The mission of the 86 OG (Tail Code: RS) is to conduct airlift, airdrop and aeromedical evacuation as well as VIP transport operations flying the C-21A, C-37A, and C-130J aircraft.

In September 1942, the 86th was redesignated a dive-bomber unit and received A-24 Banshee, the Army Air Forces version of the US Navy's highly successful SBD Dauntless, and A-31 Vengeance aircraft, transferring its A-20s and DB-7s to the 27th and 47th Light Bomber Groups.

The Allies had found land-based dive bombers unsatisfactory for combat in Europe after the initial days of the war, so the A-24 and A-31 were as replaced as rapidly as possible.

In the North African Campaign, the 86th engaged primarily in close support of ground forces, beginning in early July against German positions in Tunisia.

It also attacked rail and road targets and strafed German troop and supply columns during late spring, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation (DCU) for outstanding action against the enemy on 25 May when the group flew 12 armed reconnaissance and bombing missions and 86 sorties, destroyed 217 enemy vehicles and damaged 245, silenced several gun positions, and interdicted the highways into the towns of Frosinone, Cori, and Cescano.

While Strangle did not significantly cut into German supplies, it did disrupt enemy tactical mobility and was a major factor in the Allies' eventual breakthrough.

From Poretta, the fighter group flew bombing missions against coastal defenses in direct support of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France 15 August 1944.

The group continued combat in northern Italy until February 1945, when it left the Mediterranean Theater and moved to Tantonville Airfield (Y-1), France, in the Lorraine region, and operations shifted from targets in the Po Valley to those in southern Germany.

A "maximum effort" on 20 April to stop all enemy transportation in southern Germany earned the group its second Distinguished Unit Citation.

By the end of that war, the group had flown a total of 28,662 combat sorties and claimed the destruction of 9,960 vehicles, 10,420 rail cars, 1,114 locomotives and 515 enemy aircraft.

On 25–26 September 1945, the group moved to AAF Station Schweinfurt, Germany to begin operations as a unit of the occupation force.

This inactivation was followed by a fast-moving and often confusing set of events linked to America's realization that it was involved in a Cold War with the Soviet Union.

The 86th was to serve as part of the occupation force and to maintain combat proficiency On 14 November 1946, the group moved to AAF Station Lechfeld, near Augsburg, Germany.

In June 1948, the 86th Fighter Wing was stationed at Neubiberg Air Base, near Munich when tensions with the Soviet Union culminated in the Berlin Blockade.

On 23 March 1953, the Air Force used the 86th for a "service test" reorganization, changing the wing's structure from four groups to two groups—one combat and one support.

In April 1953, the 86th completed its move to Landstuhl and was soon reequipped with the F-86F Sabre Jet, the first unit in USAFE to fly the most modern American fighter.

Under Deny Flight, Serbian aircraft were forbidden to fly over Bosnian territory, and many of the 86th F-16s deployed to Aviano AB, Italy to enforce the restrictions.

On 28 February 1994, the 86th salved some of its frustrations from missing Desert Storm when two F-16Cs from the 86th's 526th Fighter Squadron were directed to intercept six Serbian Soko G-4 Super Galebs detected bombing targets in the town of Bugojno, Bosnia-Herzegovina by a USAF E-3 Sentry.

This small detachment began planning and administrative activities, serving as a central point for incoming personnel and equipment transferring to Ramstein.

While highly successful, the operation was marred when, on 3 April 1996, the 86th AW's sole CT-43 crashed near Dubrovnik, Croatia, claiming the lives of 35 people, including the Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown, who had been on a mission to improve the economy and infrastructure of the former Yugoslavia.

From February to March 1997, the wing executed Operation Assured Lift with five C-130s and 147 personnel delivering peacekeepers of the Economic Community of West African to Liberia.

For its support of Joint Guard and Assured Lift, along with numerous other contingencies during the period of July 1996 to June 1997, the 86th AW received its seventh Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.

From 1998 through 2000, 86th AW personnel supported Operation Provide Hope, the delivery of excess medical supplies to the Republic of Moldova in the former Soviet Union.

Allied Force focused on bombing key Yugoslavian targets in an effort to persuade President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia to comply with UN resolutions.

In support of Allied Force, the 86th AW flew 396 missions carrying 3,000 tons of cargo and 1,492 passengers to various destinations within the European theater.

From 24 March to 14 July 1999, the 86th AW began Operation Shining Hope, a mission of humanitarian support for refugees displaced by the conflict in the Balkans with shelter and food.

Beginning on 17 August 2000, the 86th Wing moved a large contingent of American soldiers to a staging base in Skopje, Macedonia, then on to Kosovo as part of NATO's Immediate Ready Force.

In October 2000, the 75th AS provided airlift in support of evacuation operations of U.S. Navy sailors injured as a result of the terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen.

In 2006, the 86 OG acquired a sole C-40B previously operated by the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB, MD to replace the C-9A Nightingale which was retired in 2005.

Today, the 86 OG provides theater airlift, distinguished visitor transport and aeromedical evacuation capability by maintaining readiness to deploy and employ all assets across the spectrum of air combat support missions.