The USAAF made its first operational sortie with the North American A-36 Invader (also known as Apache) when the 27th Fighter Bomber Group based at Rasel Ma in French Morocco participated in the mass fighter-bomber assault on the Italian Pantelleria Island. The island was later captured and became the base for two A-36 groups during the invasion of Sicily, Italy. One of the pilots of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, Lieutenant Michael T. Russo, would later become the only ace in the Allison-engined Mustang fighter
