The wing was first organized as the 478th Fighter Group (Two Engine), which briefly served as a Fourth Air Force Replacement Training Unit in 1944.

SAC activities at Grand Forks continued to expand with the planned addition of a strategic missile wing.

[2] However, the Army Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving poorly adapted to the training mission.

Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit,[8] while the groups and squadrons acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated.

It was activated at Grand Forks Air Force Base in February 1957, but had no tactical units assigned.

[15] The group's first tenant, the Grand Forks Air Defense Sector was activated in December,[16] and its Semi-Automatic Ground Environment Direction Center (DC-11) was accepted for operation in March 1958.

[14] In May 1960 the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, flying Convair F-102 Delta Daggers[17] moved to Grand Forks from Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan and was assigned to the group.

[18] With its arrival the 478th's mission expanded to train and maintain combat ready aircrews for the defense of the United States.

[11] The growth of the support mission at Grand Forks was recognized in April 1961 when ADC activated the 478th Fighter Wing and a number of subordinate units to replace the group.

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