World War II Organization and training in the United States The first predecessor of the
group was activated on 1 May 1943 as the
451st Bombardment Group at
Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, with the
724th,
725th,
726th and
727th Bombardment Squadrons assigned as its original elements. Although original plans were for the group to be an
Operational Training Unit at Davis–Monthan, instead a
cadre of the group moved to
Dyersburg Army Air Base, Tennessee, where it was filled out by personnel drawn from the
346th Bombardment Group. Key group staff, plus the commanders and a model crew from each squadron received advanced tactical training with the
Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at
Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. This cadre joined the remainder of the group at
Wendover Field, Utah for training with the
Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The group continued its training at
Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, starting in September. On 18 November, the air echelon of the group departed Fairmont for staging at
Lincoln Army Air Field, Nebraska to ferry their aircraft via the Southern Ferrying Route to the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The ground echelon left on 26 November for the port of embarkation at
Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, for transportation by ship.
Combat operations The group arrived at
Gioia del Colle Airfield, Italy at the beginning of January 1944, although the air echelon remained at
Telergma Airfield, Algeria until 20 January to conduct additional training. The group functioned primarily as a
strategic bombing unit, attacking targets like oil refineries,
marshalling yards, aircraft factories and
airfields in Italy, Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Greece and Albania. It earned a
Distinguished Unit Citation during
Big Week for an attack on a
Messerschmitt aircraft factory at
Regensburg, Germany on 25 February 1944. It added oak leaf clusters to this award for an attack on oil refineries and marshalling yards at
Ploesti, Romania on 5 April 1944 and on
Markersdorf-Haindorf Airfield near
Vienna, Austria on 23 August 1944. On each of these missions the 451st was opposed by large numbers of enemy
interceptor aircraft and heavy
flak, but fought its way through to inflict serious damage on the targets and destroy many enemy aircraft. On 6 April, the group assembled at
Castelluccio Airfield. From its new base, the group also flew
air support and
interdiction missions. It helped prepare the way for
Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1944. The following month its bombers transported supplies to forces operating in Italy, It also supported
Operation Grapeshot, the final advance of
Allied armies in northern Italy. The group left Italy in June 1945, with the air echelon ferrying their planes, while most of the ground echelon sailed on the to
Newport News, Virginia. The group assembled later in the month at
Dow Field, Maine, where it was inactivated on 26 September 1945. The 703d Wing had never achieved full operational status, so 451st became the first fully operational
HGM-25A Titan I missile wing. Construction on all 18 silos at the six launch complexes was completed by 4 August 1961. On 18 April 1962, Headquarters SAC declared wing's the 724th Squadron operational, and two days later the first Titan Is went on alert status. A month later, the sister 725th Strategic Missile Squadron, which had replaced the
849th Strategic Missile Squadron, declared it had placed all nine of its Titan Is on alert status, which marked a first in
Strategic Air Command. On 19 November 1964, Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara announced the phase-out of remaining first-generation
SM-65 Atlas and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965. This objective was met. All wing missiles went off alert status on 26 March 1965 and the wing phased down for inactivation. On 25 June 1965, the wing and the 724th and 725th Squadrons were inactivated. The wing was downsized to a group in January 2014 as part of the Afghanistan drawdown. Former components: • 451st Expeditionary Operations Group •
702d Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (
C-27J Spartan, 31 July 2011 – 18 June 2012) • 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Group • 451st Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron • 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron • 451st Expeditionary Mission Support Group • 451st Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron •
651st Air Expeditionary Group •
26th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron (inactivated 1 January 2014) •
46th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron (September 2010 – inactivated early 2013) • 651st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (inactivated Dec 2013) ==Lineage==