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See 456th Bombardment Group page for additional history 456th Troop Carrier Wing The
456th Troop Carrier Wing, Medium was activated in October 1952 and assigned to
Tactical Air Command. It was stationed at
Miami International Airport, Florida, where it replaced the
435th Troop Carrier Wing, which was an
Air Force Reserve unit called to active duty for the
Korean War, assuming the 435th's mission, personnel, and equipment. The wing flew
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar troop carrier transports. The wing moved to
Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina on 25 July 1953. Until 1955 It participated in numerous tactical exercise in the United States and overseas, mostly in conjunction with Army airborne forces. The wing was reorganized on 1 March 1955 when its tactical group and all support components were inactivated. WS119L payloads consisted of an AN/DMQ-1, which was a gondola containing two cameras. Between January and February 1956, 448 balloons were launched under this program from locations in Scotland, Norway, Germany and Turkey. Most came down prematurely, but about 80 reached the recovery zones after overflying the Soviet Union. 44 successful midair recoveries were made of the camera-bearing gondolas. While the program was terminated because of the low success rate, the 456th was awarded an
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its participation in this program.
456th Strategic Aerospace Wing 4126th Strategic Wing The origins of the
4126 Strategic Wing can be traced to 1 July 1956 when
Continental Air Command transferred
Beale Air Force Base California to
Strategic Air Command (SAC) which put Beale under the control of the 4126th Air Base Squadron to prepare the base for 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. As SAC's strength at Beale expanded, the 4126th became the 4126th Combat Support Group on 8 February 1959 The wing gained its first operational squadron on 1 April 1959 when the
903d Air Refueling Squadron, flying
Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was activated at Beale. along with the 63d Aviation Depot Squadron The 4126th (and later the 456th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until inactivation. The wing's parent 14th Air Division also moved to Beale and the 4126th became responsible to provide support to the division as well as the
San Francisco Air Defense Sector of
Air Defense Command, which activated at Beale in 1959. 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 4126th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles However, SAC Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage and SAC looked for a way to make its Strategic Wings permanent.
456th Strategic Aerospace Wing In 1962, in order 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 Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history. As a result, the 4126th Wing was replaced by the newly redesignated
456th Strategic Aerospace Wing, In the same way the
744th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's World War II historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 31st BS. The 856th Medical Group, 63d Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 903d Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 456th. Component support units were replaced by units with numerical designation of the newly established wing. Under the Dual Deputate organization, all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group element was activated. The 4126th's support group and maintenance squadrons were replaced by ones with the 456th numerical designation of the newly established wing. Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor. The 456th Wing continued the mission of strategic bombardment and missile readiness training. The wing's bombardment and air refueling squadrons frequently deployed aircraft and crews to meet USAF requirements, often having nearly all of the resources of the wing scattered around the world at various operating locations. It became apparent that the wing was once again to be associated with
reconnaissance missions when the
4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, flying
SR-71s was organized at Beale at the start of 1965. Also in 1965, the
851st Strategic Missile Squadron inactivated as SAC transitioned its missile force to the
LGM-30 Minuteman missile. Recognizing the wing mission to support both a bombardment squadron and a reconnaissance squadron with
air refueling support, the wing added a second refueling squadron, the
9th Air Refueling Squadron at the start of 1970.
456th Bombardment Wing In July 1972 the wing was redesignated the
456th Bombardment Wing, Heavy. The 456th was inactivated on 30 September 1975, and its mission, equipment and personnel were transferred to the
17th Bombardment Wing, which moved on paper to Beale from
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. This was part of a consolidation of resources after the
Vietnam War due to budget cuts, and the desire by HQ SAC to keep a more distinguished unit on active duty. ==Lineage==