[5][6] On 28 July it moved to Walker Army Air Field in Kansas where the group engaged in training on the new aircraft and its new mission.

However, all the supplies of fuel, bombs, and spares needed to support the forward bases in China had to be flown in from India over The Hump (the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains), since Japanese control of the seas around the Chinese coast made seaborne supply of China impossible.

[citation needed] The first combat mission by the group took place on 5 June 1944 when squadrons of the 462d took off from India to attack the Makasan railroad yards at Bangkok, Thailand.

On 15 June the group participated in the first American Air Force attack on the Japanese Home Islands since the Doolittle raid in 1942 when it took part in the bombing of Yawata.

The 462d received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a nighttime attack on iron and steel works at Yawata, Japan, on 20 August 1944.

The group moved to West Field (Tinian), in the Marianas between February and April 1945, for further operations against Japan with the XXI Bomber Command.

The group received a third Distinguished Unit Citation for a daylight attack on an aircraft plant at Takarazuka on 24 July 1945.

[6] Many of the wing's personnel and aircraft were reassigned to the 307th Bombardment Group, which was activated at MacDill on 4 August 1946 as part of the re-established Fifteenth Air Force.

In January 1960, in anticipation of the 62d Troop Carrier Wing of Military Air Transport Service (MATS)'s impending move to McChord Air Force Base from Larson,[11] MATS transferred Larson to SAC and the 4170th acquired a full set of support units, including the 829th Medical Group.

One-third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.

[15] The wing supported the increase in forward deployed Tanker Task Forces were in Spain, Alaska and in the Northeast.

[16] On 21 November, due to the strains on its maintenance and flying crews, SAC returned to its normal airborne alert posture.

[18] 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, but could carry a lineage and history.

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

[note 4] The 462d Wing conducted training in strategic bombardment and air refueling operations and maintained intercontinental ballistic missile readiness to meet SAC commitments.

[1] In June 2002, the consolidated unit was converted to provisional status and assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed.