A detachment of the group was established near Omaha beach to organize the receipt of air freight and the return of wounded.

In the first days of the Normandy campaign, the group's planes flew from a field within the range of enemy small arms fire.

It continued to provide airlift support to the United States Air Forces Europe until inactivating in September 1946.

[9] The group was reactivated in 1955 at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee as the 516th Troop Carrier Group, Assault, Rotary Wing in part to test the United States Air Force's ability to provide helicopter airlift to the Army.

[10][11] The group also tested the evacuation of key high ranking personnel from Washington DC in the event of a nuclear attack.

The 516th operated as part of the 20th Combat Airlift Division (Provisional) supporting Army Group Gulf, the aggressor force.

[13][14] In January 2005, Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) implemented the Air Force Materiel Command Transformation in its Aeronautical Systems Center, replacing its traditional systems development offices with wings, groups, and squadrons.

In June 2010, the group was inactivated as AFMC returned to its previous organizational model in the Air Force Acquisition Improvement Plan.