[6][7][8][9] It trained at Peterson Field, Colorado until September 1942, when it moved (less its 14th Squadron and B and C Flights of the 15th) to England, where it flew missions with Eighth Air Force as it prepared for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa.

The 15th's A Flight preceded other group elements, arriving at Tafaroui, Algeria on 18 November, ten days after the initial Torch landings.

It provided coverage for the Battle of Anzio early in 1944 and continued to support the United States Fifth Army in its drive through Italy by determining troop movements, gun positions, and terrain.

[10] Flying from Corsica, the 3d flew reconnaissance missions supporting Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944.

The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 28 August 1944 when it provided photographic intelligence that assisted the rapid advance of Allied ground forces.

However, the increased presence of Chinese MiG-15s resulted in a requirement for high altitude cover, while group reconnaissance aircraft were flying at low level near the Yalu River.

[16] As the Chinese advanced southward through the Korean Peninsula through December 1950, the quality of photographic interpretation provided by the group diminished as other intelligence sources from ground and air dried up, leaving interpreters without context for their work, This lessened the effectiveness of a push during the last ten days of December in which the reconnaissance squadrons mapped the area in front of Eighth Army's lines to a depth of forty miles.

[17] In early 1951, as enemy forces continued their southward advance, group headquarters returned to Japan, where its mission, personnel and equipment was absorbed by the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, which was simultaneously activated at Komaki Air Base.

In 1997, the "Tactical" was dropped from its name and it was activated as an element of the 67th Intelligence Wing at the Medina Annex of Kelly Air Force Base.