation from 22 April to 8 July 1951, when it flew 6,500 combat sorties while operating from sod, dirt filled, and damaged runways to counter the enemy's 1951 spring offensive.