the history, lineage and honors of the 449th Bombardment Group were bestowed upon the newly established wing upon activation. The 449th and its subordinate units' mission was to operate at full readiness, and support activities included aircraft and vehicle maintenance, bombing crew and unit training, and air refueling support. The wing did deploy individual B-52 crews, but not its B-52H aircraft, to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, as the Kincheloe B-52Hs were strictly dedicated to SAC's strategic deterrence mission. However, Kincheloe's KC-135A tanker aircraft and aircrews participated in the "Young Tiger" TDY effort, and the bomber aircrews went through RTU training to fly older B-52Ds out of Andersen AFB, Guam and U-Tapao RTAFB, Thailand and were active participants in many of the notable campaigns that took place in Southeast Asia such as Arc Light, November 1965 – December 1975, and B-52 crews, May 1968 – June 1975. During Operation Linebacker II between 18 - 29 Dec 1972, one 449 BW crew was shot down. On 30 November 1971, the 1883d Communications Squadron, reassigned from the 1964th Communications Group and the Vietnam War, moved to Kincheloe AFB and came under the command of the Northern Communications Area. Inactivation In December 1965, the Department of Defense announced a decision to close Kincheloe AFB by October 1971. The decision to close Kincheloe was part of a phase-down of the SAC B-52 bomber fleet as a result of the operational deployment of Minuteman ICBMs and the increasing cost of the Vietnam War that was stretching the Defense Budget. Political pressure in the U.S. Congress, however, led to the May 1971 decision to not close the base and it remained an active SAC installation. This was only a six-year reprieve, as the base was inactivated on 30 September 1977 as part of an ongoing Reduction in Force in the USAF following the end of the The B-52s and KC-135s of the 449th were reassigned to other SAC units, and the wing was inactivated on 30 September 1977, concurrently with the closure of On 1 October 1977 the 1883d Communications Squadron was moved to Beale AFB, California (Miller 1990). Current uses Portions of the base had already been transferred to local authorities, and following the deactivation all the remaining property was transferred, although the federal government reserved the right to have exclusive or non-exclusive use of the airport facilities during a declared national emergency. Despite