The 499th BG engaged in very heavy Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment operations against Japan for which it earned two Distinguished Unit Citations.

Due to a shortage of B-29 Superfortresses, the group was equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses already at Smoky Hill[1][2][3][4] that had been previously used for training heavy bomber replacements.

The 499th deployed in September 1944, and became part of the XXI Bomber Command in the Northern Mariana Islands at Isely Field, Saipan, in the Central Pacific Area.

The group flew numerous missions in daylight, operating from high altitude to bomb strategic targets in Japan.

[5] The 499th received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for striking the Mitsubishi aircraft engine plant at Nagoya on 23 January 1945.

In March 1945 the group began to conduct night attacks, flying at low altitude to drop incendiaries on area targets in Japan.

It completed a series of attacks against enemy airfields on Kyūshū to aid the Invasion of Okinawa in April 1945 and received another DUC for this action.

In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, SAC received authority from USAF to discontinue its MAJCON 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.

As a result, the 4050th was replaced by the newly constituted 499th Air Refueling Wing[12] which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 January 1963.

The wing also deployed parts of its tanker force overseas to support unit movements and special operations.

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