494th Air Expeditionary Group The 494th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force assigned to Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) to activate or inactivate as needed . Although no unclassified sources indicate that AMC has activated the group , a patch published at USAF Patches . com implies that the group was active in Spain during Operation Iraqi Freedom . The group was originally activated in 1943 as the 494th Bombardment Group . It was the last B - 24 Liberator group formed by the United States Army Air Forces . The unit served primarily in Western Pacific , taking part in numerous campaigns . It earned the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the liberation of the Philippines . It was then active during the Cold War as the 494th Bombardment Wing a Strategic Air Command unit , flying Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress and Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker aircraft at Sheppard Air Force Base , Texas from 1962 1966 . History . World War II . The group was established in late 1943 as the 494th Bombardment Group , a Consolidated B - 24 Liberator heavy bombardment group , and activated on 1 December at Wendover Field , Utah . Its initial squadrons were the 864th , 865th , 866th , and 867th Bombardment Squadron s ( BS ) . The 494th was the last of seven heavy bombardment Groups – 488th through 494th – activated in the autumn of 1943 , as B - 29 Superfortress production was beginning in large numbers . The 494th was subsequently the last heavy bomb group formed and trained by the Army Air Forces . The group ' s origins begin when the 10th Antisubmarine Squadron moved to Gowen Field , Idaho to retrain as a heavy bombardment unit with B - 24s . At Gowen , the unit was renamed the 867th BS and moved to Wendover Field , Utah where it was joined by the newly activated 864th , 865th and 866th BS . The headquarters element of the group was formed from the staff of the 10th Antisubmarine Squadron . The group trained at Wendover until April when the base was converted by Second Air Force for B - 29 training . It moved to Mountain Home Army Air Field , Idaho to complete its final phase of training . At Mountain Home , the group received new very long range B - 24J aircraft in early May . 494th deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations ( PTO ) , initially at Barking Sands Army Airfield Hawaii . It flew from Idaho to Hamilton Field , California before its overseas movement . In Hawaii , the group received additional training in long range over ocean navigation while the ground echelon of the group transported by rail to Seattle , then by troop ship to Hawaii , arriving in mid - June . The unit remained in Hawaii throughout the summer of 1944 while its B - 24s were modified at Hickam Field to meet the standards required by Seventh Air Force . Modifications were completed by 1 August , however the group was not deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area ( SWPA ) of operations until mid - September as its planned airfield on Angaur in the Palau Islands was not yet constructed due to ongoing combat on the island . Aircraft were deployed from Hawaii on 10 October 1944 , departing for Johnson Island , Kwajalein and Saipan . At Saipan , the unit was delayed a further 10 days due to combat ongoing in the Pelelieus . On Saipan , the 494th flew their first combat mission with crews of the 30th Bombardment Group , stationed on Saipan . The first elements of the 494th arrived on Angaur on 16 October , being strafed by Japanese forces still on the island as the battle of Bloody - Nose Ridge was still ongoing . As the area was finally secured in late October , additional aircraft began arriving ; with the group completely established by the end of the month . The combat on the island had not allowed the construction of buildings and other support facilities , so the personnel of the group were engaged in construction activities upon their arrival . The 494th entered combat on 3 November 1944 with attacks against Japanese airfields on Yap and Koror . Subsequently the group engaged in very long range strategic bombing raids on other bypassed Japanese installations in the Pacific and against the Japanese in the Philippines . Late in 1944 the unit hit gun emplacements , personnel areas , ant storage depots on Corregidor and Caballo at the entrance to Manila Bay . It bombed radio installations and power plants at Japanese bases in the Philippines and attacked enemy - held airfields , including Clark Field on Luzon . Early in 1945 it struck airfields on Mindanao and ammunition and supply dumps in the Davao Gulf and Illana Bay areas . The group moved to the newly built Yontan Airfield on Okinawa in June 1945 . On Okinawa , the 373d Bombardment Squadron was assigned to the 494th from the CBI . From its new base , the group engaged primarily in very long range attacks against enemy airfields on Kyūshū . The group also participated in incendiary raids , dropped propaganda leaflets over urban areas of Kyūshū and struck airfields in China , in southern Korea , and around the Inland Sea of Japan until the Japanese capitulation in August . After the war ' s end in September , the unit remained on Okinawa as older units began to demobilize . The group was engaged in transporting personnel and supplies in the Southwest Pacific , and moving necessary occupation support elements from Manila to Tokyo . It began to demobilize in November and December , with personnel returning to the United States . the 494th was inactivated as a paper unit in the United States on 4 January 1946 . Strategic Air Command . The origins of the 494th Bombardment Wing began on 5 January 1959 when Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) established the 4245th Strategic Wing ( SW ) as a tenant at Sheppard AFB , Texas , an Air Training Command base and assigned it to the 816th Air Division ( later 816th Strategic Aerospace 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 wing remained a headquarters only until 1 August 1959 , when the 61sth Aviation Depot Squadron was activated to oversee the wing ' s special weapons . Two months later , three maintenance squadrons and a squadron to provide security for special weapons were activated and assigned to the wing . The 4245th finally added its first operational squadron on 1 February 1960 when the 717th Bombardment Squadron ( BS ) , consisting of 15 Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es moved to Sheppard from Ellsworth AFB , South Dakota where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 28th Bombardment Wing . The wing became fully operational on 1 October 1962 when the 900th Air Refueling Squadron , flying Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker s , was organized and assigned to the wing . Half of the wing ' s aircraft were maintained on fifteen minute alert , fully fueled , armed , and ready for combat . The 4245th ( and later the 494th ) continued to maintain an alert commitment until it was inactivated . 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 ) strategic wings that were equipped with combat 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 4245th SW was replaced by the newly constituted 494th Bombardment Wing , Heavy ( BW ) , which assumed its mission , personnel , and equipment on 1 February 1963 . In the same way the 864th Bombardment Squadron , one of the unit ' s World War II historical bomb squadrons , replaced the 717th BS . The 61st Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 900th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 494th . The 4245th ' s maintenance and security squadrons were replaced by ones with the 494th numerical designation of the newly established wing . Each of the new units assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of its predecessor . Under the Dual Deputate organization , all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing , so no operational group element was activated . The 494th Bomb Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC ' s operational commitments . By 1966 , Intercontinental ballistic missile s ( ICBM ) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States ' strategic triad , and the need for B - 52s had been reduced . In addition , funds were also needed to cover the costs of combat operations in Indochina . The 494th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and its aircraft were reassigned to other SAC units . Lineage . 494th Bombardment Group 494th Bombardment Wing Components . Operational Squadrons Support Squadrons