The division was first activated in 1952 to manage Biggs Air Force Base, Texas and to command the two SAC bombardment wings stationed there.

The division's components were the 95th[2] and 97th Bombardment Wings,[3] and the newly activated 810th Air Base Group.

[2] The division assured the manning, training, and equipping of its two assigned wings to conduct long-range bombardment missions using either nuclear or conventional weapons.

[3] Beginning in 1954, the wing's 340th Bombardment Squadron maintained detachments at RAF Lakenheath, England and Yokota Air Base, Japan, flying electronic reconnaissance models of the B-29 and B-50.

Although the 4024th was assigned directly to the division,[1] the 97th Bomb Wing continued to exercise operational control of the squadron.

[3] The 4024th was inactivated in 1956, but it shared an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with the 340th squadron for its operations.

[3] In July the 97th moved to Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas, where it re-equipped with Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses and was assigned to another division.

At the same time, it participated in a SAC plan to disperse its B-52s over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.

[11][12] Although division aircraft had previously deployed to Guam and England to stand alert, starting in 1960, a portion of division aircraft began to stand alert at their home stations to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.

[1] Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, each of the division's wings was directed to put two additional planes on alert.

[1] The division's three strategic wings were Major Command controlled (MAJCON) units that could not carry a permanent history or lineage.

[21] SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue them and activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units to replace them without altering their missions.

[1] In the spring of 1968, some division aircraft and crews deployed to Okinawa in response to the Pueblo Incident, when the USS Pueblo, a United States Navy vessel, was seized on the high seas by the armed forces of the People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).