6th Air Mobility Wing The United States Air Force ' s 6th Air Mobility Wing ( 6 AMW ) is the host wing for MacDill Air Force Base , Florida . It is part of Air Mobility Command ' s ( AMC ) Eighteenth Air Force . The wing ' s 6th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 3d Observation Group , one of the seven original combat air groups formed by the United States Army Air Service shortly after the end of World War I . The 6th Air Mobility Wing provides day - to - day mission support to more than 3 , 000 personnel along with more than 50 mission partners , including the United States Central Command and United States Special Operations Command . It is a force capable of rapidly projecting air refueling power anywhere in the world . The Wing is organized into four unique groups and three operational flying squadrons to carry out its mission to be provide air refueling , airlift , and airbase support . Units . The 6th Air Mobility Wing consists of : Heraldry . The Wing ' s emblem , approved for the 6th Composite Group in 1924 , reflects its origins with a ship sailing through the Gaillard Cut and an airplane flying overhead . History . Walker AFB . The 6th Bombardment Wing ( Medium ) was activated Walker Air Force Base , New Mexico on 2 January 1951 , attached to the Eighth Air Force . The unit consisted of the 24th , 39th and 40th Bombardment Squadrons and was initially equipped with Boeing B - 29 Superfortress aircraft . The 307th Air Refueling Squadron was also attached until 1952 and operated KB - 29P Superfortress Tankers . The wing has through temporary bestowal the lineage and honors of one of the oldest groups in the Air Force , its subordinate 6th Operations Group which was originally activated as the 3d Observation Group in the Panama Canal Zone on 30 September 1919 . One of its assigned squadrons had been activated two years earlier during World War I and had been commanded by ( then ) Capt . Henry H . Arnold . During World War II , the 6th Bombardment Group was assigned to the Twentieth Air Force and earned two Distinguished Unit Citation s for action against Tokyo and the Japanese Empire . One year after activation , the Sixth converted from the B - 29 to the Convair B - 36 Peacemaker . On 1 April 1955 , the 6th Bombardment Wing was from Eighth Air Force to Fifteenth Air Force . At Walker , the wing was bestowed the history and honors of the USAAF 6th Bombardment Group in 1952 . Operations consisted of strategic bombardment training with air refueling as additional mission in 1951 – 1952 , and again from April 1958 . The Boeing B - 52E Stratofortress replaced the wing ' s B - 36 in September 1957 . In September 1959 , the 24th and 30th Bombardment Squadrons joined the newly assigned 4129th Combat Crew Training Squadron to train B - 52 and KC - 135 crews . Early in 1965 , a second KC - 135 squadron was transferred to Walker when Schilling Air Force Base , Kansas , began its inactivation process . This made the Sixth a double - sized wing and one of the largest in SAC with its 60 heavy jet aircraft . As the Soviet missile threat increased , so did the 6th ' s mission . The 579th Strategic Missile Squadron ( SMS ) was activated in 1962 as an SM - 65 Atlas - F squadron . This addition of ICBMs resulted in the wing ' s re - designation as the 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing . After its reactivation , the squadron received its first ICBM on 24 January 1962 and became fully operational during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October – November , 1962 . However , bad luck dogged its footsteps and three of the 12 sites were lost by explosions on 1 June 1963 , 13 February 1964 , and 9 March 1964 . On 18 November 1964 , it was announced that liquid - fueled Atlas - F missiles would be phased out three years early due to the increased reliability of the solid - fueled LGM - 30A Minuteman I ICBM . Accordingly , the 579th Strategic Missile Squadron ( SMS ) inactivated 25 March 1965 . Soon after the base was apprised by a second announcement on 8 December 1965 that it was scheduled to close as an active installation . With the announcement of Walker ' s closure , the 310th Air Refueling Squadron ( AREFS ) moved to Plattsburgh Air Force Base , New York on 25 January 1967 . The 6th Air Refueling Squadron was inactivated at the same time , and its resources were apportioned out to SAC organizations in need of them . The 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing bomb squadrons also inactivated on 25 March 1967 and their resources were apportioned . The inactivation never happened as the 6th transferred to Eielson AFB , Alaska , without equipment and personnel on 25 March 1967 , to become the 6th Strategic Wing . Notable events during the 6th SAW / SW tenure were : Eielson AFB . The wing moved to Eielson Air Force Base , Alaska , where it became the 6th Strategic Wing ( SW ) . The wing was