World War II Training in the United States The wing was activated in 1942 as the
95th Bombardment Group at
Barksdale Field, Louisiana with the
334th,
335th,
336th, and
412th Bombardment Squadrons assigned. The
group began training in August at
Geiger Field, Washington, It flew its first combat mission on 13 May 1943 against an
airfield near
Saint-Omer, France. For the next two months the 95th focused on attacking airfields and
V-1 flying bomb launch sites in France. It determined to move them closer to the target areas, and an exchange of bases began. The entire 95th group moved to
RAF Horham in June, where they replaced the
323d Bombardment Group, which departed the previous day. A few days later their place at Framlingham was taken by the newly arrived
390th Bombardment Group. The 95th began strategic bombing operations in July and continued until flying its last operation on 20 April 1945. Its targets included
harbors,
marshalling yards and other industrial targets along with attacks on cities. On 13 June 1943 the group was leading the
4th Bombardment Wing in an attack on
Kiel, Germany. The lead aircraft carried Brigadier General Nathan B. Forrest as an observer. The aircraft was hit by fighters on its approach to the target, and again after the bomb run was complete. It was last seen spiraling out of control with much of its tail shot away. General Forrest was the first United States
general officer killed in action in Europe during the war. The group received its first
Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) during an attack on an
aircraft factory at
Regensburg, Germany on 17 August 1943 when it maintained its defensive formation despite severe attacks by enemy
interceptor aircraft. It was awarded a second DUC for withstanding these attacks to bomb its objective. From 20 to 25 February 1944 the group participated in the
Big Week offensive against the German aircraft manufacturing industry. A few days later, on 4 March, the squadron attacked
Berlin despite adverse weather that led other units to either abandon the operation or attack secondary targets. Despite
snowstorms and heavy cloud cover, the unit struck its target while under attack from enemy fighters, It received its third DUC for this operation. to
Warsaw to drop
ammunition, food and medical supplies to Polish Resistance forces fighting against German
occupation forces. The unit flew its last mission on 20 April 1945, when it attacked marshalling yards near
Oranienburg. During its time with Eighth Air Force the 95th flew 320 missions, losing 157 aircraft, but claiming the destruction of 425 German fighters. It is not clear whether or not the wing was fully staffed or equipped. The group was inactivated when
Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the
wing base organization system in June 1949. The wing received
Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses to replace the B-36s. In May 1959, it added the
917th Air Refueling Squadron with
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, which became operational in August. In the late 1950s, SAC established Strategic Wings to disperse its B-52s 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. As part of this program, the wing's 335th Bombardment Squadron moved to
Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas on 15 January 1959, where it was assigned to the
4130th Strategic Wing. The 95th continued to maintain an alert commitment until shortly before inactivation on 25 June 1966 with the transfer of Biggs to the
United States Army. On 7 April 1961, one of the wing's B-52Bs was participating in an air intercept training mission with a pair of
North American F-100 Super Sabres from the
188th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the
New Mexico Air National Guard. For the exercise the fighters were armed with
GAR-8 Sidewinder missiles, which were wired so that only the
heat seeking head of the missile was operational. On the sixth pass by the fighters, a Sidewinder launched and struck one of the engine pods on the bomber's left wing. Four on board the B-52 escaped by parachute, but three crewmembers died in the crash. The misfire was blamed on moisture in the connection of the missile to the F-100.
Tanker Operations at Goose Air Base In August 1966 the wing was redesignated as the
95th Strategic Wing and moved to
Goose Air Base, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, where it replaced the 4082d Strategic Wing. The 4082d was organized by SAC on 1 April 1957 as a Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing and assigned to the
45th Air Division when SAC took over Goose from
Northeast Air Command. The 4082d controlled forward deployed bombers and tankers. As the host USAF organization for Goose Bay it was assigned the 4082d Air Base Group (later 4082d Combat Support Group) and the 4082d USAF Hospital. In order to retain the lineage of its MAJCON 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCON strategic wings and to activate Air Force Controlled (AFCON) units, which could carry a lineage and history. The 95th Wing supported SAC's KC-135 alert tanker forces in eastern Canada and the North Atlantic. In June 1974 the wing was awarded an
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for fighting a forest fire which threatened to spread to the station's fuel storage tanks. Goose Air Base was transferred to the
Canadian Department of National Defense as
CFB Goose Bay. The Government of Canada had previously shared responsibility for the operation of the airport with the
United States Air Force. In 1975 the Canadian government informed the United States that the Air Force's lease on Goose Bay Airport would not be renewed when it expired on 30 June 1976. The wing phased down for inactivation, closing most USAF operations at Goose AFB between January and September 1976. It was responsible for operating Edwards, including the infrastructure, communication systems, security, fire protection, transportation, supply, finance, contracting, legal services, personnel and manpower support, housing, education, chapel and quality of life programs on a base in the middle of the
Mojave Desert, the second largest base in the USAF. The wing oversaw base day-to-day operations and provided support for over 12,000 military, federal civilian and contract personnel. The wing's last commander was Col. Amy V. Arwood, who commanded the wing for its last two weeks. The wing was activated on 28 February 2025, and the provisional wing was inactivated, along with the 595th Group. ==Lineage==