the group mission. The group returned to the United States in June 1945, with aircraft beginning to depart for Bradley Field, Connecticut on 14 June. The ground echelon sailed on the on 6 July. The group assembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in July. At Sioux Falls, all personnel who had not been discharged were transferred to other units. The group reformed at Walker Army Air Field, Kansas, moving to March Field, California in August, once it had achieved 20% manning. At March, it trained with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber, but never approached 60% of its manning. It was inactivated there in October 1945. Air Mobility Command air refueling In 1992, Strategic Air Command was inactivated and its bomber and reconnaissance mission was transferred to Air Combat Command (ACC). Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana became an ACC base, but its air refueling squadrons were transferred to Air Mobility Command (AMC). AMC activated the unit on 1 June 1992 as the 458th Operations Group to control its two McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender tanker squadrons at Barksdale. The group was assigned to the 22d Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. From 1 October 1993 until it was inactivated on 1 April 1994, the 71st Air Refueling Squadron, flying Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was also briefly assigned to the group. While assigned to the group, these squadrons frequently deployed personnel and aircraft worldwide. In October 1994, the group and its 2d and 32d Air Refueling Squadrons moved to McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The group was inactivated on 1 July 1995 when it's KC-10s were reassigned to the 305th Operations Group when Air Mobility Command consolidated its tanker force. United States Air Forces in Europe expeditionary operations The unit was converted to provisional status in February 2001 and assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. In September 2002 the group deployed to Air Force Base Waterkloof, South Africa to participate in the first bilateral exercise between the air forces of South Africa and the United States. More than 200 airmen from Royal Air Force Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath in England, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., and the Oklahoma Air National Guard participated in the exercise. The group was again brought briefly to life in 2003, when it was active at Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport, 26 km northwest of Constanţa, Romania. The group was