:
For additional history and lineage, see 5th Operations Group Cold War Strategic reconnaissance The wing was established on 1 July 1949 and activated at
Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho two weeks later. In November it moved to its permanent station at
Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California. Until 1958, the wing underwent several name and assignment changes while continually upgrading its aircraft. Performed long-range strategic reconnaissance, July 1949 – October 1955, with some limited reconnaissance to September 1958. Operational squadrons were
23d,
31st and
72d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadrons flying
Boeing RB-17G/F-2/F-9/F-13 aircraft (1947–49) and beginning in 1948, Boeing RB-29 Superfortress aircraft until 1951. The wing performed operations to probe the eastern borders of the Soviet Union and China. Little was known about the air defense capability of the Soviet Union at this time and the most effective way of determining their capability was to probe the borders and see whether they would respond. Initially, the RB-17Gs and later aircraft (RB-29, RB-36D) mapped the perimeter of the Soviet Air Defenses from the
Baltic to the
Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan. This mission, along with many others, found that west of the
Bering Strait there was virtually no radar coverage. As a result of these missions, USAF war plans were drawn up which directed a massive bomber attack to hit Russia from this direction, flying on to land in the Middle East or Africa, or more likely bailing out as the aircraft ran out of fuel. Gradually, during the 1950s, the Soviets began filling in the gaps in their radar coverage over northern
Siberia, but large gaps on the outer perimeter between Alaska and
Murmansk were still wide open for many years to come. The wing was fully integrated with the
9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing from 12 November 1949 to 10 February 1951. It maintained a manned headquarters, but had no operational control over assigned units, and from 1 February 1950 to 10 February 1951 shared a commander in common with the 9th Wing. On 16 June 1954 the wing, along with SAC's other B-36 reconnaissance wings were assigned bombing as their primary mission. However, they retained their designations as reconnaissance wings until later.
Strategic bombardment In June 1951, the wing began converting to the
Convair RB-36D Peacemaker. Later, B-36J models were assigned to the wing and it began maintaining proficiency in strategic bombardment in July 1953 but the 5th was not redesignated as the 5th Bombardment Wing until October 1955. While stationed at Travis Air Force Base, the wing entered the jet age in on 13 February 1959 when
Strategic Air Command (SAC) assigned the wing SAC's first
Boeing B-52G Stratofortresses. The 72d Squadron had departed for
Mather Air Force Base, California the previous July, where it formed the nucleus of the
4134th Strategic Wing in a SAC program to disperse its Boeing B-52 Stratofortress 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. The 23d and 31st Squadrons began to convert to B-52s at Travis. Starting in 1960, one third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute
alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962. The wing's 23d Bombardment Squadron and its people also saw combat over
Southeast Asia during the
Vietnam War. Its crews attacked targets in the region while supporting American and allied ground forces during
Operation Arc Light between 1965 and 1968. In December 1965, Secretary of Defense
Robert S. McNamara directed a phaseout of a portion of SAC's B-52 force. As a result, SAC terminated its wing at Travis in the summer of 1968. In order to preserve the heritage of one of the oldest units in the air force, the wing moved on paper to
Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota on 25 July 1968 and absorbed the resources of the
450th Bombardment Wing, which was inactivated. The 450th Wing's
906th Air Refueling Squadron was reassigned to the 5th Wing, This move ended the wing's Southeast Asia deployments. At Minot, the wing flew the B-52H, which brought added vigor to its strategic deterrence mission. It also supported the post-attack command and control system (PACCS), July 1968 – December 1969. In the summer of 1975, the wing gained the
Boeing AGM-69A short range attack missile (SRAM), which enhanced the ability of the B-52H to penetrate and survive in this hostile environment. Armed with a nuclear warhead and equipped with a simple inertial guidance system, the AGM-69A was propelled to its range of 20 to by a solid-propellant rocket motor. Each B-52 could carry up to 20 SRAMs, six on each of two wing pylons and eight on a rotary launcher located in the bomb bay. Entering the 1990s, the 5th BW continued to set the standard as it deployed troops to the
Persian Gulf as part of
Operation Desert Shield. During the war's air campaign, the wing joined U.S. and coalition bombers and fighters to defeat
Iraq’s air and ground forces. In September 1991, the wing marked a historic moment in the final days of the
Cold War when it pulled its aircraft from continuous alert status – a job it performed for 35 years. The wing was relieved of its air refueling mission in June 1992 On 1 June 1992, the 5th Wing became the 5th Bomb Wing following the activation of
Air Combat Command.
