Flying the Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, the 146th has provided humanitarian relief in the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and other disasters, in California, the United States and internationally.

During World War II the 373d Fighter Group was assigned to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), Ninth Air Force, in Western Europe.

The Group patrolled the air over the beachhead when the Allies launched the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, and hit troops, tanks, roads, fuel depots, and other targets in the assault area until the end of the month.

The Group moved to the Continent in July 1944 where it struck railroads, hangars, boxcars, warehouses, and other objectives to prevent reinforcements from reaching the front at St.

Returned to the United States and prepared for transfer to the Pacific Theater during the Summer of 1945, the Japanese Capitulation in August led to the Group's inactivation in November 1945.

It was organized at Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles, California, and was extended federal recognition on 16 September by the National Guard Bureau.

With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, and the regular military's complete lack of readiness, most of the Air National Guard was federalized placed on active duty.

The units were returned to California State control in November 1952, and on 1 January 1953, the 146th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reformed at Van Nuys Airport.

With the end of the Vietnam War, the California National Guard bureau began to downsize the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing (TAS) as part of the post-war drawdown.

The 146th TAW and its subordinate units participated in numerous Cold War military exercises such as Team Spirit, Volant Oak, Red Flag, and Reforger.

In December 1988, after more than six decades of Air National Guard flying tradition in the San Fernando Valley, the 146th Airlift Wing began moving from Van Nuys to a brand new facility, built on Federal land leased to the State of California, adjacent to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, an active duty Navy flying installation.

The 146th operates from the military airfield at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, along with Navy and other Federal aviation activities.

Construction was delayed in 2019 when the funds allocated by Congress were diverted to build the border wall due to a Declaration of National Emergency.

Personnel from civil engineering, security forces, and communications deployed to the Middle East in support of Operations Northern and Southern Watch.

Members of the 146th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (AES) performed over 7,200 workdays during deployments in 1999, mostly outside the continental United States, supporting operations in Bosnia and Southwest Asia.

During the four-month deployment, wing members transported more than 8,900 tons of cargo and 25,367 passengers, more than any airlift squadron in the history of the U.S. Air Force.

[8] The unit was also heavily involved in the fight against ISIS - providing critical re-supply and transport capabilities to the US military and its allies to locations in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan.

In response, the 146th Airlift Wing was mobilized to transport National Guard soldiers and Airmen to locations across the state to provide security and assistance to civil authorities if required.

"The unit engaged in 63 hours of flying time to move 1,574 National Guard members along with 364,600 pounds of supplies in C-130J Super Hercules aircraft.

"[12] This immense operation occurred within a span of 72 hours and marked the largest troop movement in California Air National Guard History.

Since 1974, using the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) units supplied by the U.S. Forest Service and mounted in four C-130s, the wing's aerial fire fighting crews have been credited with saving many lives and countless millions of dollars worth of structures, forests, and brush land in California, and many other States and countries as well, taking part in over 5,000 aerial firefighting missions in California and across the Western United States saving valuable property, natural resources, and lives.

But it was in 1994, with over 55,000 wildfires raging throughout the western States, that the 146th, along with three other MAFFS-equipped guard and reserve units flew nearly 2,000 missions, dropping fifty-one million pounds of fire retardant.

In 2021, the 146th Airlift Wing finished constructing a permanent fixed-base retardant reload pit on its parking ramp, enabling the base at Channel Islands to provide a valuable strategic location for Southern California Aerial Firefighting.

The new fire-retardant ground tanks have increased the storage capability five-fold from a 10,000-gallon capacity to 50,000 gallons to accommodate more MAFFS aircraft and the U.S. Forest Service's Very Large Air Tankers (VLAT's) with water and fire retardant solution.