During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the squadron was placed on high alert status. Missile down time for routine maintenance was not permitted, and when a malfunction required taking a missile off alert, its planned target had to be covered by placing a Republic F-105 Thunderchief on cockpit alert at the end of Kadena's runway. The 873rd was inactivated in July 1965 and remaining Mace operations were transferred directly to the 498th Group, which remained active until 1969. One of the dismantled Mace sites now houses a Buddhist training center for Soka Gakkai International. The facility is now known as the "Fortress of Peace" and houses two museums including one devoted to the nuclear weapons once based on Okinawa.