465th Bombardment Wing The 465th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the Strategic Air Command 57th Air Division , stationed at Robins Air Force Base , Georgia . It was inactivated on 21 July 1968 . Originally activated in 1943 as the 465th Bombardment Group , a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization . The highly - decorated unit served primarily in the Mediterranean , African , and The Middle East Theater of World War II . Inactivated at the end of the war and allotted to the Air Force Reserve , the group was reactivated as the 465th Troop Carrier Group , Medium during the 1950s . It was assigned to the like numbered 465th Troop Carrier Wing , Medium . In November 1962 the wing was designated the 465th Strategic Bombardment Wing and was stationed at Robins AFB , Georgia as a B - 52 Stratofortress Strategic Air Command heavy bombardment wing . The 465th BW conducted strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations until being inactivated in July 1968 when SAC transferred the 19th Bombardment Wing to Robins in a designation - only reassignment . History . World War II . Activated on 19 May 1943 at Alamogordo Army Airfield , New Mexico as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bomb group ; assigned to II Bomber Command for training . Moved to Kerns , Utah for group formation and personnel assignments . Assigned 780th , 781st , 782d and 783d Bombardment squadrons and began initial training in September . Reassigned to McCook Army Airfield , Nebraska in October and received full complement of personnel . Completed training by February 1944 and received deployment orders to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations ( MTO ) , being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in Southern Italy . New B - 24s for combat operations were assigned to the group from Consolidated and training was completed . After training was completed the air echelon was then deployed to Tunisia . Began movement overseas via South Atlantic Route via Morrison Field , Florida , via Trinidad , Brazil , Dakar , Senegal and Marrakesh , French Morocco , then to the Tunisia . Completed training and moved to Pantanella Airfield , Italy in April 1944 Once in Italy the 465th was assigned to the 55th Bombardment Wing of Fifteenth Air Force . Entered combat on 5 May 1944 , and served primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until late in April 1945 . During this time , the Group attacked marshalling yards , dock facilities , oil refineries , oil storage plants , aircraft factories , and other objectives in Italy , France , Germany , Czechoslovakia , Austria , Hungary , and the Balkans . On two different missions – to marshalling yards and an oil refinery at Vienna on 8 July 1944 and to steel plants at Friedrichshafen on 3 August 1944 – the group bombed its targets despite antiaircraft fire and fighter opposition , being awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation ( DUC ) for each of these attacks . Other operations included bombing troop concentrations and bivouac areas in May 1944 to aid the Partisans in Yugoslavia ; attacking enemy troops and supply lines to assist the drive toward Rome , in May to June 1944 ; striking bridges , rail lines , and gun emplacements prior to the invasion of Southern France in August 1944 ; bombing rail facilities and rolling stock in October 1944 to support the advance of Russian and Romanian forces in the Balkans ; and hitting troops , gun positions , bridges , and supply lines during April 1945 in support of Allied forces in northern Italy . After V - E Day , was assigned to Green Project which was the movement of troops from Europe to the United States via the South Atlantic Transport Route . B - 24s were modified with sealed bomb bays , removal of all defensive armament and internal fuselage equipped with seating to carry approximately 30 personnel . Was assigned to Air Transport Command at Waller Field , Trinidad . Moved personnel from staging area at Atkinson Field , British Guiana to Morrison Field , Florida . Provided air transport until the end of July when the unit was inactivated . United States Air Forces in Europe . The unit was reactivated in the Air Force Reserve as the 465th Troop Carrier Group , Medium on 21 August 1953 . Upon activation , the group was assigned the new 465th Troop Carrier Wing . Squadrons assigned to the group were the 780th , 781st and 782d Troop Carrier Squadrons . The 465th TCW engaged in training and received Fairchild C - 119 Flying Boxcar transports at Mitchel , and after training was completed the reserve unit was activated and assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe in April 1954 , being assigned to the 322d Air Division at Toul - Rosières Air Base , France . The group element was inactivated in September 1954 when the organization adopted the Dual Deputate organization structure , and all operational squadrons were assigned directly to the Wing . In Europe , the Wing participated in numerous troop carrier and airlift operation ' s , tests , and exercises in the European area in support of USAFE and NATO , April 1954 – July 1957 . At Toul , three additional Lockheed Lockheed C - 130A Hercules squadrons were temporarily attached to the wing , the 39th , 40th and 41st TCS . Funding reductions and the phaseout of the C - 119 from Europe led to the wing ' s inactivation in July 1957 . The 780th and 781st squadrons came under the command of the 317th Troop Carrier Wing . The three attached squadrons were inactivated along with the 782d TCS . The 780th and 781st TCS were demobilized and assigned to the Air Force Reserve . They were sent back to the United States in December . On 8 March 1958 they were also inactivated . Strategic Air Command . 4137th Strategic Wing On 1 February 1959 , Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) established the 4137th Strategic Wing ( SW ) at Robins AFB , Georgia and assigned it to the 822d Air 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 January 1960 when the 64th Aviation Depot Squadron was activated to oversee the wing ' s special weapons . At the beginning of May the 342d Bombardment Squadron ( BS ) , consisting of 15 Boeing B - 52G Stratofortress es moved to Robins from Blytheville AFB , Arkansas where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 97th Bombardment Wing and three maintenance squadrons and a squadron to provide security for special weapons were activated and assigned to the wing . Two additional squadrons rounded out the wing . In December 1961 the 912th Air Refueling Squadron , flying Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker s was activated and assigned to the wing and in November 1962 the 4137th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron stood up to maintain the wing ' s GAM - 77 Hound Dog and GAM - 72 Quail missiles . Half of the wing ' s aircraft were maintained on fifteen - minute alert , fully fueled , armed , and ready for combat . The 4137th ( and later the 465th ) continued to maintain an alert commitment until inactivation . However , SAC Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage and SAC looked for a way to make its Strategic Wings permanent . 465th Bombardment Wing 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 4137th SW was replaced by the 465 Bombardment Wing , Heavy ( 465th BW ) , which assumed its mission , personnel , and equipment on 1 February 1963 . In the same way the 781st Bombardment Squadron , one of the unit ' s World War II historical bomb squadrons , replaced the 342d BS . The 64th Munitions Maintenance Squadron and the 912th Air Refueling Squadron were reassigned to the 465th . Component support units were replaced by units with numerical designation of the newly established wing . Under the Dual Deputate organization , all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing , so no operational group element was activated . Each of the new units assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of its predecessor . The 465th Bomb Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet operational commitments of Strategic Air Command , including deployments to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . By 1968 , 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 465th Bombardment Wing was inactivated on 25 July 1968 and B - 52Gs were transferred to the 28th Bombardment Squadron , 19th Bombardment Wing when the 19th was moved up to Robins AFB from Homestead AFB , Florida in a designation - only move . Lineage . 465th Troop Carrier Group 465th Bombardment Wing Assignments . 465th Troop Carrier Group 465th Bombardment Wing Components . 465th Troop Carrier Group 465th Bombardment Wing Groups Squadrons