Medium bomber era The
2d Bombardment Wing was activated by the
United States Air Force on 5 November 1947, though it initially had no headquarters or home station of its own. Its assigned
2d Bombardment Group was attached to the
43rd Bombardment Wing at
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, all assigned to the
Strategic Air Command Eighth Air Force. A debate over where to station the new wing ended with the selection of
Chatham Air Force Base, Georgia, a
World War II training airfield. Located about 10 miles northwest of
Savannah, Georgia, Chatham had an adequate airfield for B-29 operations, but the base's cantonment area was in extremely poor condition. Its buildings had been built to last for five years, were heated with potbellied stoves and had only outdoor latrines. After these facilities were upgraded, wing headquarters were stood up 1 January 1949 at Chatham. The 2d Bomb Wing assumed the assets of the
307th Bombardment Group, which had been deployed to the base from
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida; and the 2d Bombardment Group, which had returned from a deployment to
RAF Lakenheath, England. Equipped with
B-29 Superfortresses, the wing's primary mission was training for strategic bombardment operations. In early 1949, the B-29s began to be replaced by the
B-50 Superfortress, a B-29 derivative designed for atomic warfare with more powerful engines, a higher top speed, and a higher ceiling. Air Force leaders remained dissatisfied with Chatham's facilities, and made plans to move the wing to better ones. The city of Savannah, however, offered the USAF the former
Hunter Army Airfield, which was closer to the city (5 miles NW), along with 3,500 acres (14 km2) of adjacent land for base expansions.
Hunter Field was built in 1929 as Savannah Municipal Airport and in 1940 the Air Corps received approval to build a permanent base at the site. During World War II it was used both as a training base as well as an antisubmarine airfield during the war. In June 1946, the airfield was returned to the City of Savannah. In addition, Headquarters,
Eighth Air Force was established in Savannah in January 1942, and there was a strong desire to have an Eighth Air Force wing be stationed in the area. On 29 September 1950, the 2d Bomb Wing moved to the reopened
Hunter Air Force Base and Chatham was turned over to the City of Savannah, where it was redeveloped into a regional airport. B-50 Superfortress operations continued until November 1953, when the 2 BW began receiving jet-powered
B-47E Stratojet medium bombers. The B-47 was a fast bomber that relied on speed to penetrate the air defenses of the Soviet Union. Produced in large numbers, it became the SAC's main medium bomber throughout the 1950s. The wing participated in SAC
Operation Reflex deployments to North Africa and England. Beginning in 1958, the B-47 was becoming obsolete, as the air defenses of the Soviet Union improved. The Stratojet was phased out of SAC beginning in 1960. Plans were made to upgrade the wing to the
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. However, although adequate for B-47 operations, the runway at Hunter was inadequate for B-52 operations when tested in the early 1960s. In addition, during the 1950s the urban area of the City of Savannah was expanding and encroaching on the airfield, making Hunter unsuitable for heavy nuclear-equipped bomber operations over the urbanized area. A
1958 Tybee Island B-47 crash in which a
Mark 15 hydrogen bomb was lost in the
Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Savannah was another reason in the decision by SAC to move the Wing to a non-urban area. In early 1963 the wing began to send its B-47s to storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The 2d Bombardment Wing would be moved, and Hunter AFB was reassigned to
Military Air Transport Service (MATS). MATS closed its facilities at
Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina and reassigned the
63rd Troop Carrier Wing to Hunter, using the base for
Douglas C-124 Globemaster II intercontinental cargo aircraft operations to points around the world.
B-52 Stratofortress The
2d Bombardment Wing moved to
Barksdale AFB, Louisiana on 1 April 1963 where it assumed the existing B-52F Stratofortress heavy bombers and personnel of
4238th Strategic Wing (SW). The wing has been stationed at Barksdale continuously for over 50 years.
4238th Strategic Wing B-52 operations at Barksdale can be traced to 1 March 1958 when SAC established the 4238th SW. and assigned it to the
4th Air Division as part of SAC's plan to disperse its
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the
Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The 4238th was initially assigned only three maintenance squadrons, but on 15 April, the
4238th Air Base Group was activated under the wing as the host organization for Barksdale when the
805th Air Base Group were inactivated. The
301st and
376th Air Refueling Squadrons, flying
Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters were transferred to the wing from the 301st while the
20th Aviation Depot Squadron was transferred from the 805th to oversee the wing's special weapons. In June, the
913th Air Refueling Squadron, flying
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was activated in anticipation of the arrival of the
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The two KC-97 units were inactivated or transferred from Barksdale by 1962. Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute
alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962. The 4238th (and later the 2d) continued to maintain an alert commitment until the end of the
Cold War. In 1962, the wing's
bombers began to be equipped with the
GAM-77 Hound Dog and the
GAM-72 Quail air-launched
cruise missiles, The
4134th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles.
2d Bombardment Wing, Heavy In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of bombardment units with illustrious
World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and replace them with Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, which could carry a lineage and history. Rather than inactivate the
2d Bombardment Wing when Hunter closed, SAC moved it to replace the 4238th SW. and assume its mission, personnel, and equipment. In the same way, the
20th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 436th BS. The 855th Medical Group, 20th Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 913th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 2d. The 4238th's support group and maintenance squadrons were replaced by ones with the 2d numerical designation. Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor. At Barksdale, 2 BW supported Second Air Force's post-attack command and control system from April 1963 until March 1970. It conducted bombardment training and air refueling operations from April 1963 except for periods when all aircraft and crews were on loan to SAC organizations involved in combat operations in Southeast Asia. It began supporting SAC operations in Southeast Asia with aircraft and personnel in 1965, and increasingly supported these operations in 1966 and 1967. On 15 April 1968, gained a second B-52 and a second KC-135 squadron, again becoming a SAC "super" wing. From late May 1972 until 26 October 1973, it loaned all wing B-52 resources to SAC organizations in the Far East and Southeast Asia. From May 1972 to early November 1972 the wing loaned all but four of the wing's KC-135s and a few aircrews to other SAC units. After the return of combat resources, the wing continued supporting SAC operations in Southeast Asia into 1975, on a reduced scale. On 1 August 1994 B-52H bombers two of the 2nd Bomb Wing flew the first-ever around-the-world bombing mission. The trip lasted 47.2 hours, the longest jet flight ever. The 2d Bomb Wing has also participated in deployments to Qatar as part of operations to combat ISIS. The U.S. Pacific Command's (PACOM) Continuous Bomber Presence (CBP) mission is supported with regular deployments to
Andersen AFB, Guam by the 2d Bomb Wing. On 15 October 2025, B-52s from the 2d Bomb Wing flew in formation with F-35s off the coast of Venezuela in a show of force during a time of
escalating tensions between the United States and
Venezuela involving
US strikes on boats the US accused of smuggling drugs. =="Wise Guy" restoration==