90th Operations Group
The 90th Operations Group is the operational component of the United States Air Force's 90th Missile Wing, responsible for maintaining and operating Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles on continuous alert.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The 90th Operations Group is a United States Air Force operational unit based at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. It belongs to the 90th Missile Wing, which is assigned to Twentieth Air Force within Air Force Global Strike Command. Unlike a commercial brand, the group is a military organization whose identity reflects lineage, mission, unit heritage, and operational responsibility rather than consumer products or services. The group's current mission is the operation and maintenance of the wing's assigned LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. Its missile force is distributed across hardened launch facilities covering approximately 9,600 square miles in Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. The dispersed arrangement is intended to increase survivability and is connected by hardened communications and control infrastructure to missile alert facilities. The group maintains a continuous nuclear-alert posture, with its missile squadrons responsible for defined geographical sectors and associated alert facilities. The modern group consists principally of the 319th, 320th, and 321st Missile Squadrons, the 90th Operations Support Squadron, and a standardization and evaluation element. Each missile squadron is associated with five missile alert facilities and fifty Minuteman III missiles, giving the group operational responsibility for 150 missiles. The operations-support function assists with the personnel, procedures, training, and coordination required for around-the-clock missile operations. The organization's lineage reaches back to the 90th Bombardment Group, established in 1942 during the Second World War. That predecessor operated Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers in the Pacific, beginning in Australia and later moving through New Guinea and the Philippines. It attacked airfields, shipping, troop concentrations, industrial facilities, and other Japanese targets, and received two United States Distinguished Unit Citations as well as the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. The group was inactivated in the Philippines in January 1946. The lineage was revived in the Strategic Air Command era. The unit was activated at Andrews Field in 1947 but was not meaningfully manned before its 1948 inactivation. It returned at Fairchild Air Force Base in 1951 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit, but a SAC organizational change soon reduced it to paper status, and it was inactivated in 1952. The 90th Operations Group was redesignated and activated in September 1991 when the 90th Missile Wing adopted the objective-wing structure. At activation, the group controlled missile units operating both Minuteman III and LGM-118A Peacekeeper missiles. Peacekeeper retirement began in 2001, and the last missile was removed from alert in 2005; the 400th Missile Squadron was subsequently inactivated. The group's three Minuteman III squadrons remain its core operational elements. A helicopter rescue and support unit was associated with the group from 1993 until its transfer to a separate Twentieth Air Force helicopter organization in 2015.
History
The unit's lineage begins with the 90th Bombardment Group, organized at Key Field, Mississippi, on 15 April 1942. It initially trained as a heavy bomber formation equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Its squadrons included the 319th, 320th, and 321st Bombardment Squadrons, together with a reconnaissance squadron that soon became the 400th Bombardment Squadron. After training in the southeastern United States and conversion work at Willow Run Airport, Michigan, the group moved through Hawaii to northern Queensland, Australia, arriving in November 1942. During the Pacific War, the group conducted missions against Japanese airfields, shipping, troop concentrations, ground installations, and industrial targets. Its operations covered New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Palau area, the southern Philippines, and other parts of the Southwest Pacific. It received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations in Papua through January 1943 and another for attacks on Japanese airfields at Wewak, New Guinea, in September 1943 despite strong antiaircraft and fighter opposition. In 1944 it supported the New Guinea campaign and later carried out long-range attacks on oil facilities at Balikpapan, Borneo. After moving to the Philippines in January 1945, it supported forces on Luzon and attacked targets in Formosa and the Asian mainland. It later moved to Okinawa, from which operations against the Japanese home islands were possible. After Japan's surrender, the group conducted reconnaissance flights over Japan and helped transport Allied prisoners of war from Okinawa to Manila. It ceased active operations by November 1945 and was inactivated in the Philippines on 27 January 1946. Strategic Air Command reactivated the lineage at Andrews Field, Maryland, on 1 July 1947 as a very-heavy bombardment group. The organization appears not to have become fully manned and was inactivated on 6 September 1948. It was activated again at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, on 2 January 1951 and began receiving B-29 bombers. In February 1951, however, SAC attached the combat and maintenance squadrons directly to the wing so wing commanders could concentrate on combat readiness. The group consequently became largely an administrative or paper organization and was inactivated on 16 June 1952. The group was redesignated the 90th Operations Group on 29 August 1991 and activated on 1 September 1991 at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base as the operational element of the 90th Missile Wing. It assumed control of missile squadrons operating Minuteman III and Peacekeeper systems, as well as operational support functions. The 37th Rescue Squadron joined the group in 1993 and supported remote missile sites with helicopters under successive designations. A separate provisional helicopter structure was established in 2014, and the 37th Helicopter Squadron transferred to the 582d Helicopter Group in January 2015. The Peacekeeper force was retired between 2001 and 2005, leaving the 319th, 320th, and 321st Missile Squadrons as the group's principal missile units. The 90th Operations Group continues to maintain and operate 150 Minuteman III missiles on continuous alert as part of the United States' land-based strategic deterrent.
