| 850th Strategic Missile Squadron | |
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Emblem of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron |
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| Active | 1943-1965 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | Bombardment; Special Operations; ICBM Operations |
The 850th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 44th Missile Wing, based at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. It was inactivated on 25 March 1965.
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Established as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron in mid-1943; trained under Second Air Force in the northwestern United States. Deployed to European Theater of Operations (ETO) in April 1944; being diverted to VIII Composite Command and attached to a provisional special operations unit in England.
Used long-range B-24s to carry out special operations missions; dropping personnel and supplies to the resistance forces in Occupied France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Norway.
Relieved from clandestine operations in August 1944 and rejoined former heavy bomber group and re-equipped with B-17 Flying Fortresses. Engaged in strategic bombardment raids over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany, attacking enemy military and industrial targets until the German capitulation in May, 1945.
Most of squadron personnel demobilized in Europe, small cadre of personnel returned B-17s to the United States and reformed as a unit in Florida. Programmed for conversion to a B-29 Superfortress heavy bombardment squadron and deployment to Central Pacific Area (CPA) for strategic bombardment raids over the Japanese Home Islands; however never re-equipped and was inactivated after the Japanese Capitulation in November 1945.
Reactivated in 1960 as a HGM-25A Titan I ICBM launch squadron. Squadron was deployed in a 3x3 configuration, which meant a total of nine missiles were divided into three bases. Each missile base had three ICBM missiles ready to launch at any given time. Reassigned from the 28th Bombardment Wing to the newly established 44th Strategic Missile Wing at Ellsworth on 1 January 1962, making the 28th BMW a fully B-52 Stratofortress organization.
On November 19, 1964, Defense Secretary McNamara announced the phase-out of remaining first-generation SM-65 Atlas and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965. Consequently, the Titan Is of the 850th SMS were removed from alert status on January 4th, 1965. The last missile was shipped out on February 12th. The Air Force subsequently deactivated the squadron on 25 March.
Missile sites were later sold off to private ownership after demilitarization. Today the remains of the sites are still visible in aerial imagery, in various states of use or abandonment.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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