305th Air Mobility Wing The 305th Air Mobility Wing ( 305 AMW ) is a United States Air Force strategic airlift and air refueling wing under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) . The 305 AMW is a tenant unit at Joint Base McGuire - Dix - Lakehurst in central New Jersey . Overview . The 305th Air Mobility Wing extends America ' s global reach by generating , mobilizing and deploying C - 17 Globemaster III and KC - 10 Extender aircraft to conduct strategic airlift and air refueling missions . In addition to aircraft and aircrew generation , the 305th Air Mobility Wing controls one of the Air Force ' s busiest aerial ports , and the air operations at both McGuire AFB and Naval Support Activity Lakehurst . The Wing ' s motto is " Can Do , " a description formulated in World War II when its predecessor unit , the 305th Bombardment Group , earned its reputation as courageous , innovative warriors . The legendary 305th Bomb Group was first commanded by then - Colonel Curtis E . LeMay . Notably , the 305th is the only Air Force unit with two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients in its history ( Lts William Lawley & Edward Michael who earned them on separate B - 17 missions during WWII ) . Units . The following squadrons make up the 305th Operations Group ( 305 OG ) : The following squadrons make up the 305th Maintenance Group ( 305 MXG ) : History . 305th Bombardment Wing . The 305th Bombardment Wing was established on 20 December 1950 and activated on 2 January 1951 at MacDill AFB , Florida and the wing took charge of the Group ' s former flying squadrons when the Air Force reorganized its wings into the tri - deputate system . Initially training with the Boeing B - 29 and B - 50 Superfortress , the 305th received its first Boeing KC - 97 Stratotanker later that year . Following this , the group began training heavily in its new dual mission of strategic bombardment and aerial refueling . In June 1952 , the wing became the second Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) wing to receive the Boeing B - 47A Stratoje t bomber . Operational squadrons of the wing were the 305th , 364th , 365th and 366th Bombardment Squadrons , while the 306th Bombardment Squadron was intended to act as a training unit to prepare future B - 47 crews . The B - 47As were primarily training aircraft and were not considered as being combat ready , since most of them were unarmed and were initially without almost any of their vital electronic components In 1953 , the 305th was upgraded to the B - 47B production Stratojet and the wing began operational strategic bombardment and refueling missions from MacDill . The wing deployed overseas three times , once to England ( September – December 1953 ) and twice to North Africa ( November 1955 – January 1956 and January – March 1957 ) , in keeping with its mission of global bombardment and air refueling operations . The wing ' s deployments marked the first overseas deployment of the B - 47B . Two wing B - 47s set speed records on 28 July 1953 when one flew from RCAF Goose Bay , Labrador , to RAF Fairford , England , in 4 : 14 hours and the other flew from Limestone AFB , Maine , to RAF Fairford in 4 : 45 hours . During this period , the 305th also figured prominently in the filming of the 1955 James Stewart and June Allyson film , " Strategic Air Command " , a portion of which was filmed in and around both the 305th Bombardment Wing and 306th Bombardment Wing areas and their B - 47 aircraft at MacDill AFB . In 1955 , SAC upgraded the 305th to the B - 47E , the major production version of the Stratojet . A major tragedy struck the 305th on the evening of 10 October 1956 , when 50 of its personnel returning from a 90 - day temporary duty assignment in England on a Military Air Transportation Service flight died when the United States Navy Douglas R6D - 1 Liftmaster carrying them disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean . A search discovered wreckage from the aircraft , but no survivors or bodies ever were found . In May 1959 , the 305th Bomb Wing with B - 47s was reassigned to Bunker Hill AFB , Indiana and assumed responsibility for operating the base . Later that same year , the first Boeing KC - 135A Stratotankers were assigned to the unit , replacing the propeller - driven KC - 97s that had difficulties keeping up with the B - 47 jet aircraft . The 305th began transferring its Stratojets to other wings as replacement aircraft in early 1960 in a planned equipment change . In September 1960 , the 305th became the second USAF wing selected to receive the Convair B - 58A Hustler with the first aircraft received on 11 May 1961 . Two months later , the first TB - 58A trainer arrived . Three squadrons ( 364th , 365th and 366th ) were equipped with B - 58As , and the wing was declared operationally ready in August 1962 . A wing B - 58 set a new speed record on 16 October 1963 by flying from Tokyo , Japan , to London , England ( via Alaska and Greenland ) , in 8 : 35 hours at an average speed of 938 mph ( 1 , 510 km / hr ) . In a little - known attempt to increase the flexibility of the B - 58 as a weapons system , experiments were carried out in April 1964 under a program known as Operation Bullseye to see if the B - 58 could carry and deliver conventional bombs . In coordination with Republic F - 105Ds and McDonnell F - 4C / Ds , sorties were flown using B - 58s as lead ships and pathfinders and as independent strike aircraft . It was demonstrated that the B - 58 could carry iron bombs on the wing root bomb racks that had earlier been added to accommodate four Mk . 