Initial activation and mobilization The
wing was first activated as a
reserve organization at
Long Beach Army Air Field California in June 1949 as the
452nd Bombardment Wing, and the wing drew its
cadre from the
304th Air Division, which was simultaneously inactivated, and the
459th Bombardment Group, which moved on paper to
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The wing trained for
light bomber with the
Douglas B-26 Invader, but also operated trainer aircraft. The wing, along with all reserve combat and corollary units, was mobilized for the Korean war. It was called up in August 1950, and was one of the first two reserve wings to be mobilized. The wing was brought up to strength by absorbing more than half the personnel of the
448th Bombardment Wing, also located at Long Beach. Upon mobilization, the wing moved to
George Air Force Base, California, Despite its tactical reconnaissance name, it was first equipped with
Curtiss C-46 Commando transports. The following year, it began to equip with a mix of aircraft, including The B-26 and
North American F-51 Mustang. In 1954 it received its first jets,
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars. In July 1957, the wing became the
452nd Troop Carrier Wing. Since 1955, the Air Force began had been detaching Air Force Reserve squadrons from their parent wing locations to separate sites. The concept offered several advantages: communities were more likely to accept the smaller squadrons than the large wings and the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning. In time, the detached squadron program proved successful in attracting additional participants. However, in November 1957, the
733rd Troop Carrier Squadron was activated at
Hill Air Force Base, Utah to replace the
313th Troop Carrier Squadron and became part of the wing. The wing began to use inactive duty training periods for Operation Swift Lift, transporting high priority cargo for the air force and Operation Ready Swap, transporting aircraft engines, between
Air Materiel Command's depots. The wing continued to train with the 2347th Center until 1958, when the center was inactivated and some of its personnel were absorbed by the wing. In place of active duty support for reserve units, ConAC adopted the
Air Reserve Technician Program, in which a
cadre of the unit consisted of full-time personnel who were simultaneously civilian employees of the Air Force and held rank as members of the reserves. In April 1959, the wing converted to the Dual Deputate organization, and all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, when the
452d Troop Carrier Group was inactivated. In October 1960, the wing moved its Long Beach operations to
March Air Force Base, California. The mobilization included the 733rd Squadron at Hill, which was assigned to the
349th Troop Carrier Wing while mobilized, but not the wing and remaining squadrons at Long Beach. ==Lineage==