500th Air Expeditionary Group The 500th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit . Its last known assignment was at Christchurch , New Zealand , where it was activated for the summer 2005 - 2006 season . The unit ' s origins lie with its predecessor unit , the United States Army Air Forces 500th Bombardment Group , which was part of Twentieth Air Force during World War II . The 500th engaged in very heavy ( Boeing B - 29 Superfortress ) bombardment operations against Japan . It was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citation s for actions in 1945 . The 500th Air Refueling Wing replaced the 4045th Air Refueling Wing as a Strategic Air Command tanker unit at Selfridge Air Force Base , Michigan on 1 January 1963 . The two units were consolidated in 1984 . In 2002 , the consolidated unit was coverted to provisional status as the 500th Air Expeditionary Group . It has been activated several times to support operations in Antarctica . History . World War II . The group was established as the 500th Bombardment Group in late 1943 at Gowen Field , Idaho . It was formed as a Boeing B - 29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment group . The unit was initially composed of with four bombardment squadron s , the 881st , 882d , 883d , and 884th Bombardment Squadron s , the 29th , 30th , 31st and 32d Bombardment Maintenance Squadrons and the 18th Photographic Laboratory ( Bombardment , Very Heavy ) . Due to a shortage of B - 29s , the group was equipped with Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress es already at Gowen Field . These aircraft were previously used for training heavy bomber replacement personnel . In January the unit moved to Clovis Army Air Field , New Mexico due to the poor flying weather during the winter in Idaho . It moved to Walker Army Air Field , Kansas in April 1944 where it finally received newly manufactured B - 29 Superfortresses from the Boeing plant at Wichita , Kansas . In May the United States Army Air Forces reconfigured its very heavy groups and the 884th Bombardment Squadron and the Bombardment Maintenance Squadrons were inactivated . Their personnel were consolidated into the remaining squadrons . The 500th deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations in September 1944 , where it was assigned to the 73d Bombardment Wing of XXI Bomber Command in the Northern Mariana Islands , at Isely Field , Saipan . Upon their arrival the group ' s personnel engaged in Quonset hut construction . By mid - October most personnel were able to move into the huts from the tents which they were assigned to on their arrival in theater . The 500th ' s assigned tail code was a Z - Square . It entered combat on 11 November 1944 with an attack against a submarine base in the Truk Islands . On 24 November , the 500th participated in the first attack on Japan by B - 29 ' s based in the Marianas . After that attack , the group conducted many daylight raids , operating from high altitude to bomb strategic targets in Japan . It struck the Mitsubishi aircraft engine plant at Nagoya in January 1945 and received a Distinguished Unit Citation ( DUC ) for the mission . The group bombed enemy airfields and other installations on Kyūshū in support of the Allied assault on Okinawa in April 1945 . Beginning in March 1945 , the group flew missions at night and at low altitude to drop incendiaries on area targets in Japan . It received a second DUC for incendiary attacks on the urban - industrial section of Osaka , feeder industries at Hamamatsu , and shipping and rail targets on Kyūshū during June . The group released propaganda leaflets over the Japanese home islands in July and August , continuing strategic bombing raids and incendiary attacks until the Japanese capitulation in August 1945 . After V - J Day , the 500th dropped supplies to Allied prisoners , participated in show - of - force missions , and flew over Japan to evaluate bombardment damage . In October 1945 the unit returned to the United States . It was assigned to Continental Air Forces ' Fourth Air Force at March Field , California . However demobilization was in full swing and the group was inactivated on 17 January 1946 . Cold War . The 500th Air Refueling Wing was activated and established in 1963 as part of Strategic Air Command at Selfridge AFB , Michigan . The wing replaced the 4045th Air Refueling Wing at Selfridge , absorbing its personnel and assets . The 4045th Wing had been established at Selfridge on 1 January 1959 , along with three maintenance squadrons and a security unit and assigned to Second Air Force . The 44th Air Refueling Squadron and 307th Air Refueling Squadron moved from Chennault AFB , Louisiana in June 1960 and were assigned to the wing as its operational squadrons . In September , the wing was reassigned to the 17th Air Division . In 1962 , in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records , Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled ( MAJCON ) wings that were equipped with tactical aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled ( AFCON ) units , most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history . As a result the 4045th was replaced by the newly constituted 500th Air Refueling Wing on 1 January 1963 . The two refueling squadrons were reassigned to the 500th wing . The 4045th ' s maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 500th numerical designation of the newly established wing . Each of the new units assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of its predecessor . The wing was reassigned to the 40th Air Division on 1 July 1963 . The wing supported SAC bombardment and Tactical Air Command fighter aircraft with air refueling and occasionally deployed segments of its tanker force overseas to support unit movements and special operations . The unit was discontinued and inactivated on 15 December 1964 . The two units were consolidated in 1984 . Expeditionary Operations . The consolidated unit was redesignated as the 500th Air Expeditionary Group and activated in the early 2000s ( decade ) to conduct Operation Deep Freeze activities under Pacific Air Forces , before being replaced by the 13th Air Expeditionary Group . During deployments to support Deep Freeze , the group had controlled ski - equipped Lockheed LC - 130 Hercules aircraft of the 139th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and McDonnell Douglas C - 17 Globemaster III aircraft of the 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron . Lineage . 500th Bombardment Group 500th Air Expeditionary Group Components . Tactical Squadrons Support Units