The 23d Fighter Group (23 FG) is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 23d Wing and stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. For the 23d Fighter Group that existed from 1997 to 2006, see the Article on the 23d Wing.
The 23d Fighter Group was established in World War II as the 23d Pursuit Group of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF). Redesignated the 23d Fighter Group before its activation, the group was formed in China on 4 July 1942, as a component of the China Air Task Force and received a small cadre of volunteer personnel from the simultaneously-disbanded 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) – the "Flying Tigers" of the Chinese Air Force.
To carry on the traditions and commemorate the history of the AVG, aircraft of the USAF 23d Fighter Group carry the same "Shark Teeth" nose art of the AVG's Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, along with the "FT" (Flying Tiger) tail code. The 23d Fighter Group's aircraft are the only United States Air Force aircraft currently authorized to carry this distinctive and historical aircraft marking.
Famous quotes containing the words fighter and/or group:
“A pleasant smell of frying sausages
Attacks the sense, along with an old, mostly invisible
Photograph of what seems to be girls lounging around
An old fighter bomber, circa 1942 vintage.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Laughing at someone else is an excellent way of learning how to laugh at oneself; and questioning what seem to be the absurd beliefs of another group is a good way of recognizing the potential absurdity of many of one’s own cherished beliefs.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)