It is stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota as a tenant unit.

The missile wing, whose members are known as the Rough Riders, is responsible for defending the United States by maintaining a fleet of 150 Minuteman III missiles and 15 Launch Control Centers located in underground facilities scattered across the northwest part of the state.

The wing's predecessor, the World War II 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) was a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress unit formed at MacDill Field, Florida and subsequently stationed with Eighth Air Force in England.

It was one of the first United States Army Air Forces (AAF) heavy bombardment groups deployed to Europe in 1942.

[2] The group was inactivated in June 1952 when Strategic Air Command converted to the Dual Deputate organization.

Over North Korea, RB-29s were confronted daily by People's Liberation Army Air Force MiG-15s and were no longer able to perform reconnaissance, targeting, and bomb-damage assessment photography with impunity.

The RB-45Cs were able to evade the MiGs for several months, but on 9 April 1951 one of the RB-45Cs had a close call and was barely able to escape a numerically superior enemy.

Another close call on 9 November 1951 caused the RB-45s to be restricted from entering northwestern Korean airspace in daylight even when fighter escort was available.

[dubious – discuss] On 29 July 1952, one of the wing's RB-45C commanded by Major Louis H. Carrington made the first nonstop trans-Pacific flight by a multi-engine jet aircraft.

[6] On 4 July 1952 an RB-29A Superfortress of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron was shot down by MiGs, possibly over China or extreme northern Korea.

The wing won the SAC reconnaissance, photographic, and navigation competition and the P. T. Cullen Award in 1955 and 1956.

From Aug to November 1956 most of the wing deployed overseas in detachments to North Africa, Newfoundland and Greenland.

[10] One third of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.

[11] The 4141st (and later the 91st) continued to maintain an alert commitment until inactivation except for periods when the wing deployed to support Operation Arc Light missions.

91st Bombardment Wing In 1962, in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic 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 4141st SW was replaced by the 91st Bombardment Wing, Heavy (91st BW),[2] which assumed its mission, personnel, and equipment on 1 February 1963.

From 5 February to 15 April 1968, the wing deployed to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa in response to the Pueblo Incident.

[2] By 1968, Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States' strategic triad, and the need for B-52s had been reduced.

The officers were allowed to resign from the Air Force in lieu of facing courts martial.

[note 3] In May 2013, press reports indicated that the wing had been rated "marginal" when tested on Minuteman III launch operations.

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