373d Strategic Missile Squadron The 373d Strategic Missile Squadron ( 373 SMS ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 308th Strategic Missile Wing , stationed at Little Rock AFB , South Dakota . The 373 SMS was equipped with the LGM - 25C Titan II Intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) , with a mission of nuclear deterrence . The squadron was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan II ICBM on 18 August 1987 . History . World War II . Activated in early 1942 in Idaho as a long - range B - 24 Liberator bombardment squadron under Second Air Force . For the next 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 , again 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 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 ' between India and China to obtain gasoline , bombs , spare parts , and other items they needed to prepare for and sustain their combat operations . The 375th supported Chinese ground forces ; attacked airfields , coal yards , docks , oil refineries and fuel dumps in French Indochina ; mined rivers and ports ; bombed maintenance shops and docks at Rangoon , Burma ; attacked Japanese shipping in the East China Sea , Formosa Straits , South China Sea and 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 weather reconnaissance squadron . Gathering weather information for combat readiness was an integrated part of strategic aerial reconnaissance . Weather recon , though , was a particularly loose term . There was a constant need for weather 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 . Inactivated in February 1951 . Reactivated a few months later in October with new B - 47E Stratojet swept - wing medium bombers , capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union . In the early late 1950s , the B - 47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence , and was being phased out of SAC ' s strategic arsenal . B - 47s began being sent to AMARC at Davis - Monthan in July 1959 and the squadron went non - operational . Was inactivated on 25 June 1961 . Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron . Reactivated and re - designated as a Strategic Air Command LGM - 25C Titan II ICBM Strategic Missile Squadron in 1962 . Operated nine Titan II underground silos constructed beginning in 1960 ; the first site ( 373 - 5 ) going operationally ready on 15 June 1963 . The 9 missile silos controlled by the 570th Strategic Missile Squadron remained on alert for over 20 years during the Cold War . On August 8 , 1965 , at launch site 373 - 4 , 53 contractor workers died in a flash fire while installing modifications to the launch silo . The cause of the accident was believed to be a rupture in a high - pressure line , which spewed hydraulic fluid on the floor . Ignited by sparks from a nearby welder , the resulting fire consumed most of the oxygen in the space , suffocating the workers . In October 1981 , President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the strategic modernization program , Titan II systems were to be retired by October 1 , 1987 . Inactivation of the sites began when site 373 - 6 was inactivated on 20 Jun 1985 ; the last site ( 373 - 2 ) inactivated on 4 May 1987 . The squadron was inactivated on 18 August . 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 in aerial imagery , in various states of use or abandonment . Aircraft and missiles . . * On August 8 , 1965 , at launch site 373 - 4 , 53 contractor workers died in a flash fire while installing modifications to the launch silo . The cause of the accident was believed to be a rupture in a high - pressure line , which spewed hydraulic fluid on the floor . Ignited by sparks from a nearby welder , the resulting fire consumed most of the oxygen in the space , suffocating the workers .