The wing was reactivated at Tyndall Air Force Base in 1981. It provided Air Defense Weapons Center operational and technical advice on air defense and tactics from, 1981–1983. It also provided test and evaluation new air defense equipment, including use of the PQM-102 and QF-100, former operational aircraft modified to function as unmanned drones. In October 1983, the wing assumed a new mission of conducting qualification training of tactical aircrews. Beginning in 1983 it deployed T-33 and later, F-15 aircraft to USAF, Air National Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy air units to provide electronic countermeasures and dissimilar air combat training and to increase aircrew combat proficiency. The wing performed alert duties from, 1988–1990, intercepting unidentified aircraft and assisting the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in anti-smuggling efforts. It became host unit at Tyndall Air Force Base in September 1991.