The mission of the 39 ABW is to support and protect NATO assets and people throughout Turkey while providing a full spectrum of capabilities to the warfighter.

Reactivated the same day at Smoky Hill Army Airfield, Kansas as a Very Heavy B-29 Superfortress bomb group, began training under Second Air Force for deployment to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.

On 15 May the group was reassigned to Dalhart Army Airfield, Texas where the ground echelon was formed, and the operational squadrons trained with old II Bomber Command B-17s.

The ground echelon departed on 8 January for Seattle, where it embarked on the S. S. Howell Lykes for North Field, Guam.

In the meantime, the air echelon had returned from Cuba and the Group was in the last stages of preparation for the ferrying of personnel and the new operational B-29s received from Boeing-Wichita.

By mid-March most personnel were able to move into the huts from the initial tents which they were assigned on arrival The group conducted its first mission against the Japanese home islands in April 1945.

Bombed military and industrial targets in Japan and participated in incendiary raids on urban areas from mid-May until the end of the war.

The 39th Bomb Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for an attack against the Otake oil refinery and storage area on Honshū on 10 May 1945.

Received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing industrial and dock areas in Yokohama and manufacturing districts in Tokyo, 23–29 May 1945.

[4] 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.

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.

[9][10] As a result, the 4135th SW was replaced by the newly constituted 39th Bombardment Wing, Heavy (39th BW),[11] which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 February 1963.

Under the Dual Deputate organization, all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group element was activated.

Known as TUSLOG (The United States Logistics Group) Detachment 10 within Turkey until 1 October 1982, it supported the USAFE and NATO operational missions in the Middle East.

The group provided support for US and NATO forces during operations in Southwest Asia, Eastern Europe, and Iraq, August 1990–present.