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The '''456th Bombardment Wing''' is an inactive [[United States Air Force]] unit. It was last assigned to the [[14th Air Division]] of [[Strategic Air Command]] at [[Beale Air Force Base]], California, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1975. The [[wing (military aviation unit)|wing]]'s predecessor was the [[456th Bombardment Group]], a [[World War II]] [[United States Army Air Forces]] combat organization that flew from Italy while assigned to [[Fifteenth Air Force]]. It earned two [[Distinguished Unit Citation]]s for valor in combat and participated in the strategic bombing campaign against [[oil refinery|oil production targets]] including those near [[Ploiești]], Romania, attacks that resulted in high bomber losses. The group also served as a troop carrier unit in the [[Air Force Reserve]] from 1947 to 1949 and as the flying element of the wing from 1952 to 1955.
The wing was activated in 1952 as the '''456th Troop Carrier Wing''', Medium, operating [[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar]] transports. In the fall of 1955 the wing deployed to Japan, where it supported [[aerial reconnaissance|reconnaissance]] operations by recovering capsules carried across the Soviet
The wing was redesignated the '''456th Strategic Aerospace Wing''' and was activated at [[Beale Air Force Base]], California in February 1963. It flew [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress]] bombers and [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker]] air refueling aircraft, and also commanded a [[HGM-25A Titan I]] squadron until 1965. Although it operated no [[intercontinental ballistic missile]]s after then, it was not until July 1972 that the wing was redesignated the '''456th Bombardment Wing'''. The wing was inactivated in September 1975 and its personnel, equipment, and mission transferred to the [[17th Bombardment Wing]], which moved to Beale on paper from [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]], Ohio.
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