The 52d Operations Group maintains, deploys and employs F-16 Falcon; MQ-9 Reaper aircraft and AN/TPS-75 radar systems in support of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and national defense directives.

[5] Group pilots flew Spitfires from Gibraltar to Algeria during Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa on 8 November 1942.

Having converted to North American P-51 Mustangs in April and May 1944, the group escorted bombers that attacked objectives in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia.

[5] It received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a mission on 9 June 1944 when the group protected bombers that struck aircraft factories, communications centers, and supply lines in Germany.

[5] The 52d was reactivated in Germany on 9 November 1946 and was assigned to United States Air Forces Europe as the 52d Fighter Group (All Weather).

[5][note 2] It received Northrop P-61 Black Widows in early 1947, From 1946 to 1947, the 52d served as part of the occupation forces in Germany.

[12] As a result of this test, the group was assigned to a provisional fighter wing at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York.

[5][18] Because one of the additional objectives of Project Arrow was to reunite groups with their traditional squadrons, the 2d[2] and 5th[4] Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons (FIS) moved to Suffolk County from McGuire and took over the personnel, equipment, and radar equipped and rocket armed North American F-86D Sabre aircraft of the 75th and 331st FIS, which moved elsewhere.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Further reading