Initial activation The
56th Fighter Wing was activated 15 August 1947 at
Selfridge Field, Michigan The
56th Fighter Group, flying
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars, became its operational component. The wing base organization was made permanent in 1948. In July and August 1948, the wing pioneered the first west-to-east jet fighter transatlantic crossing along the northern air route from the United States to Europe, the 56th was inactivated along with its
56th Fighter-Interceptor Group on 6 February 1952. Its operational squadrons were transferred to the recently organized
4708th Defense Wing. Almost nine years later the wing was reactivated at
K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan, where it replaced the 56th Fighter Group as Sawyer began to grow in size as SAC's
4042d Strategic Wing began to add combat elements, requiring a larger support base. The wing once again had air defense mission. At the time the wing was activated, it maintained two aircraft on five minute
alert status. In February 1962, in addition to these two
interceptors, one third of the wing's aircraft were placed on fifteen minute alert. On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the
Cuban Missile Crisis, when
President Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet
intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba.
Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States. The dispersal plan called for
Hector Field, North Dakota to be the wing's dispersal base, but ADC's dispersal plan was incomplete and
Phelps Collins Field, Michigan became the wing's "interim" dispersal base. The wing sent one third of its aircraft there. All wing aircraft, including those at home and those at Phelps Collins were armed and placed on fifteen minute alert status. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned the wing to its normal alert status. The wing was assigned to the
Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector until October 1963 when it became part of the
Duluth Air Defense Sector. It participated in many ADC exercises, tactical evaluations and other air defense operations. In preparation for K.I. Sawyer becoming a SAC base, the wing's single tactical squadron transferred to the Duluth Air Defense Sector on 16 December 1963, and on 1 January 1964, the wing was transferred to SAC, which inactivated it and transferred its support elements to the
410th Bombardment Wing, which became the base's new host.
Vietnam War The wing was renamed the
56th Air Commando Wing and activated at
Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand in April 1967, as the mission there expanded. It was assigned the
606th Air Commando Squadron, a composite unit flying
Helio U-10 Couriers,
Fairchild C-123 Providers,
Douglas A-26 Invader and
North American T-28 Trojans, and the
602d Fighter Squadron flying
Douglas A-1 Skyraiders at
Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. the
21st Helicopter Squadron, which was activated in November with
Sikorsky CH-3 helicopters and the
1st Air Commando Squadron, another Skyraider squadron, which moved to Nakhon Phanom from
Pleiku Air Base,
South Vietnam in late December. The wing was assigned to
Thirteenth Air Force, but was attached
Seventh Air Force in
Saigon for operational control. Wing elements participated in the
Operation Ivory Coast, the Son Tay Prison raid on 21 November 1970. The wing continued combat operations until 1973, ending operations in Vietnam in mid-January 1973, in Laos on 22, and in
Cambodia on 15 1973. However, after combat operations ended, the wing continued to provide support services at Nakorn Phanom.
Tactical fighter operations At MacDill, the wing became the
56th Tactical Fighter Wing and operated
McDonnell F-4 Phantom IIs. In addition to acting as host for MacDill, the wing operated nearby
Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida. This recommendation was later altered and MacDill AFB remained open, being transferred to the
Air Mobility Command and eventually becoming home to the
6th Air Mobility Wing and its KC-135R and C-37A aircraft, while the 347th Wing, and later the 23rd Wing, at Moody AFB, Georgia would assume responsibility for the Avon Park Air Force Range and the Deployed Unit Complex (DUC) at MacDill AFB. The 56th Fighter Wing moved on paper to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona on 1 April 1994, In March 2014, The 54th Fighter Group was activated under the wing to conduct F-16 Fighting Falcon training as the 56th Operations Group transitions to F-35 Lighting II training. The group was established with a single flying squadron, but added a second squadron in 2015. The group consists of approximately 800 personnel, maintains $2.2 billion in F-16 assets and executes a $144 million operations and maintenance budget to carry out F-16 training.
Units in 2026 •
56th Operations Group :: The 56th Operations Group is the flying element of the wing. It trains and produce F-35 pilots and crew chiefs for the United States and allied forces. It also maintains resources to meet potential contingency and wartime tasking. Finally it trains all operators for air control squadrons which provide ground tactical command and control operations for the United States. • 56th Mission Support Group :: The 56th Mission Support Group has 1,965 members and performs the installation management. The base has approximately $396 million in land, building and real property including 4,200 acres at Luke and 1.7 million acres at the Barry M. Goldwater range complex. ==Lineage==