Honoring the heritage of the Fighting Sixth week 4

  • Published
  • By 6th Air Mobility Wing Historian's Office
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the unit presently designated the 6th Air Mobility Wing. The wing moved without personnel or equipment to Eielson AFB, Alaska, and became Strategic Air Command’s Alaskan base of operations, the 6th Strategic Wing. Known after that as the 6th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, the unit flew recon missions with the state-of-the-art RC-135 aircraft. The Wing also directed aerial refueling assignments of the Alaskan Tanker Task Force and supported numerous Air Force and Navy exercises for the Alaskan Air Command. In addition, the wing maintained a detachment at Shemya Air Force Station in the Aleutians, operating the U.S. airfield in closest proximity to the Soviet Union. Pictured is an RC-135 aircraft assigned to the 6th Strategic Wing at Eielson AFB, Alaska in the 1980s.