405th Air Expeditionary Wing The 405th Air Expeditionary Wing ( 405 AEW ) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command . It may be activated or inactivated at any time . Currently , it is believed that the 405 AEW is stationed at Thumrait AB , Oman . Its current mission and operational components are undetermined , however it appears to be a combat organization flying KC - 135 Stratotanker and KC - 10 Extender air refueling aircraft . History . Cold War . Tactical Air Command . Established on 1 December 1952 at Godman AFB , Kentucky . The 405th Fighter - Bomber Wing was an active - duty replacement for the Federalized New Jersey Air National Guard 108th Fighter - Bomber Wing which returned to state control after its activation during the Korean War . The wing ' s 405th Fighter - Bomber Group was a reactivation of the IX Fighter Command 405th Fighter Group , which had fought in the ETO during World War II . When activated the group redesignated the NJ ANG 141st , 149th and 153d Strategic Fighter Squadrons as the 509th , 510th , and 511th Fighter - Bomber Squadrons in numerical order . Initially equipped with F - 47Ds and F - 47N Thunderbolt s inherited from the Air National Guard , the 405th being the last active duty USAF Thunderbolt fighter Wing . On 1 May 1953 , the F - 47s were withdrawn and sent to AMARC , and the 405th was reassigned to Langley AFB , Virginia due to the programmed closing of Godman AFB on 1 September . At Langley , the 405th replaced the provisional 4430th Air Base Wing and was re - equipped with Republic F - 84F Thunderstreak jet aircraft . Also attached to the group was the 422d Bombardment Squadron with B - 26 Invader light bombers ( 1 May – 20 December 1953 ) and the 429th Air Refueling Squadron ( 19 July 1954 – 8 October 1957 ) with KB - 29 Superfortress tankers . Operations included gunnery and bombardment training , firepower demonstrations , weapons delivery training , and numerous tactical exercises , 1952 – 1958 , plus air refueling , 1954 – 1958 . Pacific Air Forces . The wing was reassigned to Pacific Air Forces in April 1959 , replacing the PACAF 6200th Air Base Wing at Clark AB , Philippines . This was part of a general buildup of USAF tactical forces in the Southwest Pacific , as Clark in the postwar era was largely a maintenance and supply depot , and the signing of a new Status of Forces agreement with the Philippine Government with regards to Clark AB . Re - designated as the 405th Fighter Wing , the wing provided host mission duties at Clark as well as air defense and offensive fighter operations in the Philippines , Taiwan , and other Far Eastern points , April 1959 – June 1962 . Initially the transferred 509th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron operated F - 86D Sabre interceptors in an air defense mission , being replaced by F - 102 Delta Dagger interceptors in 1960 . The 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron inherited the F - 100D Super Sabre s of the inactivated 72d TFS in a defensive fighter - bomber mission . It began a series of rotational deployments to Chai - Yi Air Base , Taiwan in July 1959 to defend Taiwan as part of an ongoing USAF defense mission after the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis . In 1964 the 510th was reassigned back to the United States at England Air Force Base , Louisiana . It was replaced by the 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron , which was attached to the 401st by the TAC 834th Air Division at England in November 1965 for a 6 - month TDY and returned to England in May 1966 . Vietnam War . Beginning in 1962 , the 510th Tactical Fighter Squadron began deployments to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base , Thailand , providing air defense training for Royal Thai Air Force personnel , as well as to try to restrain the Communist Pathet Lao which were busily overrunning most of northwestern Laos . From mid - 1962 until the end of the conflict in Southeast Asia , the wing frequently deployed assigned and attached components to bases in Southeast Asia for air defense and combat operations under operational control of other organizations . When not so involved , components trained in air defense and other tactical exercises in Taiwan and the Philippines . B - 57B light bombers . In April 1964 , the situation in Indochina led to orders for the PACAF 41st Air Division B - 57B Canberra 8th and 13th Bombardment Squadrons to be reassigned from rotational nuclear " quick strike " alert in South Korea to Thirteenth Air Force at Clark AB for possible tactical bombardment missions against communist aggressor forces in South Vietnam . On 9 April 1965 , the first Canberras of the 13th Bomb Squadron began arriving at Clark ; the 8th began arriving on 17 April . By the end of the month all 47 of the former 3d Bomb Wing ' s aircraft arrived in the Philippines . The squadrons were formally assigned to Headquarters 13th Air Force , however the were attached to the 405th Wing for administrative and logistical support . During the summer of 1964 , a war of nerves was taking place between the United States , North and South Vietnam . United States ground forces were present in South Vietnam , officially in an advisory role to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) at the invitation of the South Vietnamese government . United States forces could not attack communist forces unless provoked by aggressive action of the communist Viet