page_title: 873d Tactical Missile Squadron
hierarchical_section_title: 873d Tactical Missile Squadron
caption_attribution_description: English: Technicians at work on a Mace B cruise missile in a hard-site launcher on Okinawa, April 1962. Carrying a one-megaton W28 nuclear warhead, the rocket-boosted, jet-propelled Mace missile could be fired at six minutes' notice. House in underground concrete and steel “coffins,” the Mace Bs (TM-76B) had an inertial guidance system and a range which exceeded 1,300 miles. Two Mace B squadrons were located in Okinawa during 1961-1970. In recent months, a controversy has emerged over whether, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Okinawa-based 873d Tactical Missile squadron received orders to launch missiles against Sino-Soviet targets.[iii] (NARA, Still Pictures Unit, Record Group 342B, box 1470).
context_page_description: The 873d Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 498th Tactical Missile Group at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 873d Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, the squadron moved to the Mariana Islands, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations before the end of hostilities in August 1945. The squadron returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated in March 1946, and its personnel and equipment transferred to another organization.
  The 873d was activated again at Kadena in 1961, and became the first Air Force unit to operate the TM-76B Mace cruise missile.
context_section_description: The 873d Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit.  Its last assignment was with 498th Tactical Missile Group at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.  The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 873d Bombardment Squadron.  After training in the United States with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, the squadron moved to the Mariana Islands, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations before the end of hostilities in August 1945.  The squadron returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated in March 1946, and its personnel and equipment transferred to another organization.
  The 873d was activated again at Kadena in 1961, and became the first Air Force unit to operate the TM-76B Mace cruise missile.
caption: TM-76 Mace of the 873d Tactical Missile Squadron
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