43 nuclear weapons . Iron bombs of varying weights up to 3000 pounds were dropped , usually from low altitudes and at speeds of 600 knots . Almost all of the drops were visual , with the AN / ASQ - 42 system rarely being used . However , the fear that the B - 58 ' s integral wing tanks would make it vulnerable to ground fire during low altitude delivery lead to the abandonment of the program . The wing operated a B - 58 combat crew training school ( CCTS ) , August 1965 – December 1969 , and gained an Boeing EC - 135 Post - Attack Command Control System ( PACCS ) mission with the 3d PACCS Squadron in mid - 1966 . After 26 years of bearing the name Bunker Hill , the base was renamed Grissom AFB on 12 May 1968 after Lieutenant Colonel Virgil I . " Gus " Grissom , USAF , a native of Mitchell , Indiana who was one of the original seven Mercury astronauts . Having later commanded the Gemini 3 mission in 1965 , Lieutenant Colonel Grissom was assigned as commander for the first manned Apollo mission , but was killed with the rest of his crew during a fire in his Apollo 1 capsule during a pre - launch rehearsal on Pad 34 at Cape Kennedy , Florida in January 1967 . The active service life of the B - 58 was destined to be rather short . Phaseout of the B - 58 fleet was ordered by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in December 1965 , since it was felt that the high - altitude performance of the B - 58 could no longer guarantee success against increasingly sophisticated Soviet air defenses , particularly high - altitude surface - to - air missiles such as the SA - 2 Guideline . At that time , Secretary McNamara also announced that the F - 111 would be built for both the U . S . Air Force and U . S . Navy . McNamara further proposed that a SAC variant of the new F - 111 , to be designated FB - 111A , along with improvements in the Air Force Minuteman and Navy Polaris missile systems and modernization of the subsonic Boeing B - 52 , would enhance strategic deterrence and make the B - 58 superfluous to the needs of the USAF . The first B - 58 to go into long term storage was B - 58A , AF Serial No . 59 - 2446 , which flew to Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona on 5 November 1969 . Once underway , the B - 58 retirement program moved relatively rapidly . The retirement was completed on 16 January 1970 , when the 305th Bomb Wing ' s last two B - 58s ( AF Serial No . 55 - 0662 and 61 - 078 ) were flown to Davis - Monthan AFB for storage . 305th Air Refueling Wing . With the loss of its bombardment squadrons , the 305th Bomb Wing was converted to an inflight - refueling wing using KC - 135As and was redesignated as the 305th Air Refueling Wing on 1 January 1970 . It was assigned to Strategic Air Command , Second Air Force , 42nd Air Division . From the early 1970s the wing supported worldwide tanker task forces by deploying KC - 135 aircraft to Europe , Alaska , Greenland , and the Pacific . In 1975 , the 3d ACCS was inactivated and its specialized EC - 135s were transferred to the 70th Air Refueling Squadron . The wing provided tanker refueling support to units involved in the Invasion of Grenada ( October 1983 ) and the restoration of democracy in Panama ( December 1989 ) . From August 1990 to June 1991 deployed personnel and aircraft to provide refueling support for air operations to and in Southwest Asia . The 305th Wing also delivered food to the Kurds in Northern Iraq , April – May 1991 . Lost its PACCS mission in May 1992 . It was redesignated the 305th Air Refueling Wing , Heavy on 1 September 1991 . 305th Air Mobility Wing . On 1 June 1992 , Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) was inactivated and the 305th realigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) , merging former SAC air refueling aircraft with strategic and tactical theater airlift aircraft operated by the former Military Airlift Command ( MAC ) , the latter also having been inactivated on the same date . The wing was also redesignated as the 305th Air Mobility Wing ( 305 AMW ) . The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) directed realignment of Grissom AFB to the Air Force Reserve and the 305th ARW phased out operations there in 1994 . The KC - 135R equipped 70th and 305th ARS were inactivated . In addition , the EC - 135G / L radio relay aircraft as part of the PACCS system were also retired . The 305 AMW was moved without personnel or equipment to McGuire AFB , New Jersey , replacing the 438th Airlift Wing ( 438 AW ) on 1 October 1994 . At McGuire , the wing controls three squadrons of Boeing C - 17A Globemaster III transports and Douglas KC - 10A Extender air refueling aircraft . The 305 AMW is currently operational at McGuire , New Jersey with over 55 years of service . It also operates in parallel with its Air Force Reserve Command " Associate " wing , the 514th Air Mobility Wing ( 514 AMW ) , which operates the same KC - 10 and C - 17 aircraft . The 305 AMW also works with the 108th Air Refueling Wing ( 108 ARW ) at McGuire , an Air Mobility Command - gained unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard , operating the KC - 135R Stratotanker . On 3 March 2009 , the 305 AMW underwent significant changes due to BRAC 2005 . The wing no longer provides installation support for McGuire - the 87th Air Base Wing ( 87th ABW ) now provides the installation support . When the two wings divided the 305th Mission Support and Medical Groups transferred to the 87th ABW to become the 87th Mission Support and Medical Groups . The 305th Maintenance and Operations Groups continue to provide a responsive , combat - ready mobility and expeditionary capability for United States . However , by virtue of the same BRAC 2005 legislation , the 305th Air Mobility Wing not only controls air operations at McGuire AFB , but also those at Naval Support Activity Lakehurst ( with the exception of the test strip ) . In effect , this places the 305 AMW Commander as the single airfield authority at both McGuire and Lakehurst . Components . Groups Squadrons