The unit was formed at Eielson as the 343d Composite Wing and activated in October 1981 to replace the 5010th Combat Support Group.

The group was activated again at Duluth International Airport in August 1955 as part of Air Defense Command's Project Arrow, which replaced post-World War II air defense groups with fighter units from World War II.

The 343d continued to provide air defense of the north central United States until it was inactivated in August 1970.

The 343d Fighter Group was activated at Elmendorf Field, Alaska on 3 September 1942 and began operations immediately.

It bombed and strafed Japanese camps, antiaircraft emplacements, hangars, and radio stations on Kiska.

In 1945, the group and three of its squadrons were united at Shemya Army Air Base, at the end of the Aleutian chain.

[1][2][3][5] Early in 1945 the 54th Squadron began to fly special high-altitude missions designed to intercept Japanese fire balloons drifting toward the United States on the jet stream.

These weapons were launched from the Japanese home islands into the upper atmosphere to carry incendiary charges which would be released onto the United States and Canada.

The airfield at Alexai Point was directly in the flight path of the balloons, which passed overhead at between 30,000 to 37,000 feet (9,100–11,000 m).

[7] 343d Ftr Gp The group was redesignated the 343d Fighter Group (Air Defense) and activated at Duluth International Airport[1] in August 1955, replacing the 515th Air Defense Group[12] and assuming the 515th's personnel and equipment as part of Air Defense Command (ADC)'s Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units which had compiled memorable records in the two world wars.

[19] On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba, Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States.

All group aircraft, including those at home and those at Volk Field were armed and placed on fifteen-minute alert status.

[22] The group performed the air defense mission for the upper Great Lakes region of the north central United States[23] until 1970, when it was inactivated.

[26][29][30] The 343d became Eielson Air Force Base's host unit on 1 October 1981 as the 343d Composite Wing, when it replaced the 5010th Combat Support Group and absorbed the 5010th's personnel and equipment.

The squadron was responsible for range support and administration of Exercise Cope Thunder, which had also moved from Clark, its home since 1976, to Alaska.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency