Activities included training, participating in Army-Navy maneuvers, staging aerial reviews and sowing seeds from the air for the Territorial Forestry Division.

Ten Keystone B-3 and B-4 bombers from the group's 23d and 72d Bombardment Squadrons dropped 20, 600-pound bombs around the volcano to divert molten lava away from the town.

The 5th Bombardment Group suffered devastating casualties and equipment damage during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hickam Field and other targets on the island of Oahu on 7 December 1941.

Left Hawaii in November 1942 and, operating primarily from Pekoa Airfield, Espírito Santo in the New Hebrides Islands with a mix of B-17 and B-24 aircraft, served in combat with Thirteenth Air Force during the Allied drive from the Solomons to the Philippines.

Helped to neutralize enemy bases on Yap and in the Truk and Palau Islands, June–August 1944, preparatory to the invasion of Peleliu and Leyte.

Flew missions to the Netherlands Indies, receiving a DUC for an attack, conducted through heavy flak and fighter defenses, on oil installations at Balikpapan, Borneo, on 30 September 1944.

Completed a variety of missions from October 1944 until the end of the war, these operations including raids on enemy bases and installations on Luzon, Ceram, Halmahera, and Formosa; support for ground forces in the Philippines and Borneo; and patrols off the China coast.

Flying from a forward operating location, bomber crews attacked strategic targets in Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime.

The bombers dropped more than 3 million pounds of weaponry, including conventional air-launched cruise missiles, joint direct attack munitions, gravity weapons, laser-guided bombs and leaflet dispensers.

Flying a mix of close air support and strike missions, 5th BW crews ensured success of ground combat units in meeting their objectives.

During Operation Allied Force (the bombing of Serbia undertaken in an attempt to halt the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo), the USAF found that additional jamming aircraft were needed to supplement the current fleet of Grumman EA-6A/B Prowler.

Carpenter stated that Westa was relieved due to his "inability to foster a culture of excellence, a lack of focus on the strategic mission … and substandard performance during several nuclear surety inspections, including the newly activated 69th Bomb Squadron."

The annual exercise is designed to test the wing's combat readiness and ability to conduct conventional and nuclear-capable bomber operations.