World War II The wing was activated as the
46th Bombardment Group (Light) and in 1941, equipped with
Douglas A-20 Havoc aircraft.
51st, and 53d Bombardment Squadrons, and the 8th Reconnaissance Squadron. Shortly after activation in 1941, the 8th Reconnaissance Sq mission changed and it became the 87th Bombardment Squadron. and flew
anti-submarine warfare patrol and search missions over the
Gulf of Mexico in early 1942. In late 1943 the group mission changed to replacement training of individual
pilots and
aircrews (RTU). at
Morris Field in a major reorganization of the
Army Air Forces in which RTUs were disbanded and training activities given to base units.
Cold War In March 1975,
46th Aerospace Defense Wing was activated to replace the 4600th Air Base Wing at
Peterson Field, where it took over the personnel, equipment, and of the 4600th and its mission of administering facilities of
North American Air Defense Command (NORAD),
Aerospace Defense Command (ADC), and Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM) located on
Ent Air Force Base,
Peterson Air Force Base, and the
Cheyenne Mountain Complex, plus various other nearby off-base facilities, which the 4600th wing had been performing from
Ent Air Force Base, then from Peterson Field since April 1958. Despite its name, the wing was a "disguised" air base wing. Although the provision of administrative and
logistics support was the wing's primary mission, its flying training squadron served NORAD and ADC mission requirements and provided flying training for cadets at the
United States Air Force Academy until 1 October 1979,
Test Operations The 46th was redesignated as the
46th Test Wing and replaced the
3246th Test Wing at
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in October 1992. The wing worked closely with the
53d Wing of
Air Combat Command, which performed operational testing of many of the same weapons systems. The wing mission transferred to the
96th Air Base Wing, which was redesignated as the 96th Test Wing on 18 July 2012. The 46th Test Wing was subsequently inactivated on 1 October 2012. ==Lineage==