From the 1990s The bomb wing saw combat again in the Persian Gulf during
Operation Desert Fox in December 1998. Months later, three Minot B-52s and crews joined the 2d Air Expeditionary Group at
RAF Fairford, England, in support of
Operation Allied Force over the former
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Budgetary cuts in 1996 led to a need for further force reductions which reduced the 5th's B-52H fleet. The 72d Squadron was inactivated late in the year and their 12 aircraft were retired. In the weeks following the
11 September 2001 attacks, the wing deployed in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom. Flying from a forward operating location, bomber crews attacked strategic targets in
Afghanistan to topple the
Taliban regime. In 2003, the wing deployed approximately 550 people and 14 B-52s to
RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, within the U.S. European Command
area of responsibility to fly combat missions as part of the
2003 invasion of Iraq. During the war, the wing's B-52s flew more than 120 combat missions and logged more than 1,600 combat flying hours. The bombers dropped more than 3 million pounds of weaponry, including conventional air-launched cruise missiles, joint direct attack munitions, gravity weapons, laser-guided bombs and leaflet dispensers. For the first time in combat history, a 5th BW crew employed a Litening II targeting pod to strike targets at an Iraqi airfield on 11 April 2003. In March 2004, the wing sent six B-52s and over 300 support personnel to
Andersen Air Force Base,
Guam. The aircraft and crews supported U.S. Pacific Command operations to provide a stabilizing military force in the region. In April 2005, the wing forward deployed aircraft and personnel to the
40th Air Expeditionary Wing to fly combat missions over Afghanistan. Flying a mix of close air support and strike missions, 5th BW crews ensured success of ground combat units in meeting their objectives. Today, the 5th's B-52Hs are a major component of the USAF's strategic bombing force, alongside the
Rockwell B-1B Lancer and the
Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit. The USAF is currently considering converting some of its B-52Hs to EB-52Hs to act as a stand-off electronic warfare platform. During Operation Allied Force (the bombing of
Serbia undertaken in an attempt to halt the ethnic cleansing of
Kosovo), the USAF found that additional jamming aircraft were needed to supplement the current fleet of
Grumman EA-6 Prowler A and B variants. With modern technology and advanced weapons like the
Joint Direct Attack Munition and
AGM-159 JASSM, the wing's B-52 are expected to remain operational until the year 2040. In 2007 the wing lost its commanding officer after Colonel Bruce Emig was removed in connection with the
2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident, when negligent handling of nuclear weapons breached safety and security procedures. Emig was replaced by Joel S. Westa. Following that incident, the wing failed a nuclear surety inspection (NSI) conducted by the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency in May 2008. The wing, however, kept its certification to perform missions and training with nuclear weapons. On 30 October 2009 Westa was relieved as commander of the 5th Bomb Wing by Major General Floyd L. Carpenter, commander of Eighth Air Force. Carpenter stated that Westa was relieved due to his "inability to foster a culture of excellence, a lack of focus on the strategic mission ... and substandard performance during several nuclear surety inspections, including the newly activated 69th Bomb Squadron." Colonel Douglas A. Cox was appointed new wing commander. In January 2010, the 69th BS passed its initial NSI, and the wing as a whole passed a no-notice NSI. In June 2010, the wing once again deployed aircraft and personnel to Guam as part of
United States Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence mission. While providing forces for the continuous bomber presence, the wing also passed its Nuclear Surety Inspection in August 2010, and followed this 70 days later with a successful Nuclear Operational Readiness Inspection in November 2010. In 2017, the wing deployed in support of
Operation Inherent Resolve, targeted operations against the
Islamic State. =='Ghost Rider' restoration==