347th Rescue Group

• Established as 347th Fighter Group on 29 September 1942

Activated on 3 October 1942

Inactivated on 1 January 1946

• Redesignated 347th Fighter Group (All Weather) on 19 December 1946

Activated on 20 February 1947

Redesignated: 347th Fighter Group, All Weather, on 10 August 1948

Redesignated: 347th Fighter-All Weather Group on 20 January 1950

Inactivated on 24 June 1950

• Redesignated: 347th Tactical Fighter Group on 31 July 1985 (Remained inactive)
• Redesignated: 347th Operations Group on 1 May 1991

Activated on 1 May 1991

Redesignated: 347th Rescue Group on 1 October 2006.

• 4th Fighter (later, Fighter-All Weather) Squadron: 20 February 1947 – 24 June 1950 (detached entire period)
• 38th Rescue Squadron: 1 May 2001–present
• 41st Rescue Squadron: 1 April 1997–present
• 52d Airlift Squadron: 1 May 1994 – 16 September 1997
• 67th Fighter Squadron: 3 October 1942 – 1 November 1945
• 68th Fighter (later, Fighter-All Weather; Tactical Fighter; Fighter) Squadron: 3 October 1942 – 1 November 1945; 20 February 1947 – 24 June 1950 (detached 1 March – 24 June 1950); 1 May 1991 – 30 April 2001
• 69th Tactical Fighter (later, Fighter) Squadron: 1 May 1991 – 2 February 2001
• 70th Fighter (later, Tactical Fighter; Fighter) Squadron: 3 October 1942 – 30 March 1943; 1 November – 26 December 1945; 1 May 1991 – 30 June 2000
• 71st Rescue Squadron: 1 April 1997–present
• 339th Fighter (later, Fighter-All Weather) Squadron: 3 October 1942 – 1 January 1946; 20 February 1947 – 24 June 1950 (detached 1 July 1949 – 24 June 1950)
• 307th Fighter Squadron: 20 November 1992 – 31 August 1995
• 308th Fighter Squadron: 20 November 1992 – 1 April 1994
• 431st Fighter Squadron: attached 15 November 1947 – 28 August 1948
• 433d Fighter Squadron: attached 18 November 1947 – 28 August 1948.

Constituted as the 347th Fighter Group on 29 September 1942. Activated in New Caledonia on 3 October 1942. Detachments of the group, which was assigned to Thirteenth Air Force in January 1943, were sent to Guadalcanal, where they used Bell P-39 and P-400 Airacobra aircraft to fly protective patrols, support ground forces, and attack Japanese shipping.

Operational squadrons of the 347th FG were the 67th, 68th, 70th and 339th Fighter Squadrons.

When the Allied campaign to recover the central and northern Solomon Islands began in February 1943, the detachments, still operating from Guadalcanal and using Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and P-39 Airacobras, escorted bombers and attacked enemy bases on New Georgia, the Russell Islands, and Bougainville.

It was P-38Gs of the 339th Fighter Squadron which, on 18 April 1943, flew the mission which resulted in the death of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Only their aircraft possessed the range to intercept and engage. Pilots were informed that they were intercepting an "important high officer," although they were not aware of who their actual target was.

On the morning of 18 April, despite urgings by local commanders to cancel the trip for fear of ambush, Yamamoto's planes left Rabaul as scheduled. Shortly after, eighteen specially fitted P-38s took off from Guadalcanal. They wave-hopped most of the 430 miles to the rendezvous point, maintaining radio silence throughout. At 09:34 Tokyo time, the two flights met and a dogfight ensued between the P-38s and the six Zeroes escorting Yamamoto.

1st Lt. Rex T. Barber engaged the first of the two Japanese bombers, which turned out to be Yamamoto's plane. He sprayed the plane with gunfire until it began to spew smoke from its left engine. Barber turned away to attack the other bomber as Yamamoto's plane crashed into the jungle. Afterwards, another pilot, Capt Thomas George Lanphier, Jr., claimed he had shot down the lead bomber, which led to a decades-old controversy until a team inspected the crash site to determine direction of the bullet impacts. Most historians now credit Barber with the claim.

