The 497th Group delivers real-time high-confidence intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and services to Joint and Coalition forces and other designated government agencies.

However, USAFE lacked resources in theater to train and man the unit, so the 497th Squadron moved to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, the home of the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing in July 1951.

[4] After the completion of training, the squadron sailed on the USS General S. D. Sturgis for Europe, where it was stationed at sites in Wiesbaden while its base at the Schierstein Administrative Office was being renovated.

With the move, the unit stopped producing charts and maps but assumed operational control of the photographic processing facility at Wiesbaden Air Base.

The group accomplished photographic intelligence exploitation including studies, analysis and estimates as well as precision targeting, plotting and production.

On 1 July 1991, the group moved to RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom, where it served as the foundation for European Command's Joint Analysis Center.

The group's mission included three main functions: intelligence systems, operations applications, and security and communications management.

The group was the primary planning, policy implementation, and functional management arm of the Directorate of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissanceof Headquarters, United States Air Force.