Cong , or in some cases , by North Vietnamese Army ( NVA ) ground units in the South . On the night of 2 August 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred in which North Vietnamese gunboats directly clashed with United States Navy destroyers . At Clark , the base went on alert and the atmosphere was that of a wartime appearance . Fighter Squadrons were deploying to USAF bases in Thailand , and transports began shipping supplies and equipment to South Vietnamese bases used by the United States . The two B - 57 squadrons went on alert and on 5 August the squadrons were notified to deploy 20 B - 57Bs of the 8th and 13th BS to Bien Hoa Air Base near Saigon . This would mark the first deployment of jet combat aircraft to Vietnam . However , this was technically a violation of the Geneva Protocols which forbade the introduction of jet combat aircraft to Vietnam . To abide by the Geneva protocols , both squadrons rotated frequently over the next four years first to Bien Hoa AB , then to later Tan Son Nhut AB . In November 1964 , both squadrons were transferred from 13th AF control to the 405th Fighter Wing at Clark . Rotations were moved to Da Nang AB in June 1965 to facilitate attacks in Laos and North Vietnam , but high attrition rates over the North led to the movement to Phan Rang AB on the South Central coast in June 1966 . Finally , in October 1966 the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing was moved to Phan Rang AB and took over the units on a permanent basis . In late December 1972 , the 13th Bombardment Squadron returned to the 405th from the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon RTAFB , Thailand with B - 57G Canberras , which were B - 57B that had been returned to Martin in 1969 and modified as night intruders for use in Vietnam in September 1970 under a project known as Tropic Moon . The B - 57s , however were transferred almost immediately back to the United States and assigned to the 190th Bombardment Group ( Tactical ) of the Kansas Air National Guard at Forbes AFB . The 13th Bomb Squadron remained assigned to the wing as an administrative unit until it was inactivated on 30 September 1973 . South Vietnam B - 57 program . In 1964 , the United States secretly agreed to supply a few B - 57Bs to the South Vietnamese Air Force . The United States had initially been reluctant to equip the Vietnamese Air Force with jet aircraft , since this would be a technical violation of the Geneva Accords and might further escalate the war . However , the US had already equipped other friendly nations in the region with jet aircraft , and pressure from the government leadership in Saigon coupled with a need to boost the sagging morale of the South Vietnamese people , led to a change of heart . The first VNAF B - 57 crews began training in secret with 405th aircraft at Clark AB later in 1964 . One of the students was none other than Nguyen Cao Ky , the commander of the VNAF and later president of the Republic of Vietnam . As the crews completed their training at Clark , they went to Da Nang Air Base and flew combat missions with the 405th ' s 8th or 13th Bombardment Squadrons , whichever happened to be on station at the time . To gain combat experience , each new crewmember flew with an American pilot or navigator , whichever the case may be . Eventually , the VNAF crew members flew in VNAF - marked B - 57s , but their combat missions always remained strictly under USAF operational control . The South Vietnamese government felt at this stage that the VNAF B - 57 program should be given some more visibility , and to celebrate Vietnamese Armed Forces Day , on 29 October 1965 , five B - 57s from the 8th Bombardment Squadron , then based at Da Nang AB , were repainted with VNAF insignia and carried out an air strike against a suspected Viet Cong stronghold and landed Tan Son Nhut Air Base . After landing , the planes took off again and joined other VNAF aircraft in a formation flyover of Saigon . Although manned solely by American crews , this attack was heralded as the introduction of VNAF B - 57s into combat . However , South Vietnamese Air Force pilots had severe difficulties operating the B - 57 . Vietnamese crews suddenly began to complain of various illnesses , which grounded many trainees and brought their training to a standstill . In addition , on 8 January 1966 a B - 57 was destroyed in a training accident , further lowering morale . Some Vietnamese crews flatly stated that they could not physically perform the maneuvers required in the B - 57 . To make matters even worse , Major Nguyen Ngoc Bien , the leader of the VNAF B - 57 program , was killed in a freak ground accident on 23 February 1966 at Da Nang . The death of Major Bien , who was well - liked and well - respected by both Vietnamese and Americans , resulted in a complete loss of any incentive for the Vietnamese crewmen to stay with the B - 57 , and from this point on there was very little Vietnamese activity in the B - 57 program . On 20 April 1967 , the VNAF B - 57 operation was formally terminated . F - 102 interceptors . Flights of F - 102 interceptors from the 509th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron began to deploy to Tan Son Nhut AB in March 1962 to provide air defense against the unlikely event that North Vietnamese aircraft would attack the South . They also deployed to Don Muang RTAFB near Bangkok , Thailand and began exchanging rotational duty with the 16th FIS based at Naha AB on Okinawa . In 1965 , operating under the code - name " Project Stovepipe " , 509th FIS F - 102s used their heat sinking Falcon missiles to lock onto heat sources over the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night , often Viet Cong campfires . The F - 102s soon switched to a day role , firing the 12 unguided FFAR rockets from the missile bays , using the optical sight . 