<p>The unit was created as the 434rd Troop Carrier Wing at Atterbury AFB (later Bakalar AFB), IN in July 1949, with the C-46 and C-47 plus a number of trainers. The 434th was mobilized in May 1951 and moved to Lawson AFB, GA in January 1952 until it returned to Reserve service in February 1953. The wing returned to Atterbury AFB in February 1953 and re-equipped with C-119s in 1957 and U-3As in 1969. The unit was redesignated the 434th TAW in July 1967 and was inactivated in December 1969. The 434th reformed as a Special Operations Wing at Grissom AFB in January 1971, with the O-2A and A-37B plus (briefly) responsibility for a C-124C unit in 1972. The unit changed to 434th TFW in October 1973 with the A-10A assigned in June 1981. The unit was redesignated an Air Refueling Wing in 1987 with the KC-135E and responsibility for two KC-10A Associate Groups at Barksdale and Seymour Johnson AFB. The unit was a Composite Wing for a brief period and operated the A-10A and KC-135E, although the retirement of the Thunderbolts enabled the unit to revert to an Air Refueling Wing.
