World War II Activation and training in the United States The
squadron was first activated at
Geiger Field, Washington in January 1943 as the
571st Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the
390th Bombardment Group. A
cadre from the squadron and
group went to the
Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics at
Orlando Army Air Base, Florida for advanced training. The 390th Group was the first to go through this training process, which was followed by later combat groups. The squadron was filled out with
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers beginning the following month and trained at Geiger and at
Great Falls Army Air Base, Montana until early July 1943. The squadron's air echelon ferried their B-17s to England via the north Atlantic ferry route, with the first bombers arriving on 13 July. The ground echelon departed for
Camp Shanks and the New York Port of Embarkation, sailing on the on 17 July, reaching England ten days later.
Combat in the European Theater s over a formation of 390th Group B-17s The squadron arrived at its combat station,
RAF Framlingham in July 1943 and flew its first combat mission on 12 August against targets in the
Ruhr. Five days later, the squadron attacked the
Messerschmitt factory at
Regensburg, for which it earned its first
Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). On 14 October 1943, the squadron carried out an attack on the
ball bearing factories at
Schweinfurt, braving unrelenting attacks by enemy fighters, despite which, the 390th Group had the highest accuracy of the attacking force. For this mission it received a second DUC. In late February 1944, the squadron participated in
Big Week, the concentrated assault on Germany's aircraft manufacturing industry, including plants manufacturing aircraft instruments and depots for aviation supplies. Other strategic targets included attacks on navy bases at
Bremen, bridges at
Cologne,
marshalling yards at
Frankfurt am Main, factories at
Mannheim, synthetic oil plants at
Merseburg, and oil refineries at
Zeitz. and the squadron's first missile silo (571-9) went on operational alert in 1963. When the full squadron went on alert in November 1963, the 390th Wing became the first Titan II wing to go on alert. The Titan II was an improvement over the Titan I. It used storeable liquid propellant and all inertial guidance. It could be launched from its silo and carried a larger warhead. The squadron operated nine missile sites: : 571-1 (18 Jul 1963 – 2 Aug 1983), 6.4 mi E of Benson, AZ : 571-2 (17 Sep 1963 – 21 Nov 1983), 4.7 mi W of Benson, AZ : 571-3 (10 Oct 1963 – 4 Oct 1983), 4.6 mi ESE of Pantano, AZ : 571-4 (24 Oct 1963 – 10 Aug 1983), 5.7 mi WSW of Pantano, AZ : 571-5 (24 Jul 1963 – 3 Mar 1983), 8.4 mi SE of Continental, AZ : 571-6 (2 Jul 1963 – 29 Sep 1982), 5.4 mi S of Amado, AZ : 571-7 (15 Jul 1963 – 12 Nov 1982), 3.8 mi NNW of Continental, AZ : 571-8 (15 Apr 1963 – 8 Feb 1984), 10.3 mi W of Keystone Peak, AZ : 571-9 (6 Apr 1963 – 4 Jan 1984), 5.6 mi WSW of Three Points, AZ In November 1964, the squadron and the 390th Wing became the first Titan II unit in SAC to complete an operational readiness inspection. On 2 October 1981, Deputy Secretary of Defense
Frank Carlucci directed the inactivation of the Titan II as soon as possible. Project Rivet Cap, the termination of the Titan II weapons system, formally began with the removal of site 571-6 from alert on 30 September 1982. In November 1983, explosive demolition of Titan II silos at Davis-Monthan began. The squadron was inactivated on 2 December 1983. Complexes that were still active were transferred to the
570th Strategic Missile Squadron, and the last former squadron site (571-8) was inactivated on 8 February 1984. Local aviation enthusiasts associated with the Pima Air Museum won Defense Department approval in 1984 to set aside one silo for permanent display. The silo at Green Valley (571-7) was retained by the Air Force and leased to local government for use as the "
Titan Missile Museum." With a training Titan II missile in place, the silo is maintained by a dedicated organization of volunteers from nearby retirement communities. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as the only surviving sample of a Titan II installation. In addition to the launch complex and missile, the museum obtained auxiliary support equipment for display. ==Lineage==