The 320 AEW was activated at Bolling in December 2006 for former President Gerald Ford's state funeral during the Christmas and New Year holidays, attaching 634 personnel to complete a 10-day mission in three joint-operation areas.

During the period April–July 1943, flew missions against enemy shipping in the approaches to Tunisia, attacked installations in Sardinia, participated in the reduction of Pantelleria, and supported the Allied invasion of Sicily.

It then bombed marshalling yards, bridges, airdromes, road junctions, viaducts, harbors, fuel dumps, defense positions, and other targets in Italy.

Missions were flown to Anzio and Cassino and the group engaged in interdictory operations in central Italy in preparation for the advance toward Rome.

[1] In a disastrous error on 28 January 1944, the group destroyed a train loaded with Allied POWs on a bridge at Orvieto North, Italy.

[2][3] The 320th Bombardment Group received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for action in preparation for and in support of Allied offensive operations in central Italy, April–June 1944.

From June to November 1944 operations included interdictory missions in the Po Valley, support for the invasion of Southern France and attacks on enemy communications in northern Italy.

The 320th BW assumed the assets of the 106th Bombardment Wing, a federalized New York Air National Guard unit which was brought onto active duty during the Korean War.

[citation needed] The wing replaced its propeller-driven B-29s with new Boeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union in 1953.

[9] Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.

[6] In 1962, the wing's bombers began to be equipped with the GAM-77 Hound Dog and the GAM-72 Quail air-launched cruise missiles, The 4134th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron was activated in November to maintain these missiles In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and 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.

At Mather, the wing performed global bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet SAC commitments, February 1963 – 1965 and later.

The modified B-52Fs were the only SAC bombers to deploy for Arc Light missions until 1966, when the B-52Fs were replaced by B-52Ds with the Big Belly modification than enabled them to carry a larger and more varied bomb load.

[13] The entire wing was drastically reduced from February to July 1965, from December 1965 to March 1966, and from June 1972 to October 1973, when all aircraft, crews, and most support personnel were loaned to other SAC units based at Andersen AFB Guam, U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand and Kadena AB, Okinawa for operations in Southeast Asia.

As a result of the START I treaty with the Soviet Union and the associated mandated reductions in strategic bombers on both sides, the 441 BS with its B-52Gs was inactivated at Mather AFB on 30 September 1989.

[16] The primary mission of the 320 AEG at Eskan was to provide liaison with Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA) for Eskan Village and to provide host base support to the combatant staff of Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) and the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force (9 ASETF), including its associated Coalition Air Operations Center (CAOC), conducting Operation Southern Watch, which provided principal senior command and control of all U.S. and Coalition combat flying units enforcing the "No Fly Zone" over Southern Iraq prior to execution of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM in 2003.