- 2005
Peacekeeper mission ended
[1]The final Peacekeeper missile was removed from alert and the 400th Missile Squadron was inactivated.
- 1991
Modern operations group activated
[1]The 90th Operations Group was activated at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base as the operational component of the 90th Missile Wing.
- 1951
B-29 bombardment period
[1]The group was activated at Fairchild Air Force Base and began receiving B-29 aircraft before becoming a paper organization during SAC's reorganization.
- 1947
Strategic Air Command reactivation
[1]The unit returned at Andrews Field as a very-heavy bombardment group, but was inactivated the following year.
- 1946
World War II lineage inactivated
[1]The bombardment group was inactivated in the Philippines on 27 January.
- 1943
First Distinguished Unit Citation
[1]The group was recognized for operations in Papua through January 1943.
- 1942
90th Bombardment Group activated
[1]The predecessor unit was activated at Key Field, Mississippi, on 15 April as a B-24 Liberator heavy-bomber group.
- 1942
Pacific combat operations began
[1]After moving through Hawaii, the group reached northern Queensland and began combat missions in the Southwest Pacific.
Products and positioning
A United States Air Force strategic-missile operations organization focused on continuous nuclear deterrence, readiness, safety, and controlled operation of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Intercontinental ballistic missile · 1991
LGM-30G Minuteman III
The Minuteman III is the group's continuing strategic weapon system. The 319th, 320th, and 321st Missile Squadrons collectively operate 150 missiles distributed among hardened launch facilities across a large three-state complex. The missiles are maintained in a continuous alert posture and supported by underground communications and missile alert facilities.
Intercontinental ballistic missile · 1991
LGM-118A Peacekeeper
The Peacekeeper was operated by the 400th Missile Squadron after the group was activated in 1991. The system was retired under strategic arms-reduction arrangements; the last missile left alert in 2005, after which the squadron was inactivated.
Heavy bomber · 1942
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
The B-24 Liberator formed the group's wartime equipment during its 1942–1945 Pacific campaign. The aircraft carried out long-range bombing and maritime and ground-support missions against Japanese targets across Australia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Philippines, and nearby theaters.
Medium bomber · 1951
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The group began equipping with B-29 bombers after its 1951 reactivation at Fairchild Air Force Base. The period was brief because SAC's dual-deputy reorganization attached the combat squadrons directly to the wing, reducing the group to paper status before its 1952 inactivation.
Marketing campaigns
- 1945Philippines and Okinawa operations
Philippines · Okinawa · Formosa · Asian mainland
After relocating to the Philippines and then Okinawa, the group supported ground forces and attacked industrial, rail, airfield, and harbor targets.
Outcome. Following Japan's surrender, the group conducted reconnaissance and prisoner-of-war transport before inactivation.
- 1942Southwest Pacific air campaign
Australia · New Guinea · Bismarck Archipelago · Philippines
The predecessor 90th Bombardment Group conducted B-24 operations against Japanese airfields, shipping, troop concentrations, and installations across the Southwest Pacific.
Outcome. The group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations and later supported the Allied advance through the Philippines.
Brand decisions
2001
Peacekeeper retirement initiatedGeneration changeBackground
Strategic arms-reduction commitments required the retirement of the LGM-118A Peacekeeper force.
Action taken
The wing began removing Peacekeeper missiles from service and alert status.
Aftermath
The final Peacekeeper was removed in 2005, followed by the inactivation of the 400th Missile Squadron.
1991
Conversion to missile-operations structureStrategyBackground
The Air Force reorganized the 90th Missile Wing under the objective-wing model and needed an operational group to control its missile squadrons and support functions.
Action taken
The lineage was redesignated as the 90th Operations Group and activated at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base.
Aftermath
The group became responsible for the wing's Minuteman III and Peacekeeper operations.
Recent events
- 2015
37th Helicopter Squadron transferred from the group[1]
Leadership change · Other
The helicopter unit that had provided operational and logistical support to remote missile sites was transferred to the 582d Helicopter Group, while continuing to support missile operations.
- 2005
Peacekeeper missile retirement completed[1]
Product generation
The last LGM-118A Peacekeeper missile associated with the group was removed from alert under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty process, and the 400th Missile Squadron was inactivated.
- 1991
90th Operations Group activated as the 90th Missile Wing's operational component[1]
Other · Leadership change
The group was redesignated from its earlier bombardment lineage and activated at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base during the Air Force's transition to the objective-wing organization.
Sources1 sources
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