redesignated the 93d Bombardment Wing, Heavy on 1 February 1955 in anticipation of the arrival of the B-52. Its B-52Bs were initially used for crew training. The wing was declared combat ready with the B-52 on 12 March 1956, but became nonoperational two months later when a second squadron began to equip with Stratofortresses. It became operational again on 26 June 1957, when its mission became primarily crew training. The wing retained some of its B-47s until 1956 for crew training purposes. It was one of the few wings to have operated both jet bombers simultaneously. In 1956, the wing's three bombardment squadrons – 328th, 329th and 330th began receiving the new B-52D. The following year, they began receiving the B-52E model, while some B-52Bs remained with the 93 BW until well into the 1960s. On 24 and 25 November 1956, in an operation known as Quick Kick, four B-52Bs of the 93d joined four B-52Cs of the 42d Bombardment Wing for a nonstop flight around the perimeter of North America. Four in-flight refuelings by Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters were required for the journey. Less than two months later, in Operation Power Flight, three 93d B-52Bs flew the first non-stop jet around-the-world flight. Taking off on 16 January 1957, they flew via Newfoundland, Casablanca, Dhahran, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, Manila and Guam. Upon landing at March Air Force Base, California on 18 January, General Curtis LeMay, SAC Commander, greeted the crews and presented them with the Distinguished Flying Cross. Operation Power Flight was recognized by the National Aeronautical Association as the outstanding flight of 1957 and it awarded the wing the Mackay Trophy. It was assigned the Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker in January 1957, making it the first SAC bomb wing to receive the new aircraft. In June 1958, the wing received six B-52Fs, making it the first to fly this series of the Stratofortress. Throughout the height of the Vietnam War (1968–1974) the wing operated a special B-52 aircrew replacement training unit to support SAC's B-52 operations in Southeast Asia. The wing recorded another first on 10 June 1982 when the first all female KC-135 crew, "Fair Force One", flew a five-hour training sortie. Finally in August 1990 the wing found itself back at war. At home its support units operated an aerial port of embarkation for personnel and equipment deploying to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield. Overseas, its KC-135s