 In December, McGuire became the Operation Officer of the 475th Fighter Group.On December 25–26, 1944, he downed seven Japanese fighter aircraft in just two days over Luzon, Philippines.January 7, 1945, McGuire took off from Dulag Airfield on Leyte and led a group of four P-38s – himself, Major Jack Rittmayer, Captain Edwin Weaver, and Lieutenant Douglas Thropp – on a fighter sweep over northern Negros Island in the central Philippines.