A non-flying wing, the organization oversees the daily base operations and mission support functions of Nellis AFB such as personnel, finance, civil engineering, security and supply.

The U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency has determined that the 99 ABW is the successor organization to the World War II 99th Bombardment Group.

On 25 September 1942, the 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated at Gowan Field AAF near Boise, Idaho.

The winter weather in Washington was not favorable for flying, so the 99th relocated to Sioux City AAB, Iowa for the second phase of training.

The 99th B-17s flew the southern route via Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico; Georgetown, British Guiana; Belém, Brazil; Bathurst, the Gambia; to their destination at Marrakech, Morocco.

Upon arrival in North Africa, the 99th was assigned to was attached to the 5th Bombardment Wing of Twelfth Air Force, and was stationed at Navarin, located near Constantine, Algeria.

On its first day of existence, the 15th flew a 1,600-mile round trip to bomb the Messerschmitt aircraft factory at Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

With the Allied advancement up the boot of Italy, it was decided to relocate the 5th Wing there in order to bring more Axis targets within reach of the bombers.

The men constantly had to struggle through mud and water, snow and ice, or choking dust, depending on the season.

Throughout 1944, the 99th bombed targets in German-occupied Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, France, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia.

The rumors became fact at 2:00 am on the morning of 2 June, when it was made known that the group was going to bomb a railroad yard at Debrecen, Hungary, and fly on to land at Poltava, Russia in the Ukraine.

The group flew missions on the 13th and 14th, destroying German gun emplacements and lines of communication near Toulon, France.

Beginning in the last quarter 1952, the wing began receiving the RB-36 reconnaissance version of the B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bomber at Fairchild AFB in Spokane Washington.

Starting in 1955, the wing began to receive ten GRB-36Ds, which had been modified with equipment to stow, service, release, and retrieve Republic RF-84K Thunderflash aircraft assigned to the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron of the 71st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at nearby Larson Air Force Base, Washington.

[4][5][6] Carrier aircraft retained their electronic reconnaissance equipment, but this was relocated aft of the bomb bays to accommodate the parasite jets.

The wing flew the B-52Cs until the latter half of the 1960s when their B-52Cs were redistributed among a number of different B-52D units and operated primarily as crew trainers.

During the Vietnam War, the B-52Ds of the 99th were routinely deployed in rotations to combat duty in Southeast Asia, finally returning to Westover in 1973.

The KC-135 tanker squadron also operated Boeing EC-135s in a Post-Attack Command Control System role until April 1970.

In the late 1960s through early 1972 the 99th Air Refueling Squadron maintained several aircraft on Satellite Alert at Otis AFB, Massachusetts.

The 99th was redesignated the 99th Strategic Weapons Wing and activated at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, in August 1989 as a non-flying unit.

A July 2009 inspection conducted by the Air Force Audit Agency found the wing had improperly stored 52 classified nuclear-related items in a 57th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron hangar.

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