The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating to 26 June 1917, being organized at Kelly Field, Texas.

The destroyer dropped depth charges on the submarine, and the Baltic made a sudden turn to port, that caused both men and anything loose aboard the ship to move.

Suddenly a large explosion was heard and five long blasts were made by the ship's whistle and everyone on board was ordered to report to their assigned lifeboats.

The Baltic's captain announced that a torpedo had struck the ship, but it had only made a glancing blow on the bow; that the emergency pumps were working and there was no danger.

[4] At Southampton, 50 of the men were detached from the squadron and were sent to various Royal Flying Corps schools to undergo training in machine gunnery and airplane construction.

The remainder of the squadron proceeded to France, arriving in Le Havre on the 19th, and from there boarded a troop train to the First Army Air service Mechanics Regiment at Étampes.

[4] Initially, the men of the squadron at Issoudun were engaged in construction projects, such as putting up new buildings, hangars and other necessities to make the 3d AIC operational.

Athletics was an important part of the duty at Issoudun, giving the squadron, which was widely divided around the station, an esprit-de-corps and helped build morale.

[4] During the month of September 1918, training was especially intense as new pilots, to be assigned to the new Second Army Air Service, began to arrive for instruction.

By the time of the Armistice on 11 November, the men of the squadron held responsible positions in many of the support areas of the 3d Aviation Instruction Center.

[4] The 31st remained at Issodun until the end of December 1918 when orders were received to proceed to the 1st Air Depot, Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome, France, for demobilization.

From Colombey, the squadron was moved to a staging camp under the Services of Supply at Bordeaux, France, in January waiting for a date to report to a base port for transportation home.

The Keystone planes were the standard Army bomber during the 1920s and about as powerful as their World War I contemporaries, but in terms of safety they were much improved.

[14] In the aftermath of the attack the planes that could be repaired were put back on the line, and were reinforced by the wider-tailed B-17E that had a tail gunner position.

By January 1943, the 31st was flying combat missions from Espiritu Santo, or when possible, from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, under a joint headquarters commanded by Colonel L.G.

They made frequent attempts, generally unsuccessful, to stop the Tokyo Express — fast convoys that brought supplies and reinforcements from Japanese in the Northern Solomons through The Slot, as the expanse of sea between New Georgia and Santa Isabel Island was known, to the enemy forces on Guadalcanal.

The squadron raided the heavily defended Japanese base on Woleai during April–May 1944 and received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for its efforts.

The 31st attacked enemy bases on Yap and in the Truk and Palau Islands, Jun–Aug 1944, preparatory to the invasion of Peleliu and the return to the Philippines at Leyte.

Crews flew missions to the Netherlands East Indies on 30 September 1944, earning another DUC for an attack—conducted through heavy flak and fighter defenses—on oil installations at Balikpapan, Borneo.

[14] From October 1944 to the end of the war the 5th Bomb Group completed a variety of missions, including raids on enemy bases and facilities on Luzon, Ceram, Halmahera, and Formosa; support for ground forces in the Philippines and Borneo; and patrols off the China coast.

[14] In the aftermath of World War II, the 31st was permanently assigned to Clark Field in the Philippines during December 1945, under the Thirteenth Air Force with its B-24Js.

The redesignated 5th Reconnaissance Group was to engage in the Post Hostilities Mapping Program under the auspices of the Thirteenth Air Force; the target date for the project was 1 July 1949.

On 18 October 1950, a crew spied over 75 enemy fighter planes at Antung Airfield, across the Yalu River, immediately prior to the Chinese intervention.

In December, an all-out conversion effort began and in January 1951, the wing received its first two RB-36D Peacemaker strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

During the early 1950s, the wing performed operations to probe the eastern borders of the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China.

[3][14] With the effect of the equipment change, SAC plans was to disperse its B-52 bomber force over a wide number of bases, in order to insure that an entire wing of planes could not be taken out in one attack.

[3][19] 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.

[note 4] As a result, the 4126th SW was replaced by the newly re-designated 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing (456th SAW), which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 February 1963.

Its mission was to support the General Dynamics FB-111 medium bomber for Strategic Air Command and to test modifications and upgrades prior to the changes being sent to field units.