27th Special Operations Group

575-784- 2708

The 27th Special Operations Group (SOG) was started in 1940 as the 27th Bombardment Group (Light) to fly Douglas B-18 Bolo Light bombers in the Pacific crises leading up to U.S. involvement in World War II. Several weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the group was in the Philippines waiting on a shipment of their new A-24 Dauntless planes that were stranded in Australia and unable to be delivered thanks to constant threat of Japanese attacks. A small portion of the 27th finally flew to Australia to retrieve the aircraft while the rest of the airmen were removed from the Philippines and deployed to the Bataan Peninsula on Christmas day. After ground fighting during the Battle of Bataan, the 27th was the first Air Force unit to ever fight infantry-style. After surrender to the Japanese, the 27th became one of the only whole units to be forced into the Bataan Death March and ended up losing over half of its men. They earned 3 Distinguished Unit Citations (DUC). The other group members who had gone to Australia participated in the invasion on the Japanese in Bali and the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942. The rest of the 1940s saw action (as the 27th Fighter Group) in Tunisia, the Sicilian Campaign (resulting in another DUC), and the invasion of Southern France to force the Germans successfully back, which led to a fifth DUC and Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, making the group the most decorated of any Air Force unit in WWII. During the Korean War, the 27th was stationed in Japan and a split headquarters in South Korea. They flew thousands of missions providing support to the 49th Fighter-Bomber wing (to which they were attached at the time) and earned a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation for their efforts. Post-Korea, the group was inactivated until 1991 when it was brought back to participate in operations for Desert Storm. Several of its squadrons continuously deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and several others over the next few years.

27th Special Operations Maintenance Group

575-784-2591/6460

27th Special Operations Medical Group

575-784-4582

27th Special Operations Mission Support Group

575-784-2761

27th Special Operations Wing

575-784-2727