assigned the 24th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron , which carried the same number as one of its previous bombardment squadrons . The 6th had gone full circle and was back in reconnaissance as its predecessor had been in 1919 , only with RC - 135 jet aircraft . At Eielson , the wing assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of the 4157th Strategic Wing . SAC had formed this unit as the 4157th Combat Support Group on 1 July 1960 to provide support for forward deployed SAC bombardment and reconnaissance elements at Eielson . The group was a tenant of the 5010th Air Base Wing ( later 5010th Combat Support Group ) of Alaskan Air Command . Its original component squadron was the 14th Aviation Depot Squadron ( later the 14th Munitions Maintenance Squadron ) , which had been at Eielson since 1956 was assigned to oversee the group ' s special weapons . When the focus of the 4157th shifted to reconnaissance , the 14th was inactivated in 1962 . The wing mission expanded to include air refueling support for B - 52s involved with Chrome Dome operations In November 1963 , the group was upgraded to wing status as the 4157th Strategic Wing . The 4157th gained an additional unit in 1965 when the 4157th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron was assigned to provide maintenance support for deployed aircraft . However , SAC Major Command Controlled ( MAJCON ) Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage and SAC took the opportunity presented by the drawdown at Walker to replace the 4157th with the Sixth . The 6th Strategic Wing also maintained a detachment at Shemya AFB , Alaska , in addition to maintaining the Alaskan Tanker Task Force to support strategic reconnaissance and the NORAD Alaskan ballistic missile early warning station . On 1 April 1988 , SAC renamed the wing the 6th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing . During this time it flew the RC – 135S and TC - 135 . The Wing won the P . T . Cullen Award for greatest contributions to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of Strategic Air Command , 1973 , 1978 , and 1983 . The 24th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron left Eielson AFB on 7 July 1992 . The wing lost its operational mission and was inactivated on 1 September 1992 . The mission of the 6th SRW , and its assigned aircraft , was transferred to the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB , Nebraska . MacDill AFB . Announcement of the 6th ' s most recent inactivation came in December 1991 , as the reconnaissance mission of the 6th was transferred to the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB , Nebraska , and the mission of the Alaskan Tanker Task Force was terminated . Following the 1991 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission ( BRAC ) decision to terminate the 56th Fighter Wing ' s mission at MacDill AFB Florida by the end of 1993 and relocate it to Luke AFB , Arizona , the Air Mobility Command assumed responsibilities for MacDill AFB with a mission to operate the base and provide support services for USCENTCOM , USSOCOM , and the large and growing number of other tenant units , as well as to provide services for transient air units . On 22 December 1993 . the 6th was redesignated as the 6th Air Base Wing ( 6 ABW ) and activated on 4 January 1994 at MacDill AFB Florida with a primary mission of supporting two unified commands , U . S . Special Operations Command and U . S . Central Command . On 1 October 1996 , the wing returned to its flying mission with the relocation of KC - 135R Stratotanker aircraft from Malmstrom AFB , Montana and was renamed the 6th Air Refueling Wing ( 6 ARW ) . The wing also assumed support responsibility for EC - 135 command post aircraft supporting the USCENTCOM and USSOCOM commanders at MacDill and a CT - 43 aircraft supporting the USSOUTHCOM commander in Miami . Both non - tanker aircraft types were later replaced by the C - 37 . On 1 January 2001 the 6th ARW reorganized again and became the 6th Air Mobility Wing ( 6 AMW ) , assigned to Air Mobility Command ' s Eighteenth Air Force . The 6 AMW has twice won the Air Mobility Rodeo Best Air Mobility Wing Award ; in 2000 and 2005 . During 2007 and 2008 , the 6 AMW gained an Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) " Associate " unit when the 927th Air Refueling Wing ( 927 ARW ) relocated to MacDill AFB from Selfridge Air National Guard Base , Michigan minus its KC - 135R aircraft pursuant to BRAC action , the 927 ARW ' s aircraft being transferred to the Michigan Air National Guard . The 927 ARW officially established itself at MacDill on 1 May 2008 , with the 6 AMW and 927 ARW sharing KC - 135R aircraft and personnel . All 6 AMW KC - 135 were remarked to include both AMC and AFRC insignia and 6 AMW and 927 ARW markings . Operational Components . Groups Squadrons References . Bibliography . Further Reading