68th Missile Squadron The 68th Missile Squadron ( 68 MS ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 44th Operations Group , stationed at Ellsworth AFB , South Dakota . The 68 MS was equipped with the LGM - 30F Minuteman II Intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) , with a mission of nuclear deterrence . With the end of the Cold War , the 68th was inactivated on 5 July 1994 . History . World War II . Established in early 1941 as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bombardment squadron , it trained under the Third Air Force in the southeastern United States . After the Pearl Harbor Attack , it engaged in anti - submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico . It deployed to the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) , where it was assigned to VIII Bomber Command in England during the summer of 1942 . One of the first B - 24 Liberator units assigned to the ETO , it was soon engaged in very long range strategic bombardment missions over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany , attacking strategic targets in France , Belgium , the Netherlands and Germany . Among the targets attacked were submarine installations , industrial establishments , airfields , harbors and shipyards . A detachment deployed to the Twelfth Air Force in Algeria in June 1943 to help facilitate the Allied invasion of Sicily by bombing airfields and marshalling yards in Italy . The detachment also participated in the low - level raid on the Ploesti oil fields in Romania on 1 August 1943 . Most of the detachment returned to England at the end of August , however some crews and aircraft remained in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations ( MTO ) and flew very long range attacks over Italy , Romania , Austria and Sicily and supported Allied ground forces in Sicily as well as attacking Axis forces in Italy opposing the Salerno landing . All aircraft and personnel returned to England in October . The squadron returned to VIII Bomber Command operations , and supported the Allied Invasion of France in June 1944 by attacking strongpoints in the beachhead area and transportation targets behind the front line . The group aided the Caen offensive and the Saint - Lô breakthrough in July . It also dropped food , ammunition and other supplies to troops engaged in the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September . The unit attacked enemy targets during the Battle of the Bulge , December 1944 - January 1945 , by striking bridges , tunnels , rail and road junctions and communications in the battle area . The squadron attacked airfields and transportation in support of the Western Allied Invasion of Germany , and flew a resupply mission during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945 . Combat operations ceased with the German surrender in May 1945 . The squadron returned to the United States in June 1945 , being reassigned to the Second Air Force and re - designated as a B - 29 Superfortress ' Very Heavy ' bombardment unit . It trained with B - 29s and planned to deploy to the Western Pacific , however the Japanese capitulation in August canceled these plans . It was assigned to Kansas as part of the Continental Air Forces ( later Strategic Air Command or SAC ) , but it was inactivated in July 1946 as part of the general demobilization of the AAF . Strategic Air Command . The squadron was re - activated in 1947 under SAC as a paper unit ; it was not manned or equipped and inactivated in 1949 due to budget constraints . Reactivated once more in 1950 , it was used as an Operational Training Unit for B - 29 aircrews and maintenance personnel . It was deployed to the Far East Air Forces during the Korean War . The unit replaced its propeller - driven B - 29s with new B - 47E Stratojet swept - wing medium bombers in 1953 . These machines were capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union . < br > In the late 1950s , the B - 47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence , and was being phased out of SAC ' s strategic arsenal . The squadron began sending aircraft to other B - 47 wings as replacements in late 1959 , while being phased down for inactivation in 1960 . Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron . The unit was re - activated in 1962 as a SAC ICBM missile squadron . It trained with the 850th SMS in HGM - 25A Titan I operations in 1962 and was made operational with LGM - 30B Minuteman I missiles in 1963 . It upgraded to the LGM - 30F Minuteman II in 1972 . The squadron remained on Cold War nuclear alert until President Bush ' s directive to stand the Minuteman II down . Dissipated launch codes and pin safety control switches at 15 launch control facilities . Deactivation of the entire missile complex ended in the spring of 1994 ; the squadron was inactivated on 5 July . 68th Missile Squadron Launch Facilities