374th Strategic Missile Squadron The 374th Strategic Missile Squadron ( 374 SMS ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 308th Strategic Missile Wing , stationed at Little Rock AFB , Arkansas . The 374 SMS was equipped with the LGM - 25C Titan II Intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) , with a mission of nuclear deterrence . The squadron was inacivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan II ICBM on 15 August 1986 . The squadron was responsible for Launch Complex 374 - 7 , site of the highly publicized explosion of a Titan II ICBM ( Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ) on 19 September 1980 . History . World War II . The squadron was activated in early 1942 in Idaho as a long - range B - 24 Liberator bombardment squadron as part of the Second Air Force . For three months little training occurred while the unit worked through its growing pains , resolving administrative and personnel acquisition difficulties . Then a totally new problem arose . . . all but four personnel were transferred to the 330th Bombardment Group . While active on paper , it was not until September that personnel were taken from the 39th Bombardment Group to form a headquarters cadre for the 308th Group , making it a viable unit . On 29 September , the squadron was designated an Operational Training Unit ( OTU ) with Wendover Field , Utah as its home station . The unit was fully manned by November , after receiving personnel from the 18th Replacement Wing . During this time of trials and tribulations in forming a recognizable force , the flying echelon had transferred to Davis - Monthan Field , Arizona , on 20 June for incidental training . The flight crews had been chosen and assigned , having completed their respective training schools ; i . e . , pilot , navigator , bombardier , engineer , radio and gunnery . Members of the squadron had to complete three phases of training prior to moving overseas and entering combat . The flying personnel spent most of October in transition training with the B - 24 , training combat crews as well . Meanwhile , the ground echelon was acquiring , organizing and processing personnel and supplies at Wendover Field . With the training complete and the personnel and supplies processed , the 308th Bomb Group and the 375th BS officially transferred to the Fourteenth Air Force in China early in 1943 . The air echelon began flying its ' brand new ' B - 24D Liberators from Morrison Field , Florida on 15 February 1943 . Traveling by way of the South Atlantic Transport Route though Central and South America , the Azores , Central Africa , Arabia and finally India ; while the ground echelon traveled by ship across the Pacific Ocean . The squadron arrived in India and made many trips over the ' Hump ' , ( the mountainous terrain between India and China ) , to obtain gasoline , bombs , spare parts and other items needed to prepare for and sustain combat operations . The 375th supported Chinese ground forces by attacking airfields , coal yards , docks , oil refineries and fuel dumps in French Indochina . The squadron also mined rivers and ports , bombed maintenance shops and docks at Rangoon in Burma and attacked Japanese shipping in the East China Sea , the Formosa Straits , the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin . The squadron moved to India in June 1945 , ferrying gasoline and supplies from there back into China . The unit sailed for the United States , where it was inactivated on 6 January 1946 . Strategic Air Command . Reactivated in Alaska in 1947 as a Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) weather reconnaissance squadron , it gathered meteorological information for combat readiness as an integrated part of strategic aerial reconnaissance . Weather recon , though , was a particularly loose term . There was a constant need for meteorological information , but weather flights were also a convenient cover for the more covert missions with RB - 29 Superfortress photo - reconnaissance aircraft over the eastern frontier of the Soviet Union . The unit was inactivated in February 1951 . It was reactivated a few months later in October with new B - 47E Stratojet swept - wing medium bombers , which were capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union . By the late 1950s , the B - 47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence , and was being phased out of SAC ' s strategic arsenal . B - 47s began the transition to AMARC ( also known as the Boneyard ) at Davis - Monthan in July 1959 and the squadron became non - operational . It was inactivated on 25 June 1961 . Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron . The squadron was reactivated and re - designated as a SAC LGM - 25C Titan II ICBM Strategic Missile Squadron in 1962 . It operated nine Titan II underground silos , construction of which began in 1960 ; the first ( 374 – 9 ) , being operationally ready on 28 Oct 1963 . The nine missile silos controlled by the 570th Strategic Missile Squadron remained on alert for over 20 years during the Cold War . A ' Broken Arrow ' incident occurred at site 374 - 7 on 19 September 1980 which killed one airman and injured twenty - one personnel in the immediate vicinity ( see below ) . In October 1981 , President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the strategic modernization program , the Titan II systems were to be retired by 1 October 1987 . Inactivation of the sites began on 17 March 1985 with 374 - 8 being the first ; the last was on 15 Aug 1986 involving 374 - 1 , 374 – 4 and 374 - 2 . The squadron was inactivated the same day . After removal from service , the silos had reusable equipment removed by Air Force personnel , and contractors retrieved salvageable metals before destroying the silos with explosives and filling them in . Access to the vacated control centers was blocked off . Missile sites were later sold off to private ownership after demilitarization . Today the remains of the sites are still visible through aerial imagery , in various states of use or dereliction . Aircraft and missiles . . * Location of 19 September 1980 Broken Arrow incident ( see below ) Launch Complex 374 - 7 incident . An unfortunate sequence of events began on 18 September 1980 at Titan II Launch Complex 374 - 7 . A 374th SMS airman was adding pressure to the second stage oxidizer tank . During an incorrect application of a 9 - pound wrench socket to the pressure cap , the airman accidentally dropped the socket , which fell onto the first stage and punctured the pressurized first stage fuel tank containing aerozine 50 . Aerozine 50 is hypergolic with the Titan II ' s oxidizer , nitrogen tetroxide ; i . e . , they spontaneously ignite on contact without a spark . Eventually , the crew evacuated the launch control center as military and civilian response teams arrived to tackle the hazardous situation . Early in the morning of 19 September , a two - man investigation team entered the silo . Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere , the two were ordered to evacuate . At about 0300 hours , a tremendous explosion rocked the area . One possible trigger for the explosion was the collapse of the now - empty first stage fuel tank , allowing the rest of the missile ( including the full oxidizer tank of the first stage ) to fall and rupture , allowing the oxidizer to contact the fuel already in the silo . The initial explosion catapulted the 740 - ton launcher closure door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and its warhead out of the silo . Once clear of the silo , the second stage exploded . The warhead ' s safety devices performed as designed and it did not explode . Twenty - one personnel in the immediate vicinity of the blast were injured . One member of the two - man silo reconnaissance team who had just emerged from the portal sustained injuries that proved fatal . At daybreak , the Air Force retrieved the warhead and brought it within the confines of Little Rock AFB . During the recovery the Missile Wing Commander received strong support from other military units as well as Federal , state , and local officials . Arkansas ’ s young governor , Bill Clinton , played an important role in overseeing the proper deployment of state emergency resources . Interestingly , the wing received some of its greatest accolades in the wake of the disaster . Perhaps realizing the public confidence had suffered a blow , wing personnel made a stronger effort to reach out to local communities . This effort won Air Force recognition in 1983 , when the wing became the first missile wing ever to win the General Bruce K . Holloway humanitarian service trophy for the year 1982 . The unit also earned the Omaha trophy for 1982 , recognizing it as the best in SAC .