It was activated in 1992, when the Air Force implemented the Objective Wing organization, and was successively equipped with the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and the Rockwell B-1 Lancer before converting to the E-8C in 2002.

The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its air support during Operation Market Garden, the airborne invasion of the Netherlands.

After the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, the group was converted back to fighters in 1973, but was inactivated a year later.

On 15 March sixteen pilots from the 353d, 355th, 359th and 361st Fighter Groups were assembled under Col. Duncan and nicknamed "Bill's Buzz Boys".

Until "Bill's Buzz Boys" were disbanded on 12 April they developed tactics for low level strafing attacks on enemy airfields, which prevented the Luftwaffe from shepherding their air defense forces on the ground, in order to use them only when they had an advantage, minimizing losses, because the aircraft were vulnerable both in the air and on the ground.

While protecting the troop carriers the group claimed 25 victories over enemy fighters attacking the drop and landing zones while losing four more of its P-47s.

[citation needed] The group continued its fighter-bomber, escort, and counter-air activities, participating in the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 through January 1945 and Operation Varsity, the airborne attack across the Rhine in March 1945.

This was the only time in the history of Eighth Air Force when two pilots from the same unit destroyed five or more enemy aircraft in the same engagement.

[14] The 353d's flew its last combat mission (its 448th) on 25 April 1945, when it escorted Royal Air Force and 398th Bombardment Group bombers attacking Berchtesgaden and Pilsen.

[citation needed] With the end of World War II in September, the group left Raydon and transferred back to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey where it was inactivated on 18 October 1945.

The B-17 was painted in the 353rd colors (yellow/black checkerboard cowls) and used to fly ground crewmembers over Germany so that they could observe the impact their aircraft had made in the war.

It was organized at Marietta Army Air Field, Georgia, and was extended federal recognition on 20 August 1946 by the National Guard Bureau.

The group flew long-distance transport missions in support of Air Force requirements, frequently sending aircraft to the Caribbean, Europe, Greenland, and the Middle East.

After calling Dobbins home for 50 years, the 116th simultaneously converted from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighters to the Rockwell B-1 Lancer strategic bomber and moved 110 miles south to Robins Air Force Base near Warner Robins, Georgia and the former Strategic Air Command alert facility there.

The 93d Air Control Wing, an active-duty unit, was inactivated on 1 October 2002 and the 116th Group was assigned both members of the Guard and active duty airmen.

Notes Citations This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency