820th Base Defense Group

[3] The Group traces its lineage to the 1041st USAF Security Police Squadron (Test) formed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, designated by the code name "Operation SAFESIDE".

It has deployed to locations such as Iraq, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Niger, and Kenya.

[11] The volunteers maintain the history of the unit, provide periodic newsletters and organize an annual reunion at Moody Air Force Base.

Following the Khobar Towers bombing, the unit was reestablished and redesignated as the 820th Security Forces Group (820 SFG) at Lackland AFB, Texas.

On 14 March 2001, the official activation of the new Group occurred at Moody AFB under Air Combat Command (ACC) as a direct reporting unit.

During that time, the squadron conducted more than 6,500 outside-the-wire patrols, covering more than 100,000 miles of roads as well as 1,500 Raven-B and 200 Scan Eagle ISR flight operations.

[16] During its inactivation ceremony in 2009, Army Lt Col Bradley Anderson, the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry Regiment commander stated: "It's been a great experience having 887th as part of the team.

In fact, the integration of our units was so seamless the Air Force should issue you all crossed rifles and change your name to expeditionary infantry squadron.

[18][21] Overall, CJTF-455 achieved the removal of 83 high value individuals and 30 other insurgents from the battlefield during the 2012 and 2013 fighting seasons and reduced mortar and rocket attacks on the airfield.

[18][22] The group has also deployed to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in 2005 to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina,[23] to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake,[24] to resecure and reestablish Tyndall AFB following hurricane Michael in 2018,[25][26] and to support Operation ALLIES WELCOME and enhance security for an Afghan evacuation center at Holloman AFB in 2021.

[32] The volunteers maintain the history of the unit, provide periodic newsletters, and organize an annual Safeside reunion at Moody Air Force Base.

[33] The 820 COS provides the enduring support, training, equipping, and program management to ensure the mobility readiness of the three Base Defense Squadrons.

The exercise involved thousands of troops from 13 countries including; France, Britain, Greece, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Jordan and Kuwait.

[49] Exercise MOBILITY GUARDIAN '19: An advance element of the 820 BDG conducted a Joint Forcible Entry/Airfield Seizure with 1st Brigade/82nd Airborne Division in the northwest USA to enable the follow-on forces and security of the established airfield.

[52] Exercise MOSAIC TIGER 21-1: An airborne section of the 820 BDG seized and secured and airfield with USAF Special Tactics Airmen from Ft Bragg, North Carolina enabling the delivery of follow-on forces to establish basing for forward air support and personnel recovery assets from 23d Wing.

Mosaic Tiger 21-1 was a culmination of nearly two years of planning to prove the skills of the MCA as part of the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept to provide more well-rounded and proficient Airmen.

NEAR BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Airmen of Task Force 1041 patrol the local area. The task force is a self-sustaining unit and has medical staff, personnelists, information managers and other specialists who are all trained to be defenders.
Members of the 820th Base Defense Group applaud at the unveiling of the Safeside tab that will hang on the rappel tower at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., March 16, 2012. The Safeside tab symbolizes the roots and history of the 820th BDG.
Airman 1st Class Matthew Garner has his Ranger tab pinned on by his father, Don Garner, and mentor, Staff Sgt. Seth Hunter, April 29, 2011. after completing the intense 61-day U.S. Army Ranger School at Ft. Benning, Ga. Airman Garner was the only Airman to make it through the course for this class and is one of fewer than 300 to make it since the school opened in the 1950s.
Airmen from the 820th Security Forces Group recently participated in a joint Egyptian government and U.S. Central Command exercise held in Egypt. The Airmen participated in the airborne portion of the multi-faceted Bright Star ’07 exercise, which involved thousands of troops from 13 countries including France, Britain, Greece, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Jordan and Kuwait.
Airmen assigned to the 820th Base Defense Group load on to an HC-130J Combat King II before an airborne jump for Mosaic Tiger Feb. 22, 2021, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. Airborne infiltration operations established airfield security and safe arrival of follow-on forces for Mosaic Tiger. Mosaic Tiger is designed to test the 23d Wing’s ability to integrate multi-capable Airmen into joint operations while maintaining a lighter footprint downrange.
Croatian Special Operations Force (SOF) members, Bulgarian SOF members and U.S. Air Force 820th Base Defense Group members participated in a joint forcible entry operation to demonstrate multi-national capabilities during Exercise Trojan Footprint 22 near Udbina, Croatia, May 3, 2022. Trojan Footprint is the premier Special Operations Forces (SOF) exercise in Europe that focuses on improving the ability of SOF to counter myriad threats, increases integration with conventional forces and enhances interoperability with our NATO allies and European partners.