[1] The group moved overseas between October 1942 and February 1943, the ground echelon arriving in French Morocco with the force that invaded North Africa on 8 November, and the air echelon, which had trained for a time in England, arriving in North Africa between late December 1942 and early February 1943.

The fighters were uncrated, assembled and test flown by the pilots that would take them to North Africa, Sicily and Italy.

[1] The group continued training and on occasion flew patrol and escort missions before returning to full-time combat duty in January 1945.

It attacked enemy airfields and installations, flew escort missions, and aided the operations of Chinese ground forces by attacking troop concentrations, ammunition dumps, lines of communications, and other targets to hinder Japanese efforts to move men and material to the front.

The mission of the group was to maintain daylight security of the Hawaiian Islands and to train fighter pilots to a state of combat readiness.

[2] The 81st FG was formed largely from the personnel and equipment of the 15th Fighter Group which was inactivated at Wheeler Field the same day.

[3] The 81st was faced with the arduous task of training personnel for the transition from a fully staffed wartime organization with an abundance of supplies and equipment (15th FG) into an effective peacetime fighter group with limited resources and facilities.

ConAC was the result of an effort by the new USAF to concentrate all fighter forces deployed within the continental United States to strengthen the air defense of the North American continent.

After fourteen months at now renamed Larson Air Force Base, the 81st FIG received movement orders to deploy to England.

The 81st FIG deployed to two RAF Stations, built for use during World War II and laid out in a decentralized or dispersed plan.

[5] On 1 November 1952, the federalized 116th FIS was returned to the National Guard and its personnel and equipment transferred to the newly activated 78th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.

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