One US pilot—1st Lt. Raymond K. Hine—was killed in action.

Headquarters moved up from New Caledonia at the end of 1943; and the following month the group moved from Guadalcanal to Stirling Island to support ground forces on Bougainville, assist in neutralizing enemy bases at Rabaul, and fly patrol and search missions in the northern Solomons.

The 347th was reassigned to New Guinea in August 1944, and equipped completely with P-38G's. Escorted bombers to oil refineries on Borneo; bombed and strafed airfields and installations on Ceram, Amboina, Boeroe, Celebes, and Halmahera. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a series of long-range bombing and strafing raids, conducted through intense flak and fighter defense, on the airfield and shipping at Makassar, Celebes, in November 1944.

Moved to the Philippines in February 1945. Supported landings on Mindanao in March 1945: bombed and strafed enemy installations and supported Australian forces on Borneo, attacked Japanese positions in northern Luzon, and flew escort missions to the Asiatic mainland.

The 347th Fighter Group was reassigned back to the United States in December 1945, and inactivated on 1 January 1946.

North American F-82G Twin Mustang Serial 46-394 of the 68th Fighter (All Weather) Squadron flying a night interceptor mission over the wartime skies of Korea, 1951.

As the war in Korea began, on 24 June 1950 the 347th Fighter Wing was inactivated and the 347th Fighter Group's Twin Mustang squadrons were transferred to South Korea. They were the only fighter aircraft available with the range to cover the entire Korean peninsula.

The 339th Squadron was attached to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kimpo Airfield, near Seoul South Korea to stem the North Korean advance. The 68th Fighter (AW) Squadron was based at Itazuke, Japan. The 4th (AW) Squadron was reassigned to the provisional 6302d Air Base Group and provided air defense of Japan and the Ryukyu Islands.

The 347th Fighter Group provided fighter cover for the C-54 and C-47 transports flying in and out of Kimpo Airfield. On 27 June 1950, an F-82G (46–383) of the 68th Fighter (AW) Squadron flown by Lieut. William (Skeeter) Hudson (pilot) and Lieut. Carl Fraser (radar operator) shot down a North Korean Yak-7U (possibly a misidentified Yak-11). This was the first air-to-air kill of the Korean War, and, incidentally, the first aerial victory by the newly formed United States Air Force.

It is believed that Lt. Hudson was flying an F-82G named "Bucket of Bolts" (46–601) instead of his usual aircraft on that historic day. Later that same day, an F-82G (46–392) flown by Major James Little of the 339th Fighter (AW) Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group shot down a North Korean Yak-9. Records are unreliable, and some experts maintain that Major Little actually was the first to kill.

The 339th and 68th Fighter (AW) Squadrons served in South Korea until December 1950, being attached to the 8th FBW, 35th FIW, and 51st FIW. As more jets, especially the all-weather Lockheed F-94 Starfire, became available the F-82s were deligated to ground attack missions before eventually being withdrawn from the Korean Theater, modified, and reassigned to bomber escort duties at Ladd AFB, Alaska. With their F-82's reassigned to Alaska, the 347th Fighter Group was inactivated and stood down.

•  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
• Some of this text in of this article was taken from pages on the Moody AFB website, which as a work of the U.S. government is presumed to be a public domain resource.
• Davis, Larry (1996). F-82 Twin Mustang (Squadron/Signal Mini in Action Series Number 8). Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications. ISBN 0-89747-367-1.
• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-513-4.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6
• Pape, Garry R., Campbell, John M. and Donna (1991), Northrop P-61 Black Widow: The Complete History and Combat Record. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International. ISBN 0-87938-509-X.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
• Thompson, Warren (1995), Fighter Combat Over Korea, Part 1: First Kills, Wings of Fame, Aerospace Publishing ISBN 1-85532-115-7.