618 - day sorties were flown , the last one being flown at the end of 1965 . The Air Defense Command 64th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was deployed from the 25th Air Division at Paine Field , Washington to Clark AB and assigned to the 405th on 10 June 1966 to supplement the F - 102 mission in Southeast Asia as well as provide air defense for the Philippines . F - 102s stood rotational alert at TDYs Bien Hoa and Da Nang Air Bases in South Vietnam and at Udorn and Don Muang Air Bases in Thailand . The F - 102A was finally withdrawn from Southeast Asia in December 1969 with the phaseout of the aircraft from the USAF inventory , also the clear lack of need for a dedicated air defense interceptor over South Vietnam . The F - 102A established an excellent safety record during its duty in Vietnam . In almost seven years of flying air defense and a few combat air patrols for SAC B - 52s , only 15 F - 102As were lost . C - 130 Tactical Airlift . In July 1968 , the 315th Air Division reassigned the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing from Mactan Isle Airfield to Clark AB , and it became a tenant unit under the 405th . The 463d was responsible for operating a C - 130 Hercules combat airlift support unit at Tan Son Nhut AB , South Vietnam , and also flew combat support missions within South Vietnam landing and dropping off supplies , equipment and personnel at forward locations throughout the country . It operated three squadrons of C - 130s performing rotational deployments to and from Clark , bringing back wounded personnel with aeromedical airlifts , the aircraft returning to South Vietnam filled with combat supplies and equipment . This mission continued until 31 December 1971 when the wing was inactivated as part of the Vietnam drawdown . The 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron remained assigned to the 405th , providing tactical airlift within the Southwest Pacific until 15 September 1972 . Post - Vietnam era . The 1st Test Squadron conducted weapons system evaluation ( COMBAT SAGE ) of repaired battle - damaged F - 4 Phantom II s from 30 April 1970 until the end of the Vietnam War . It remained assigned to the 405th until the wing ' s re - designation in September 1974 . The 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron returned to Clark and the 405th on 15 December 1972 after being withdrawn from the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nha Trang Air Base , South Vietnam as part of the Vietnam drawdown . Flew F - 4E Phantom II s also until the 405th ' s re - designation in September 1974 . During July – August 1972 , provided extensive flood relief to Philippine areas inundated by monsoon rains . During February – March 1973 , provided medical , logistical , and administrative support for former prisoners of war , on their way to the United States from North Vietnam . With the end of the USAF presence in South Vietnam , the wing was re - designated as the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing in September 1974 to retain the history of the senior unit after its standown as part of the closure of Bien Hoa AB . Tactical Training Wing . On 25 August 1979 , the 405th Tactical Training Wing was activated at Luke AFB , Arizona by Tactical Air Command to consolidate the F - 15 Eagle Replacement Training Unit ( RTU ) operations . It took over the 425th , 461st 550th and 555th Tactical Fighter Training Squadrons from the 58th Tactical Training Wing . The F - 15As were replaced by the much more capable F - 15C in January 1981 which was being delivered to front - line USAF combat squadrons . With the upgrading to the F - 15C , the lowest - hour F - 15As were transferred to the 426th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron which converted from F - 4 Phantom II . The 426th provided F - 15A interceptor training specifically to support the TAC Air Defense Command ( ADTAC ) training mission inherited from the inactivated Aerospace Defense Command which was merged into TAC . The F - 15As in front - line units were being reassigned to Air Defense duty with ADTAC . On 19 November 1990 , the 555th TFTS changed its course from air superiority combat training with the Eagle to air defense interceptor training with the F - 15C when TAC began assigning F - 15Cs to Air National Guard interceptor duty and phasing out the F - 15A all together , the 426th being inactivated . The 461st TFTS received first F - 15E Strike Eagle , July 1988 , and the 550th TFTS became the second F - 15E Strike Eagle training squadron in March 1989 . On 1 October 1991 , due to the implementation of the Objective Wing at Luke and the " One base , one wing " policy , the 405th TTW was shut down and the F - 15s were reassigned back to the 58th TTW . Modern era . Reactivated as an Air Expeditionary Wing after the 9 / 11 / 2001 attacks as part of USCENTAF . Supporting operations on three fronts of Global War on Terrorism — the Horn of Africa , Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom . B - 1 , KC - 135 , RC - 135 Aircraft , possibly others .