years Barksdale Field was renamed Barksdale Air Force Base on 13 January 1948, with the designation of the United States Air Force as a separate service in 1947. In the postwar year of the 1940s, Barksdale then became headquarters for the Air Training Command from 1945 to 1949. The 47th Bombardment Wing, Light, equipped first with the Douglas B-26 Invader was assigned on 19 November 1948, from Biggs Field for transitioning to the North American B-45 Tornado. The B-45 was the USAF's first operational jet bomber, and the first jet aircraft to be refueled in the air. The first B-45As began arriving in December 1948, with the wing accepting 96 aircraft by March 1950. Due to budget reductions in the B-45 program, the air force planned to inactivate the 47th Bomb Wing and transfer its B-45s and personnel to Yokota AB, Japan so Far East Air Forces could benefit from the know-how gained by the 47th at Barksdale. However the costs of moving the aircraft to Japan were substantial, as the range of the B-45 was insufficient to fly from California to Hawaii, and the aircraft could not be equipped with external fuel tanks. Initial use of the B-45 at Barksdale also showed that the aircraft was not truly operational, with ineffective fire control and bombing systems along with structural weaknesses developing on the aircraft already in use. In addition, each engine had to be inspected after only hours of use. If found serviceable, it could be only flown another hours before a total overhaul was necessary. It was determined that the aircraft simply could not be deployed overseas and put into operational use. It took almost two years until Air Materiel Command could work out these issues and have the 47th Bomb Wing's aircraft ready for operational use. The 47th Bomb Wing was assigned to NATO and was reassigned first to Langley AFB, Virginia in March 1951, then afterwards to RAF Sculthorpe, England, arriving in the UK on 1 May 1951. With the departure of the 47th, Barksdale phased out bomber crew training. U.S. Representative Joe Waggonner, worked successfully to keep Barksdale open during his time in Congress. Through his efforts, Barksdale survived base closures that occurred elsewhere across the nation. Cold War On 1 November 1949, Barksdale was reassigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC), and became home of Headquarters Second Air Force. Barksdale remained a SAC base for