Fighter Group Stands Up at Shaw

Officials at Shaw AFB, S.C., last week activated the 495th Fighter Group to oversee the 9th Air Force-affiliated detachments of Active Duty airmen that support Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command fighter units across the United States. “The significance of today’s event is that it marks, for the first time, the transfer of administrative control for these active-associate detachments to one commander,” said 9th AF Commander Maj. Gen Lawrence Wells, who presided over the March 8 activation ceremony. There are currently five of these detachments: one in Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, and Vermont, according to Shaw’s March 8 release. Ninth Air Force intends to establish five more of them: one in Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. “My job is to make sure the Active Duty airmen and their families assigned to these locations are taken care of” said Lt. Col. Juris Jansons, 495th FG commander, during the ceremony. The group’s heritage dates to the 495th Fighter Training Group that operated P-47 Thunderbolts during World War II, states the release. (Shaw report by SSgt. Amanda Currier)