The 456th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 14th Air Division of Strategic Air Command at Beale Air Force Base, California, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1975. The wing's predecessor was the 456th Bombardment Group, a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization that flew from Italy while assigned to Fifteenth Air Force. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for valor in combat and participated in the strategic bombing campaign against oil production targets including those near Ploiești, Romania, attacks that resulted in high bomber losses. The group also served as a troop carrier unit in the Air Force Reserve from 1947 to 1949 and as the flying element of the wing from 1952 to 1955.
456th Bombardment Wing Boeing B-52 with GAM-77 Hound Dog
Beale Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: BAB, ICAO: KBAB, FAA LID: BAB) is a United States Air Force base in California. It is outside Linda, about 10 miles (16 km) east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about 40 miles (64 km) north of Sacramento.
An RQ-4 Global Hawk taxies on the flight-line as a U-2 Dragon Lady makes its final approach at Beale Air Force Base during 2013.
Main gate sign
Colonel Geoffrey I. Church, current commander of Beale Air Force Base, in May 2023
The remnants of a World War II German POW camp at Beale AFB. This cell block was used for isolation detention.