It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation, French Croix de Guerre with Palm and Belgian Fourragere before inactivating in the fall of 1945.

During the Korean War, it was activated and deployed to France as the 137th Fighter-Bomber Group, where it opened Chaumont Air Base.

[8] On 22 March 1944, the group departed Camp Shanks, New York for the European Theater on board the MV Stirling Castle, arriving in Liverpool on 3 April.

The group's station in England was RAF Winkton, an unimproved field, where it received 75 Republic P-47 Thunderbolts by 16 April.

[11] For the rest of the month, the 404th helped prepare for Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion by bombing and strafing targets in northern France.

The group also flew interdiction and escort missions, strafing and bombing such targets as troop concentrations, railroads, highways, bridges, fuel and ammunition dumps, armored vehicles, docks, and tunnels, and covering the operations of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, Consolidated B-24 Liberators, and Martin B-26 Marauders that bombed factories, airdromes, marshaling yards, and other targets.

[2] On 10 September 1944 the group flew three armed reconnaissance missions, attacking factories, rolling stock and communications centers despite adverse weather and heavy flak, for which it was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.

[2] On 28 September 1944, 2/Lt John W. Wainwright was credited with destroying six enemy aircraft on a single mission, three of which were knocked down in a midair collision during a dogfight.

[2] From 21 to 25 January 1945, it attacked German armor and transportation withdrawing from the Battle of the Bulge, and claimed to have destroyed or damaged over 1000 enemy vehicles.

Most personnel either separated from the military or were reassigned to other units, while a skeleton staff arrived at Drew Field, Florida on 1 September.

[15] However, it was August 1951 before France gave permission to establish an "interim tent camp" at Chaumont, which had runways built in 1944 and a limited parking area.

[16] By 27 November, the group's squadrons assembled at Alexandria Air Force Base, Louisiana, for conversion training in newer F-84G Thunderjets.

While at Alexandria, the group's pilots participated in USAF Project 7109, which sent them temporarily to Far East Air Forces, where they acquired actual combat experience before returning to the States.

The 137th ended its active-duty tour in France two weeks later in July 1952[2][14] and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the 48th Fighter Group, which was simultaneously activated.

The 137th was gained by Tactical Air Command (TAC), and the squadrons were again equipped with Mustangs again, due to the shortage of jet aircraft in the United States (almost all were in Korea).

[12] Throughout the 1960s, the 125th flew long-distance transport missions in support of Air Force requirements, frequently sending aircraft to the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.

[13] Part of the 137th Air Transport Group mission was a specially equipped C-97E, 51-0224, the "Miss Oklahoma City" also known as the "Talking Bird".

From 1961 though 1963 the aircraft was used as an airborne command post to maintain constant secure communications between the nation's capital and President John F. Kennedy during his visits to foreign countries.

[citation needed] The 137th provided operational support during the 1991 Gulf War, and contributed logistical assistance in Bosnia in the late 1990s.