451st Air Expeditionary Wing The 451st Air Expeditionary Wing ( 451 AEW ) is a provisional United States Air Force Air Combat Command unit . It is one of three AEWs in Afghanistan , presently assigned to Kandahar Airfield and is also the host unit at Kandahar . The 451 AEW provides an airpower presence in the Afghanistan area of operations . 451st AEW Airmen provide Tactical Airlift , Close Air Support , Intelligence , Surveillance and Reconnaissance , Command and Control , Airborne Datalink , Combat Search and Rescue , Casualty Evacuation and Aeromedical Evacuation capabilities . During the Cold War , the Strategic Air Command 451st Strategic Missile Wing was the first fully operational HGM - 25A Titan I ICBM wing in 1962 . During World War II , the wing ' s predecessor unit , the 451st Bombardment Group was a B - 24 Liberator heavy bombardment organization , assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in Italy . Units . Groups Tenant Units History . World War II . Constituted as 451st Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) on 6 April 1943 . Activated on 1 May 1943 . Activated as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bombardment unit ; assigned to II Bomber Command for training . Primarily trained in the midwest . Received deployment orders for the Mediterranean Theater of Operations ( MTO ) in November 1943 . Deployed to Southern Italy in January 1944 ; entered combat in January 1944 , being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force . Air echelon training in Algeria for several weeks before joining the remainder of the group in Italy . Engaged in very long range strategic bombing missions to enemy military , industrial and transportation targets in Italy , France , Germany , Austria , Hungary , Romania , and Yugoslavia . Attacked such targets as oil refineries , marshalling yards , aircraft factories , bridges , and airfields in Italy , France , Germany , Czechoslovakia , Austria , Hungary , Romania , Bulgaria , Albania , and Greece . Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for each of three missions : to an aircraft factory at Regensburg on 25 February 1944 , to oil refineries and marshalling yards at Ploesti on 5 April 1944 , and to an airdrome at Vienna on 23 August 1944 ; although encountering large numbers of enemy fighters and severe antiaircraft fire during each of these missions , the group fought its way through the opposition , destroyed many interceptors , and inflicted serious damage on the assigned targets . Infamously responsible for the bombing of a primary school in Milan ' s neighborhood of Gorla on October 20 , 1944 which caused the death of 184 children and their teachers . At times the group also flew support and interdictory missions . Helped to prepare the way for and participated in the invasion of Southern France in August 1944 . Transported supplies to troops in Italy during September 1944 . Supported the final advances of Allied armies in northern Italy in April 1945 . Returned to the US in June 1945 , forming at Dow Field , Maine . Unit personnel were demobilized throughout the summer of 1945 . Inactivated on 26 September 1945 . Cold War . Established as the 451st Strategic Missile Wing ( ICBM - Titan ) at Lowry Air Force Base , Colorado and activated on 1 July 1961 . The 451st SMW was the first operational HGM - 25A Titan I missile wing . Construction on all 18 silos at the six launch complexes was completed by 4 August 1961 . On 18 April 1962 , Headquarters SAC declared the 724th SMS operational , and 2 days later the first Titan Is went on alert status . A month later , the sister 725th SMS ( initially designated the 849th SMS ) declared it had placed all nine of its Titan Is on alert status , which marked a SAC first . On 19 November 1964 , Defense Secretary McNamara announced the phase - out of remaining first - generation SM - 65 Atlas and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965 . This objective was met . All wing missiles went off alert status on 26 March 1965 and the wing phased down for inactivation . On 25 June 1965 , the 724th SMS and 725th SMS were inactivated . SAC removed the last missile from Lowry on 14 April 1965 . Global War on Terrorism . The 451st Air Expeditionary Group was activated in 2002 as part of the Global War on Terror ism , conducting operations from Kandahar Airfield , Afghanistan . The group was responsible for air control of the southern region of Afghanistan , launch and recovery operations for the MQ - 1 Predator and MQ - 9 Reaper aircraft , the employment of combat search and rescue forces throughout the entire country and ground security and defense of the airfield . Included in the group are safety , logistics , communications , civil engineer . Due to the growth in size and requirements of the USAF mission at Kandahar , the 451 AEG was enlarged to a wing - level organization , redesignated as the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing ( 451 AEW ) and activated as such on 2 July 2009 .