Honoring the heritage of the Fighting Sixth week 3

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the unit presently designated the 6th Air Mobility Wing. In the early 1950s, the Korean conflict and the Cold War resurrected the need for strategic bombers. Out of the 6th Bombardment Group, the Air Force created a new echelon, the 6th Bombardment Wing (BW), which reactivated at Walker AFB, New Mexico in 1951. From the nation’s southwestern tier, the wing flew massive B-36 Peacemakers and later iconic B-52 Stratofortress aircraft. As the Soviet missile threat increased during the Cold War, so too did the 6th BW’s mission. From 1962 to 1965, the 6th BW maintained Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles, and was redesignated the 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing (SAW). However, in 1967 Walker AFB closed and the 6th SAW found a new home. Pictured are two B-36 Peacemakers assigned to the 6th BW in formation over Walker AFB, New Mexico in the 1950s.