450th Bombardment Wing The 450th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force ( USAF ) unit . It was last assigned to the 810th Strategic Aerospace Division of Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) at Minot Air Force Base , North Dakota . It was inactivated on 25 July 1968 . The wing was constituted as a fighter unit and activated briefly in the 1950s under Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) at Foster AFB , Texas , where it replaced a flying training wing . It was the first USAF combat wing to fly the North American F - 100 Super Sabre . The wing was redesignated as the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) 450th Bombardment Wing and activated at Minot AFB , North Dakota in 1963 , replacing the 4136th Strategic Wing taking over its Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es . It supported SAC combat operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . It was inactivated and replaced by the 5th Bombardment Wing , Heavy , in July 1968 . History . Tactical Air Command . Under Tactical Air Command , the 450th Fighter - Bomber Wing , was established and activated at Foster AFB , Texas , on 1 July 1954 , replacing and absorbing the assets of Air Training Command ' s 3580th Pilot Training Wing . Four operational squadrons ( 720th , 721st , 722d and 723d ) were assigned to the 450th Fighter - Bomber Group , initially equipped with the North American F - 86F Sabre . Its aircraft wore an approximation of the stars and stripes , with seven red and six white stripes on the trailing edge , and three stars in white on the blue forward portion of the fin . They also were designated with a colored , scalloped nose chevron . A second group , the 322d Fighter - Day Group , with three additional F - 86 squadrons , was attached to the group , although assigned to Ninth Air Force . The primary mission of the 450th FBW was to maintain tactical proficiency for combat operations and to prepare for overseas deployments as part of Ninth Air Force . In early 1955 , the 450th FBW began receiving new North American F - 100C / D Super Sabre aircraft , replacing the obsolescent F - 86s . The 450th FBW was the first operational Tactical Air Command wing to be equipped with the F - 100 . With the change of equipment , the wing was redesignated as the 450th Fighter - Day Wing on 8 March 1955 , with all its subordinate groups and squadrons also being redesignated . At the end of 1957 , its subordinate 450th Fighter - Day Group and 450th Maintenance and Supply Group were inactivated and the wing ' s flying and maintenance squadrons were assigned directly to the wing under the Dual Deputate organization . On 1 July 1958 , the 450th was redesignated as the 450th Tactical Fighter Wing as part of a worldwide USAF naming reorganization . On 28 August 1957 , despite the fact that President Dwight D . Eisenhower appropriated funds for new construction at Foster , the base was ordered closed by the spring of 1959 , with the resident 450th TFW inactivating . This closure was due to budgetary constraints in the Air Forces . The 450th TFW F - 100 aircraft were reassigned to the 4th and 36th Tactical Fighter Wing s , and all units assigned to Foster were inactivated by mid - December 1958 . Strategic Air Command . 4136th Strategic Wing The change in the mission of the 450th to strategic bombardment began on 1 September 1958 when Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) established the 4136th Strategic Wing ( SW ) at Minot AFB , North Dakota , an Air Defense Command base , and assigned it to Fifteenth Air Force . The wing was transferred to the 821st Air Division in January , but it remained a headquarters only until June 1959 , when the 906th Air Refueling Squadron , equipped with Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker s and a squadron to provide security for SAC assets on the base were activated and assigned to the wing . A third squadron , the 60th Munitions Maintenance Squadron was added to look after the wing ' s special weapons . The wing did not become fully operational until March 1961 , when the 525th Bombardment Squadron , ( BS ) , consisting of 15 Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es moved to Minot from Homestead AFB , Florida where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 379th Bombardment Wing , < ref name = Maurer629 < / ref > < / ref > and three maintenance squadrons were activated and assigned to the wing , This was 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 . Half of the wing ' s aircraft were maintained on fifteen minute alert , fully fueled , armed , and ready for combat . The 4136th ( and later the 450th ) continued to maintain an alert commitment until the wing was inactivated . Because the growing SAC mission at Minot was becoming the base ' s predominant mission , In July 1962 , SAC took over the base from ADC and formed the 862d Combat Support Group as the host for all organizations stationed there . In 1962 , the wing ' s bomber s began to be equipped with the GAM - 77 Hound Dog and the GAM - 72 Quail air - launched cruise missiles , The 4136th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles 450th Bombardment Wing However , SAC Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage and SAC looked for a way to make its Strategic Wings permanent . As a result the 4136th SW was replaced by the 450th Bombardment Wing , Heavy ( 450th BW ) , which assumed its mission , personnel , and equipment on 1 February 1963 . In the same way the 720th Bombardment Squadron , one of the unit ' s World War II historical bomb squadrons , replaced the 525th BS . The 60th Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 906th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 450th . The 4136th ' s maintenance squadrons were replaced by ones with the 450th numerical designation of the newly established wing . Each of the new units assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of its predecessor . The 450th Bomb Wing was assigned to SAC ' s 810th Strategic Aerospace Division . The wing trained in global bombardment and air refueling operations . The wing added post attack command and control system ( PACCS ) airborne launch control system ( ALCS ) missions in 1967 and began active PACCS / ALCS missions in February 1968 . the 450th supported SAC combat operations in Southeast Asia by furnishing KC - 135 aircraft and crews between December 1964 and July 1968 , and B - 52 crews , from June to July 1968 . By 1968 , Intercontinental ballistic missile s 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 Southeast Asia . As part of a reduction of the B - 52 force , SAC moved the 5th Bombardment Wing from Travis AFB , California to Minot in July 1968 , assuming the 450th Bomb Wing ' s mission , personnel , and equipment . redesignation to keep the senior organization on active service . Lineage . Components . Groups Operational Squadrons Support Squadrons Medical Units