relieving the 12th Strategic Fighter Wing. Under the self-supporting concept, the 506th SFW gained the KB-29P Superfortress 506th Air Refueling Squadron on 23 September 1953. The 506th ARS remained with the wing until 1 March 1955. Upon the wing's return to the United States, the 508th was re-equipped with new F-84F Thunderstreaks, in January 1954 becoming the first SAC fighter wing to be equipped with the swept-wing model. The wing remained at Dow for just over a year until being reassigned to Second Air Force and was transferred to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma on 20 March 1955. At Tinker, the wing performed fighter-escort duty training to various SAC B-36 Peacemaker heavy and B-50 medium bomber wings as part of the peacetime readiness training mission of SAC. However, as the new B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress bombers came into service, the mission of the fighter-escort wings of SAC became obsolete. The Thunderstreaks simply couldn't keep up with the speed and fly as high as the jet bombers. In 1956 SAC got out of the fighter business and the 506th was reassigned to Tactical Air Command on 1 July 1957. Under TAC, the wing was redesignated as the 506th Fighter-Day Wing and was re-equipped with new F-100D Super Sabres. From 1957 to 1958 the 506th participated in tactical exercises and rotated squadrons to Europe. The wing was redesignated as the 506th Tactical Fighter Wing on 1 July 1958 as part of an Air Force-Wide redesignation of units. It was inactivated on 1 April 1959 due to budget constraints. The 506th was reactivated and redesignated the 506th Tactical Fighter Group on 4 May 1972 and activated in the Air Force Reserve on 8 July 1972 at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. The group was equipped with F-105 Thunderchiefs, being returned from Vietnam War duty with the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. The Thuds assigned were largely war-weary and the model was being phased out of the inventory. The group was inactivated after just about a year of duty on 25 March 1973 as part of the drawdown after the end of United States involvement in Vietnam. Global War on Terrorism The 506th was redesignated the 506th Air Expeditionary Group and converted to provisional status on 22 April 2003, and assigned to Kirkuk AB. The group has been supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom ever since. The 506th Air Expeditionary