Commander
Col. Nicholas Ihde
Mission
Forge Future Combat Airpower
Personnel and Resources
The 85th Fighter Group mission is accomplished by over 50 assigned U.S. military, government civilian and contract personnel. The F-35A is a conventional takeoff and landing, low-observable, multi-role fighter aircraft equipped with 5th-generation sensors that provide it unparalleled situational awareness making this weapons system optimized to sustain air superiority and execute air interdiction and close air support as part of the DoD and foreign fleet.
History
The 85th Fighter Group traces its lineage to February 1942, upon its first activation as the 85th Bombardment Group (light) in Savannah Georgia. Initially equipped with V-72 Vengeance aircraft the group converted to A-24 Banshee dive bombers in time to participate in training maneuvers meant to prepare Army units for Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa. The unit operated out of the Desert Training Center in California preparing units for the monumental operation from August 1942 throughout the winter of 1943.
By August 1943, briefly equipped with A-36 Apache’s, the unit relocated to Waycross, Georgia. In Georgia the group took on the task of training replacement fighter-bomber pilots for World War II. Acting as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Through May 1944, the 85th prepared aircrews for future combat, flying both the P-40 and the P-47 Thunderbolt.
Deactivated in 1944, the group became part of the Icelandic Air Defense in 1952 under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). From 1952 through 1993 the group’s squadrons, one of which included the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, provided air defense for Iceland. Briefly redesignated the 85th Wing in 1994, the unit was redesignated once again as the 85th Group on 1 July 1995. The group remained active in Iceland until 28 June 2006 when it was deactivated.
Throughout its history, the 85th oversaw the training of aircrews for WWII as well as provided crucial air defense for Iceland throughout the Cold War and beyond. The unit managed fighter and tanker aircraft deployed to Iceland and played a crucial role in the formation and deployment of Joint Task Force Liberia. From August through October 1993, the task force was instrumental in the extraction of personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia during the Second Liberian Civil War.
The group oversaw the operation of numerous aircraft throughout the years. Aircraft that included V-72 Vengeance, A-24 Banshee, A-36 Apache, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, F-89 Scorpion, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-4 Phantom, F-15 Eagle, HH-60 Pavehawk, and finally as of 2 July 2024, the fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 Lightning II.
Throughout its rich history the 85th Group has earned the World War II American Theater streamer, a total of seventeen Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards and three Air Force Organizational Awards.