page_title: 2nd Bomb Wing
section_title: B-52 Stratofortress
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Bomb Wing / History / B-52 Stratofortress
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker aircraft from the 2nd Bombardement Wing flies a mission during "Proud Shield '92", a USAF Strategic Air Command bombing and navigation competition at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana (USA). Note the extended refueling boom and the USAF tanker aircraft camouflage scheme used in the early 1990s. Note: The description says that this is an 71st Air Refueling Squadron aircraft, but the squadron was deactivated on 1 September 1991 The squadron remained active until 1 April 1994.--Lineagegeek (talk) 16:09, 17 September 2013 (UTC)
context_page_description: The 2d Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command and the Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The wing is also the host unit at Barksdale. The wing was assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command in February 2010 as part of the reassignment of Eighth Air Force.
  The 2 BW is one of only two B-52H Stratofortress wings in the United States Air Force, the other being the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
  Its 2d Operations Group is the oldest bomb group of the Air Force, having fought on the Western Front as the 1st Day Bombardment Group during World War I, entering combat on 12 September 1918. After the war, it participated in Brigadier General Billy Mitchell's 1921 off-shore bombing test. Active for over 60 years, the 2 BW was a component wing of Strategic Air Command's heavy bomber deterrent force throughout the Cold War.
  The 2d Bomb Wing is commanded by Colonel Michael A. Miller. The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Joshua W. Swanger.
context_section_description: The 2d Bombardment Wing moved to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana on 1 April 1963 where it assumed the existing B-52F Stratofortress heavy bombers and personnel of 4238th Strategic Wing (SW).  The wing has been stationed at Barksdale continuously for over 50 years.
  4238th Strategic Wing
  B-52 operations at Barksdale can be traced to 1 March 1958 when SAC established the 4238th SW. and assigned it to the 4th Air Division as part of 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. The 4238th was initially assigned only three maintenance squadrons, but on 15 April, the 4238th Air Base Group was activated under the wing as the host organization for Barksdale when the 805th Air Base Group and the 301st Bombardment Wing were inactivated.  The 301st and 376th Air Refueling Squadrons, flying Boeing KC-97 Stratotankers were transferred to the wing from the 301st while the 20th Aviation Depot Squadron was transferred from the 805th to oversee the wing's special weapons.  In June, the 913th Air Refueling Squadron, flying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was activated in anticipation of the arrival of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.  The two KC-97 units were inactivated or transferred from Barksdale by 1962.
  The wing gained its fourth operational squadron on 1 August when the 436th Bombardment Squadron (BS), consisting of 15 Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses moved to Barksdale from Carswell AFB, Texas where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 7th Bombardment Wing. Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron'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 4238th (and later the 2d) continued to maintain an alert commitment until the end of the Cold War. 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 4134th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles.
  2d Bombardment Wing, Heavy
  In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of 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 replace them with Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, which could carry a lineage and history.
  Rather than inactivate the 2d Bombardment Wing when Hunter closed, SAC moved it to replace the 4238th SW. and assume its mission, personnel, and equipment.
  In the same way, the 20th Bombardment Squadron, one of the unit's historical bomb squadrons, replaced the 436th BS. The 855th Medical Group, 20th Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 913th Air Refueling Squadron  were reassigned to the 2d. The 4238th's support group and maintenance squadrons were replaced by ones with the 2d numerical designation.  Each of the new units assumed the personnel, equipment, and mission of its predecessor.
  At Barksdale, 2 BW supported Second Air Force's post-attack command and control system from April 1963 until March 1970. It conducted bombardment training and air refueling operations from April 1963 except for periods when all aircraft and crews were on loan to SAC organizations involved in combat operations in Southeast Asia. It began supporting SAC operations in Southeast Asia with aircraft and personnel in 1965, and increasingly supported these operations in 1966 and 1967. On 15 April 1968, gained a second B-52 and a second KC-135 squadron, again becoming a SAC "super" wing. From late May 1972 until 26 October 1973, it loaned all wing B-52 resources to SAC organizations in the Far East and Southeast Asia.  From May 1972 to early November 1972 the wing loaned all but four of the wing's KC-135s and a few aircrews to other SAC units. After the return of combat resources, the wing con
caption: KC-135A of the 2nd Bomb Wing in 1992
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