This move reflected an effort to concentrate all fighter forces deployed within the continental United States to strengthen the air defense of the North American continent.

The move was largely an administrative convenience: the units assigned to ConAC were dual-trained and expected to revert to their primary strategic or tactical roles after the air defense battle was won.

The Sabre Dancers made what was probably their most widely viewed flight on 22 April 1950, when they performed before an Armed Forces Day audience at Eglin AFB, Florida, that included President Harry S. Truman, most of his Cabinet, and numerous other political leaders.

[3] Two days later the wing issued orders establishing advanced parties of its headquarters and component organizations at Victorville (later George) AFB, California.

A letter directing the wing to send the group headquarters and the 27th and the 71st to Griffiss for attachment to the Eastern Air Defense Force (EADF), ConAC, arrived on 30 July.

Finally, one month later, the 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved from Griffiss AFB to Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania.

[3] As of 31 December 1950 Headquarters, 1st Fighter-Interceptor Wing and the 94th were stationed at George AFB, assigned to the WADF, and attached to the 27th Air Division.

Headquarters, 1st Fighter Group was relieved from attachment to the Eastern Air Defense Force and moved from Griffiss back to George without personnel or equipment.

[3] In October 1962 the wing responded to the Cuban Missile Crisis by deploying aircraft, support personnel, equipment and supplies to Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and Volk Field, Wisconsin.

From 19 October through 27 November wing aircraft flew 620 sorties and 1,274 hours, most from Patrick AFB, while maintaining a mission-ready rate of approximately eighty percent.

[4] The response to this intrusion was to deploy ten F-106s from the 325th Fighter Wing to Alaska in what was called Operation White Shoes.

By the time the tactical command post at Selfridge was closed at 1130 on 4 August, the base had processed 1,389 C-130 sorties, 12,058 troops, and 4,735 tons of cargo.

On 1 December 1969 the 94th was transferred to Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan, pending the inactivation of the 1st Fighter Wing, which was assigned to the 23d Air Division on that date.

On 31 December 1969 the wing, with no units under its control, transferred to Hamilton AFB, California, and was assigned to the 26th Air Division.

General Momyer therefore directed the TAC planning staff to replace the four-digit designations with those of units that had a combat record dating from either World War II or Korea.

This policy, plus the training demands caused by the war in Vietnam, led to the 1st Fighter Wing's return to Tactical Air Command in October 1970.

[3] The wing spent the next four years providing advanced tactical training to F-4 Phantom II and B-57 Canberra aircrews, most of whom later saw service in the Vietnam War.

Langley was chosen due to its heritage and ideal location for TAC's secondary air defense mission.

Official welcoming ceremonies were held on 9 January 1976, when Lt Col Richard L. Craft, 27th Fighter Squadron Commander, landed with the Wing's first single seat F-15A.

By 16 January 1991, when Desert Shield came to a close, the Wing amassed 4,207 sorties patrolling the Kuwait and Iraq border areas.

At 0115 local Saudi Arabia time, on 17 January 1991, sixteen 1st Tactical Fighter Wing F-15s departed King Abdul-Aziz Air Base and flew toward Iraq to participate in Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqis.

During the first night of the operation, Captain Steven W. Tate of the 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron, shot down an Iraqi Mirage F-1, which turned out to be the wing's only kill during the war.

In October 1994, when Saddam Hussein again placed forces near the Kuwaiti border, the Wing participated in a short-notice deployment, Operation Vigilant Warrior.

During AEF II, the 1st Fighter Wing deployed 12 F-15s and over 600 personnel to Shaheed Mwaffaq Air Base, Jordan, from 12 April – 28 June 1996.

On 25 June 1996, a fuel truck loaded with explosives detonated outside the Khobar Towers Housing area, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

The 74th ACS set up their equipment outside Budapest, Hungary, to provide joint forces and theater commanders with an accurate air picture for conducting offensive and defensive missions.

The 1st Fighter Wing simultaneously participated in the US homeland defense mission in Operation Noble Eagle; maintained its lead wing status in the USAF's Air Expeditionary Force rotations to Southwest Asia and Turkey, enforcing no-fly zones in Operation Southern Watch/Operation Northern Watch until 2003; and deployed fighters to Keflavík, Iceland to fulfill NATO treaty obligations.

[8] The change of command also was a pivotal step in the realignment consolidation of Langley AFB and Fort Eustis into Joint Base Langley-Eustis, which stood up in January 2010.

[9] On 4 February 2023, F-22s of the 1st Fighter Wing were dispatched from Langley AFB to shadow an alleged Chinese spy balloon that had been floating southeastward over the continental United States for several days.

[10] The wreckage landed approximately 6 miles offshore and was subsequently secured by ships of the US Navy and US Coast Guard.