World War II Initial activation and training The squadron was first activated as the
564th Bombardment Squadron in late December 1942 at
Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, one of the original four squadrons of the
389th Bombardment Group. A little over a month later, its
cadre moved to
Biggs Field, Texas, where it began training with the
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. The squadron departed the United States for the
European Theater of Operations in June 1943. The ground echelon proceeded to the New York Port of Embarkation and
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, sailing on the , reaching the United Kingdom on 6 July. The air echelon began ferrying their Liberators to Europe on 13 June after staging at
Sioux City Army Air Base via the North Atlantic ferry route. President
Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force, In addition, ConAC reorganized its reserve units under the
wing base organization system in June 1949. The 564th was inactivated and the squadron's personnel and equipment were transferred to elements of the
442d Troop Carrier Wing, which became the reserve organization at Fairfax. The squadron was redesignated the
564th Strategic Missile Squadron and activated at Warren on 1 July 1958 and assigned to the
706th Strategic Missile Wing, although it was not operational until late January 1959. Squadron missile sites were located at: :: 564-A, 10.6 mi NW of Federal WY :: 564-B, 10.6 mi NW of Federal WY The squadron was assigned six Atlas D missiles. The missiles were located on six launch pads, controlled by two launch operations buildings and clustered around a central guidance control facility. The squadron would be the only Atlas unit deployed in this configuration However, the Atlas missile itself was still under development and the first successful launch of an Atlas D missile from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida did not occur until 9 September 1959. The squadron received its first missile later that month, the first delivered to a field unit. In April 1960, the coffin type launcher used by the squadron was successfully tested at
Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and declared operationally ready. The first Atlas D complex was turned over to the 564th and declared operational on 9 August 1960. On 1 July 1961, the
389th Strategic Missile Wing replaced the 706th and took over its resources. In response to the
Cuban Missile Crisis, on 20 October SAC directed that all Atlas D missiles off alert for modifications be "as covertly as possible" and returned to alert status. Atlas missiles being used for operational readiness training were to be put on alert as soon as
liquid oxygen was available. For safety reasons, liquid nitrogen was used rather than liquid oxygen during training. Despite the need for stealth, eventually a priority was established that resulted in the entire production of liquid oxygen in the US being diverted to SAC to bring the missiles to readiness. From 3 November the number of alert missiles was reduced until on 29 November the number was the same as before the crisis. Normal training had resumed on 15 November. In May 1963, the Air Force determined that all Atlas D missiles would be phased out of its inventory between 1965 and 1968. A year later, Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara directed this program be accelerated and the first Atlas D missile left Warren on 26 May 1964. with the retirement of the Atlas D, the squadron was inactivated on 1 September 1964. Construction of the squadron's launch facilities was completed in October. On 21 April 1967, the squadron was declared operational by SAC and its last missiles were placed on alert the following month, completing the deployment of the Minuteman force. The LGM-30F was the second Minuteman system deployed at Malmstrom, resulting in the squadron being nicknamed "Deuce." In September 1991, SAC implemented the Objective Wing organization and the squadron was assigned to the
341st Operations Group. As a result, in 2007, the squadron's missiles were taken off alert and removed from their silos in a process that took thirteen months. The squadron was inactivated on 15 August 2008. ==Lineage==