It was mobilized for the Korean War, serving at its home station as part of Eighteenth Air Force, which was initially composed of reserve troop carrier units.

These wings formed the basis for the formation of Eighteenth Air Force[3] It served on active duty at Mitchel until inactivated in February 1953.

[2] The wing was again activated in the reserves in April 1953 and, again, trained under the 2233d Center, initially with Commandos but with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars by August 1954.

In the summer of 1956, the wing participated in Operation Sixteen Ton during its two weeks of active duty training.

Sixteen Ton was performed entirely by reserve troop carrier units and moved United States Coast Guard equipment From Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station to Isla Grande Airport in Puerto Rico and San Salvador in the Bahamas.

Starting in late 1955, Continental Air Command (ConAC) began to disperse some of its reserve flying squadrons to separate bases in order to improve recruiting and avoid public objection to entire wings of aircraft being stationed near large population centers under what was called the Detached Squadron Concept.

However, as this plan was entering its implementation phase, another partial mobilization occurred for the Cuban Missile Crisis.

By 1968 regular air force military airlift squadrons were operating the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, while the reserves still flew the obsolete Douglas C-124 Globemaster II.

Its members deployed in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

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